Good small dogs for protecting flock

[Lightness2go]

These dogs are livestock guard dogs (LGD) bred to protect livestock. They must be trained to be safe with birds as must ANY dog, but they are born with less prey drive than other breeds. There are many LGD breeds and the two in the photo are a purebred Kangal, a Turkish breed similar to Anatolian, but the import has been more controlled and there has been less messing around with their genetics, and The dog in the background is a mix of Kangal/ Great Pyrenees, resulting in a hybrid LGD. These are young dogs and not yet trained to poultry but they are amazing guards just by their presence. They keep our local coyotes at bey, chase off birds of prey, let us know when a snake is on the property, and alert us at night if something is amiss. We live in Arizona and they tolerate the heat as long as they have access to shade. I’m just starting to raise quail and chicken, but the Kangal breeder has free range chickens all over their property. I know it’s possible over time, but no dog is chicken safe without proper training, introduction, tethering in the beginning, and taking time to develop the protective instinct. In case you are interested in checking out the Kangal, my purebred girl is from Farei Kennel in Maine and you don’t find a better place to see if this breed could be right for you. At 1 and 2 they are with my goats full time and as a pair keep the coyote, mountain lion, bobcat, etc away from my goats and ponies... birds would be a next step. The smaller female will be about 75 - 100 pounds full grown and the big guy 130 - 140. Sweet dispositions, great with our pets, friends, neighbors, kids, and even friends dogs or children at large, but instantly protective when predators come on the scene. Love my Kangals!!

 

[Lightness2go]

glad someone got to this point before me... x2 on the "LGD's need to be large enough to intimidate predators" point. Ive known many LGD's and have done loads of research on other livestock guard animals (Llama, Donkey, etc) and SIZE is a huge deterrent, in and of itself. Im not sure id personally recommend looking for a "smaller" dog, for this specific purpose. Also not sure if this has been covered but LGD's and other guard animals are supposed to be with the flock or animals they are guarding 100% of the time, they are a part of the flock and it is their total job to protect the flock, not be a pet. So im not sure the allure of having a smaller dog do this job
Hope that helps, good luck

Unfortunately, there are conflicting camps, but a LGD CAN be a family dog and pet and mine are just that. As are those from the breeder I got them from. That’s an old misnomer and a myth that’s time has passed. Are there LGD’S that are totally guards with stock, yes, but a good LGD can be raised with family on small acreage and be just fine. I have two who are on one acre and spend evening sacked out in the living room with the family and small pets. No deterrent to their guarding ability when a predator wanders in. They can do it all!!

 

[Shanny123]

Just wondering if there’s a smaller breed of dog that’s good for guarding chickens? I know corgis are good, but what else? I’m looking into buying a dog but also using it to guard the flock, especially since we want them to be free range in the day

Hi, we've had our 4 young hens about 5 weeks. We're getting lots of eggs.

Just wondering if there’s a smaller breed of dog that’s good for guarding chickens? I know corgis are good, but what else? I’m looking into buying a dog but also using it to guard the flock, especially since we want them to be free range in the day

Hi, we have a 3 year old female German shepherd. She is very protective of our 4 hens. She walks around with them, lays near them and acts like a sheep dog with them. We see her herding them if we gets far astray as the free range. She never makes sudden movements near them and has never barked at them. It's almost like a maternal instinct at play. They walk all around her and have no fear of her. We hope it stays good. But so far we're very pleased. She knows the word 'chickens' and gets very animated when it's spoken. She is happiest near her flock!

 

[HennyPennyCO]

