What creature will defend against chicken predators?

[littledel]

Quote:
Gotta be careful here. I used Pyrenes in the past and did well, but this last year I tried Australian Shepards. Got them as puppys and raised them around the chickens. When they got about 6 months old, they began to wreck havoc on my birds. Killed 2 chickens and one of my turkeys. Had to get rid of them.

 

[lilblessings5]

Quote:
Gotta be careful here. I used Pyrenes in the past and did well, but this last year I tried Australian Shepards. Got them as puppys and raised them around the chickens. When they got about 6 months old, they began to wreck havoc on my birds. Killed 2 chickens and one of my turkeys. Had to get rid of them.

yeah, once they start killing its hard to get them to stop - learned this the hard way too.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Gotta be careful here. I used Pyrenes in the past and did well, but this last year I tried Australian Shepards.

Australian Shepherds are NOT "guardian" dogs.

They are a Herding breed with high "prey drive

Livestock GUARDIAN breeds are highly specialized, and many have thousands of years of selective breeding to make them behave the way they do

http://www.lgd.org/​

 

[nekkiddoglady]

Yes there is a difference between a herding breed, and a guardian breed.

Herding breeds will give chase to small animals.. while a good herding dog shouldn't kill livestock, they do have the potential to do it if not properly trained.

Livestock guardians do not herd the animals, but are very protective breeds. They grow up with the livestock from a young age, and view them as pack members.

 

[melissa41927]

i have a 10 years old lab-mix who is the retired guard. he trained the current lab who is 2, and the pit bull who is 2. the labs take care of the wild predators, terrestrial and aerially. the pit helps with the wild ones, but specializes in stray dogs and cats. i trust them with all my chickens, ducks, and guineas and most importantly my kids.

they are also trained in basic obedience.

 

[katharinad]

We have an Australian Sheppard / German Sheppard mix dog. She is definitely a controlling herding dog, and has a strong sense of protection. She is aggressive towards other dogs, and there is nothing we can do about that. At least we have our own fenced in 22 acres, so there is no risk of her going nuts on other dogs. Also only 2 neighbors 1/2 mile away so really private out here. She will go off when she sees a coyote on the other side of the fence. We've got her into a dog pack of 2 as a baby. One dog is a very old English Cockerspaniel/Lab mix. He is an excellent bird hunter. Has it all from his father an English Cocker. He wont kill, but he will cover land systematically and flush any bird you can think off. He is almost 14 and still very good at it. The next dog is a female lab mix, with a possibility of coyote in her. She can catch rodents in seconds. Very talented, but has very bad joints and had 2 surgeries already. She actually once killed a Canadian gooseling out in the wild when she was less then a year old. The geese were nesting on the other side of the fence, but the goosling walked right though it. Farm fencing! She was about 6month old, and perhaps she thought she was playing with the gooseling. She bought it back to us and looked really sad. That was a sad day for all of us. 2 years ago we found a duckling running in our parking lot. http://www.davitt.com/ducky/ for full story. The lab mix jumped up and ran after the duckling. I thought she is going to kill it, but listened to me when I called her back. We did raise the duck, and they all became friends. The old English Cocker mix actually protected the duck against the other dogs until he thought they got it right. He had a real love thing going for the duck. That summer we were walking in the meadow. That is all 3 dogs and the duck. The wild duckling later migrated south with the other ducks living out here in the wild and never came back. I call that a good outcome. Anyway, this clearly shows that dogs can learn to live with birds. But you never really know. I mostly do agree that once a dogs kills, you are out of luck. On the other hand one of our dogs did and never did again. Right now the only birds in trouble with her are crows and great horned owls in the trees. She hates their noise and barks at them. It's really funny to watch.
Katharina

 

[kaddidle]

I've had good success with Old English Sheepdogs and Great Pyrenees. They make nice companion animals too.

The OES that I had growing up was so peaceful with the chickens that they'd take dust baths together, but if any random dogs, coyotes, or raccoons came by she was on them in a flash and would be ferocious.

 

[turkey guru]

I pen my birds up at night then we release the bengel tiger! in 5 years he only got one small kid across the street! I have not lost any birds in years, I have heard of cows and horses missing but I am sure thats just talk!! tom!!!! in the morning I just toss a big steak in his cage he walk right in!!

 

[slackwater]

For me, the biggest threats are hawks (which I can't protect against) and nighttime predators. My chickens free range during the day, and I've only lost 1 to hawks. At night, they are in a coop, but with an open door; their mini mule stands her faithful guard

She WILL attack a predator (she will even attack new chickens before she's "met" them), but obviously would not do much good if the predator got into the coop. I rely on her to keep them away, or to raise the alarm if they get too close. Haven't lost one at night yet, and we have a serious coon & possum population here.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Quote:
Australian Shepherds are NOT "guardian" dogs.

They are a Herding breed with high "prey drive

Livestock GUARDIAN breeds are highly specialized, and many have thousands of years of selective breeding to make them behave the way they do

http://www.lgd.org/

Ditto that. ALL dogs are predators. Even the livestock guardian breeds. It's mostly just a matter of how strong their prey drive is. And most herding breeds have a lot of prey drive, it's what makes them good at their jobs. Herding is just a modification of the hunting instinct seen in other wild canids that live and hunt in packs. In a good herding dog, the instinct to catch and kill their "prey" is modified so that they don't actually kill the livestock they are herding. Livestock guradians on the other hand generally do not have a very strong prey drive since their job is to stay with the flock and protect them from predators, not to gather the livestock and move them from pasture to pasture or from farm to market and the instinct to chase the livestock would obviously make them pretty bad at that job.

Dogs can be good protection against predators. But they are a minimum 10 year commitment and you absolutely need to do a lot of research before committing to one. And if you are getting them to help protect your chickens you need to keep in mind that all dogs are predators at heart, no matter how much selective breeding or training goes into them there is still always the chance that they may decide that your chickens would make a good meal. I am always disappointed and somewhat angered to hear people casually say that they got a dog to protect their chickens but it turned out to have "killer instincts" so they had to "get rid of" it as though a dog is just another piece of equipment to be returned or discarded if it is perceived as "defective" because it didn't act the way they thought it would. You can certainly stack the odds in your favor by choosing a breed with a low prey drive, buying a puppy from a working farm and working parents that have the traits you are looking for, and putting the time and effort in to train your dog. But if even with all of this careful preparation you still come home or wake up to a dead bird you need to keep in mind that it is not the dog's fault for following their instincts. I love my dogs to death and I fully trust them to leave any animal alone if I tell them to. I also trust them 110% with my three indoor cats. But I also have absolutely no doubt in my mind that once the chase starts in earnest and their "lizard brain" takes over their instincts will over-ride training they will kill any cat they chase and catch outdoors. It's my job as a responsible dog owner to make sure they don't get that chance. I'll get off my soap box now and I hope I haven't offended anyone as it was not my intent, it's just a very sensitive subject for me as I've seen far too many dogs suffer and/or die because of their previous owner's ignorance or laziness.