What SMALL breed of dog will protect my chickens?

[OHWoosterChick]

You'll find Black Mouth and Mountain Cur weights are highly variable due to various lines being bred for different purposes. Certainly the smaller ones are not too big as mentioned by BobbiJ but on average I would say around 50 for a male. My BMC is about 40 lbs at a year and a half, best dog I have ever had.

 

[newchickmom]

My beagle turned into a chicken killer, and I wouldn't trust anything with terrier in it. I would go with a small herding dog like a corgi.

 

[OHWoosterChick]

Described as a large dog in a small dogs body with great herding but not much hunting instinct is the Icelandic Shepherd 20-30 lbs, friendly and good with children

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I like an LGD with teeth.

Works on 4 and 2 legged predators, people won't even get out of their car when they see 70 pounds of Pit Bull love coming at them.

Steve

 

[farmerlor]

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Aw, what a good puppy!!! Love me some pit bull lovin'.
I agree that Corgis are a good breed but need some definite training when it comes to birds. Stay AWAY from the hounds. Bassetts, Beagle, Dachsunds, ...that hunting instinct is just too powerful.

 

[Captain Carrot]

My Staffordshire terrier is brilliant with my flock. It took a while to train her though. She takes out foxes easily and wouldn't have a problem with any thng bigger. She keeps the rat and mice population down too, and as the above post is a fantastic deterrent to would be chicken thieves

 

[jeremy]

Well you want a Corgi of course! We've raised ours with our chickens since he was 6 weeks old. We made it very clear from the beginning that the chickens are our pets, not his toys to chew on.

Corgis are incredibly smart and learn very well. Toby sits outside with us and is very protective of "his flock", of course his biggest opposition are the squirrels that try to steal the hen's food. He'll chase them away from the feeders and up the trees, barking until they are out of sight.

So, not only is he helpful, but he's adorable too!

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

if your just looking fora dog to protect your poultry get a lgd breed i own a corgi whos protective of my birds butif he were to meet a coon shed probably get badly torn up trying to defend it from the birds she likes the birds but is more fond of being with people

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

i love your corgi by the way my first one was a red and white now i have a tri color
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[Red&Yellow]

I guess my beagle/JRT/dachsund is a freak of nature. She was practically whelped with chickens, including roosters, so I think she has a healthy respect for them. She could not care less about the birds themselves, even chicks, though their food and poo are fair game for her. Course, the cat also is scared of the grown birds and isn't vaguely interested in chicks so maybe all our domestic carnivores are lazy?

Personally, I think nurture is stronger than nature. But be CAREFUL when introducing dogs to chickens. Heck, even be careful vice versa.