In 2009 I acquired a rescue Chihuahua/Jack Russell Terrier mix from a failed adoption (he killed the first owner's chickens). I didn't have chickens at the time so that wasn't an issue. Our local city council later allowed backyard chicken-keeping and in 2014 I became a chicken keeper once more.
Paco-the-chicken-killer had already shown the depth of his ingrained prey drive (think dedicated mouser) so we put the chicken coop inside the chicken run and fortified the run to make it predator-proof. (We have coyotes, raccoons and hawks to contend with.) The girls were cage-free, but alas not free-range. Every so often whenever Paco or one of the other dogs approached the chicken run or lunged at the chain link, we'd blast them with the hose, of course using that essential command "leave it".
Later I bought a portable cage on casters that I could roll out and let a chicken or two have a day out on the grass.
One day I came home, let the dogs out to tinkle, and was surprised to see one of the smaller hens roosting on the back of a patio chair. She must have wriggled out under the portable cage on my uneven lawn. To my surprise the dogs had run right past her without paying her any heed.
A day or two later I came home, again let the dogs out to tinkle, and the same hen was out of the portable cage. This time she was strutting around the backyard. Again the dogs ran right past her without paying her the slightest bit of attention. I did say "leave it" just in case. I was totally dumbfounded.
Paco is now renamed Paco-the-former-chicken-killer. The other two dogs are terrified of chickens and avoid them. The 4th one, our evil Chihuahua, would go after the hens but would always come out worse off. They'd roll her on her back and start pecking at her, and she'd start screaming piteously and need to be rescued. She stayed as cantankerous as ever until she died (just last month).
Just recently I took Paco to a friend's backyard to go rat/mouse hunting and he had a glorious time without once bothering the new hens. Amazing.
I do believe that just the presence of the dogs in our backyard does keep predators away.

 

[LissaJ]

I have an Old English Sheepdog, herding dog, and a Golden Doodle, mix of 2 bird dogs. Both go after the chickens. So far the best guardian of the flock, has been my cat He watches over the chickens, ducks, and the garden.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Obviously you’ve seen the ones on my property then! lol. I found an excellent book about coyotes and their behaviors that gives their history. In PA and other east coast areas heading north areas, the coyotes are huge in comparison to those in other areas, different type of DNA. They look like wolves and can be very intimidating. YES, I would be very afraid to wrestle with one of the coyotes but the precious little Shrltues aren’t. Considering their size , I would be very hesitant to use them where coyotes are a known issue. On the other hand, Gracie sounds like she’s got it ALL going on- I’d put money on her!

Gracie may just be too dumb to be scared, but if you tell her I said that I will deny it!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

In a previous life (many years ago) I had a couple of Shelties and a Golden. None of them paid any attention to the chickens. I also had pigeons, ditto. A friend of my teenage son wanted to borrow the Golden to hunt ducks. So I had to teach him to carry a bird. I used a pigeon. At first he was like, No, mom, I don't think I'm allowed .... but once he felt it in his mouth, he got a shiver and you could just SEE his genetics kick in! He was fulfilling his destiny! He pranced around for over an hour, carrying that bird, and he really didn't want to give it back to me. Finally I let him carry it to the coop, where I said, Drop it, and he did. He was so happy. Sadly, the boy didn't bag any ducks. But the dog still never bothered the chickens. I agree with what somebody else said: a lot of it is in the training.... but you can't ignore genetics, either, or a dog's individual personality.

 

[jess924]

So if I may be brutally honest my cur was the same way and especially when you have chicks and any little movement makes them scatter so then it’s game on with this squeaky toy that runs. I have a shock collar with remote and what worked for ME (not all this is just me talking) I would sit and sit and sit some more when I had my chicks and or chickens out it was time consuming for a while, but when they would dust and fluff or run after a bug or ANY sudden movement then like to do if he so much as looked their direction he got zapped....this worked for me I’m not saying it’s right BUT he Si (Robertson) lol will NOT mess with my chickens and will protect the crap outta them HA. He had to understand the job and importance to me and that they are friends not food. Sorry so long and I hope it helps.

That is such a big help! Had a shock collar end of last year but clasp broke off few months back...she was very responsive to even just the noise...thank u!!!

 

[silkie10]

I have a Rat Terrier and Jack Russel mix. She's good at protecting the chickens and she's pretty small. I don't know if it's like her breed to protect them but maybe it's just because she knows they're my babies. She even breaks up rooster fights!

 

[OsceolaMomma]

That is such a big help! Had a shock collar end of last year but clasp broke off few months back...she was very responsive to even just the noise...thank u!!!

That is such a big help! Had a shock collar end of last year but clasp broke off few months back...she was very responsive to even just the noise...thank u!!!

The collar I have is actually for “small dogs” and it works great on my cur dog. You are exactly right it only takes a few times of getting zapped (I put mine on 10 from the start I can’t jeopardize my chickens safety) and I only have to tone him. Glad I could help.