Will a dog protect chickens?

[Rdh1223]

We recently had our first batch of pullets killed by a raccoon during the day, which put quite the damper on mothers day. Wife and kids still arent quite over the loss. That raccoon is no longer going to be an issue but I have new chicks coming from mcmurray this week which gives me about a month to try to prevent this happening again. I've already built an apron for the coop (it was going to be a tractor, so no apron last time) but was wondering if leaving our dog outside would deter predators?. I don't have a fence so he would be on a run, not sure if the coons, coyotes, fox would be able to figure out that the dog really can't actually attack them. I thought of building a boom on top of the A- frame coop that would allow him to circle the coop without getting hung up (like the hose at the diy carwash) but haven't puzzled out the engineering and I'm not sure he wouldn't tunnel in and kill the chickens, dont know if a dog would tunnel under 2 foot of apron or not. He paid no mind to the first flock we had but who knows. Australian cattle dog, prob not purebred. Supposedly came from a farm in Texas, so maybe learned to live with chickens. Plus he's a "working" dog who if I can teach him his job maybe he will like it? He herds my kids occasionally when they run around chasing each other. Any input, thoughts, suggestions are appreciated. Sry for the long post.

 

[AGeese]

I personally would never leave a dog on a run. My Jack Russell clothes lined himself going after a squirrel. After that I stopped using leads unless I absolutely had to.

The other thing is coyotes are smart, and determined. They may even attack your dog so another reason imho not to keep him tethered.

I would put up a temporary fence where they can all be together.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We recently had our first batch of pullets killed by a raccoon during the day, which put quite the damper on mothers day.

Sorry for your loss.

Consider electrified poultry netting.

 

[jwsmith1959]

There are livestock guardian dogs that can be trained to guard poultry and waterfowl. I have no idea how expensive they are though.

Good luck and all the best.

 

[TOMTE]

Search for LGD (livestock guardian dog) breeders/rescues in your area. Do your research on the breeds. Do your research on dog breeding, standards, etc. That's if you want to go the route of getting another dog, which I would personally recommend if you want a dog to protect your flock.

I agree that you shouldn't leave your dog on a run if you want to leave him out all day and night. If you don't have a fenced yard, start working on property line/boundary training ASAP.

In the meantime, instead of a run, drive a metal stake into the ground close to the area you want him to watch over. Dog can't get hung up on anything that way because the chain will drag on the ground. Use a chain that isn't too heavy, and is long enough that he can chase predators a good distance.

ACD are herders by nature so whether yours can be trained to be gentle with your flock and not constantly be trying to herd them around when he's bored, as well as protective of them and alert and willing to actually attack predators, depends on the dog's personality and training. His size might be an issue in that respect, too. He might be able to chase off a raccoon, but if it stood its ground and attacked, he could face life threatening injuries. A LGD is normally a large dog breed with thick fur for protection. Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherds are popular LGD breeds.

Your dog could possibly be trained as a watch dog, but I'm iffy on LGD.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I take the position that the vast majority of mature, seasoned, strong, and athletic, farm dogs of various lineages will protect their farm, and therefore their chickens, from predators. Bulldogs, labs, curs, random mutts. I've seen them all be jam up good farm guardians. I consider a dog that wouldn't as somewhat defective, unless the dog serves some other purpose.

I don't put mine in the runs. I just let them free range the property at night and hunt what they will. I did recently lose an old hound to some animal she tangled with that ripped her belly open. But she was old and slow. She did her duty to the end.

 

[lagrange chicks]

This is not farm dog related but is about a dog on a long lead. One day (35years ago) my daughter comes home saying zeek was hanging out the window (zeek was a shepherd), I just thought she meant looking out the window. A couple minutes later she comes back and says zeek is not moving anymore so I run over and find zeek jumped through the screen and was hang by his lead. I did get him un-hooked and he slowly gasped for air and saved him. Zeek was the neighbor 2 houses down dog who they tied in the house so he couldn't get to certain areas.

 

[PatriciafromCO]

Always had groups of dogs, many times barking is enough for wildlife to look for an easier property that doesn't have dogs. Have the LGDs caucasians (that turned out to be very aireal defensive) and always have a drivey/guard Farm dog type, GSD, cane corso, and currently presa canario's.. My favorite for all around instinct and natural abilities to farm life is the presa's they are highly intense explosive dogs, yet like puddles of still water when nothing going on chilling. I forget that I have them until something actually happens lol.

you get a drivey breed, they diamonds in the rough to start, they worth spending the time with them. Don't be discouraged if you have some oopies, and crazy dog days. Re group and keep training together. my youngest presa was serverly CAD (crazy ass dog) lol in the beginning. She picked up cues from me really quick, and is the birds greatest denfender when she laying on the feed so the goats stay out of it until the birds are done.


Caucasian baby chick

 

[McChooky]

My dogs were a couple years old before I got baby chicks so I trained them both.They're only trained to sound alerts and not kill anything. They're both hounds .

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My dogs don't bother the chickens - F Golden retriever and a M Sheltie, both neutered. They stay on the property and are territorial in that they don't like other dogs or critters coming on the property and alert when people do. They don't attack or fight, though, they just alert. They are not "protective" of the chickens or of me or anybody else. They just bark. They follow the chickens around the property bc, tbh, they like chicken poop. And they poop around the perimeter of the property. And that seems to be sufficient to keep coyotes away. I don't know if we have foxes. They do chase stray dogs off, or try to, and that's good enough. We don't have predator losses and that works for me.