What breed of dog should we get?

[Phaefner]

I’ve read all the way through and am still confused on why you can’t build a fence or a secure coop but you can get more animals. I would highly suggest you work on securing a coop. Most predators like coyotes, foxes and coons strike at nighttime. Having a secure place for them to roost at night would be the fundamental step in owning chickens.

Have you ever heard that before you buy a dog you buy the food, bowls, leash, kennel and toys? Well before you buy chickens you should have the secure coop 1st.

For example: this spring I wanted to add butcher turkeys and some ducks to my flock. My $50 in additional poultry costed $2500. We needed a new coop, fencing, electric, fan, new feeders and waterers and a pool (till the ducks were big enough to utilize the pond).

All animals (including the goats and horse) get put away EVERY SINGLE NIGHT before dusk (when predators are ready to feed).

It’s one thing to free range your flock but they should have a secure roosting space.

 

[cmom]

I agree...

 

[cmom]

I agree. I have fencing and electric wire around my pens and coop, concrete under the pen gates and a heavy duty netting covering the pens. All was done because of losses from predators in the past. I also have several game cameras and was surprised of how many predators roam onto our property especially during the night.

 

[Folly's place]

I think that the OP has left this thread, after hearing one idea that sounded appealing, and a lot of recommendations for fencing...
Mary

 

[StevenDVM]

My three dogs, a chow cross, a rottweiler and an Afghan hound can be in the fenced pen without showing any aggression towards my poultry. The Newbie French Bulldog is not yet trustworthy.
Corrections regarding poultry aggression seem to be more meaningful when newer dogs see the older residents ignoring the birds. My two cents, but some dogs can be trained to not attack nor harass the birds

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My guess is OP will be back, wondering how to keep an emu, a couple of geese and a puppy from wandering along the highway in the company of a miniature donkey when fencing isn't an option. Or possibly, does anyone know of a circus in need of said animals?

 

[Folly's place]

Sad but true!
Mary

 

[McBriec]

At this point, my comment re dogs is somewhat off topic since fencing/containment is what will keep birds safe. But there are definitely dogs who are bomb proof with chickens/ducks. I have had numerous rescued mixed breed dogs (not pit bulls or other bully breeds)--who have been selected to be safe with cats--who pose ZERO threat to chickens or ducks. When we lived in our neighbor's basement during our home remodel our dogs spent the entire day with ducks and would hang out with them under trees. We never worried for an instant that our dogs would harm the ducks. Obviously, this is not true of all dogs--especially those with aggression prone genetics.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I had another Sheltie years ago, named Rocky (Tlaquepaque Rocky Royalflush, to be precise). Gorgeous tri-color. Absolutely rock solid around chickens. But to my utter amazement, he became Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde around ducklings. I tried introducing him carefully, on leash, with explanations that ducks were off limits. On leash he behaved admirably - but he had that ummistakable gleam in his eye that told me I could not trust him. And i didn't! But one day .... i think I was in the "necessary room," and the home owner left just for a moment to answer a call, and Rocky made his stealthy move .... I think of something like 15 baby ducks he left three survivors in about three minutes. And it was flat-out murder! He didn't eat them! He simply slaughtered them. Well, of course he was banished forever from being anywhere near ducks for the duration of my stay in that home, and I was devastated and humiliated!

You just never really know. Rocky was kind of a strange character anyway. But Tambo was the gentlest of Shelties. Not a protector, a bit of a scaredy-cat. But he'd come lay his two front paws on my thigh and look at me and smile to get my attention. He never barked or whined, just touched. Thinking he wanted out to go potty, I'd take him from my quarters in the west wing, through the house. Across the driveway to the yard. But he didn't want to tinkle. He'd trot across the driveway to the guesthouse and ask to be let in. That's where my employer kept the duck incubator. Without fail, he would show me a duck was hatching! We would go back in the house and get the boss and come watch this miracle. Time after time. He was amazing.