# Barn Dog That WON'T Kill Chickens?



## Bubba1358

Does such a thing exist? :drum:

Really, though. Looking to get a dog to keep in the barn in order to deter racoons, possums, etc. from getting in at night. Also, wanting the dog's presence to at least deter and slow down coyotes. Not looking for an LGD, as there isn't livestock in the field to be guarded. But, i want a fella (or lass) who'll prevent the chickens from being picked off at night. The barn will have chickens and a milk cow, with caged rabbits.

So, if anyone has some breed suggestions and/or training tips, please share!


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## Maura

Donkeys might work for you. You can keep them with the cow, pasture them together, keep them in the barn together. Any dog that is a decent guard dog will work for you. You can teach a dog to leave the chickens alone. My border collie did not harass the chickens, but I put time and effort into the &#8216;leave it&#8217; command. Good guard dogs are also family dogs, you can&#8217;t just put them in the yard or barn and forget about them. motdaughgds has a karakachan (sp) that works well for her. The dog takes guarding seriously, is not a house dog, requires minimal attention. Minimal, not none. motdaughgds put time in to train her dog and the result is a fabulous farm dog. Read her long post on raising her dog from a puppy.


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## Bubba1358

I had a donkey a few years back. I think that one would be great for coyotes, but not really care about possums and raccoons. Chicken predators are really my big concern right now.

I'll check that post, thanks.

Other breeds that may work?


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## mekasmom

Dogs are dogs. They all kill chickens if they can get to them.


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## secuono

Chickens and rabbits are natural food for them. LGDs are bred to protect larger livestock, mostly sheep and goats. It's normal for them to try and eat birds. 
Mine had one accident as a pup, stupid chicken kept coming back to her and got licked to death. But she was mostly fine with them. Doesn't mean others will be fine, most actually do terribly with birds and that's why you see so many for sale, because people don't understand that birds are not a normal animal they were bred to protect.


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## Jreed

All my dogs are stock friendly and are full bred terriers, 2 sleep outside in rotation at night to do exactly what you say you are doing. All dog's require supervision , socialization in order to achieve this regardless of breed or dog class. My dogs are fine with free range poultry of all types, sheep goats, cows and even domestic cats. They keep ***** , foxes, skunks , and weasels away from my critters, my lgd live in remote pasture with grazing flocks not at my home.


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## Bubba1358

Jreed said:


> All my dogs are stock friendly and are full bred terriers, 2 sleep outside in rotation at night to do exactly what you say you are doing. All dog's require supervision , socialization in order to achieve this regardless of breed or dog class. My dogs are fine with free range poultry of all types, sheep goats, cows and even domestic cats. They keep ***** , foxes, skunks , and weasels away from my critters, my lgd live in remote pasture with grazing flocks not at my home.


YES! This sounds exactly like what I need. What type of terrier are they? How did you/do you continue to train them?

With the rotation you mentioned, how does that work? Do you alternate one night in the house, one night in the barn? Or one outside, one in a barn stall? What benefits does that have over a single full-time dog?

I saw in another thread that English Shepherds can fit the bill. Anyone have experience with them?


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## HandyDandyAcres

I am no expert, but between our three dogs I have noticed that personality has a lot to do with it, which is not always tied to breed. My boxer, has no training around livestock, but has always had a protection instinct. He frequently nips at our american bulldog if she gets too close to the chickens. He was the same way when we had rabbits in the house. The bulldog would eat a chicken the first chance she got. We have trained her well enough that she can be off leash with supervision and with the boxer nearby, but I would never trust her alone. Neither of those dogs have any real livestock training or are breeds that have any positive or negative history with livestock. Knowing these dogs away from livestock, I would have thought they would go the other way. My boxer does not like other dogs in the least and is fiercely protective of me. The bulldog is more laid back and accepting of other dogs. 

Now our third dog, which lives in the barn on a long lead, has been a farm dog her whole life. She is a blue heeler. When she first came to us she was ok with the chickens if they were still, but as soon as they started moving she wanted to chase. She may do better over time and with more training.

I don't think I would buy a dog I wanted to leave unattended with poultry that wasn't already trained and proven. Unless I didn't care to have to start over if the prey drive was just too high. Part of that may be my lack of training experience, but I feel pretty strongly that the dogs personality has a lot to do with it.


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## motdaugrnds

Bubba, as usual you're getting some great information in here.

In my work with dogs, I have discovered "training" is as important (if not more so) than the breed. I have one lab and, as most people know, a lab is not an animal to trust with your fowl. I've had German Shepherds and, likewise, one does not trust fowl with this breed. Then of course the mixed breeds I've had from time to time and now my LGD (a Karakachan). Every single one of these had to be trained to leave fowl alone; and, though it is not a real hard thing to do, it does take an alert eye on the part of the owner. (I have been fortunate in my training methods in that I've had another dog I could attach a 6 ft leash to; and instead of my being out supervising the dog in training, that other dod would do the supervision.)

In your situation, you don't need an LGD. Thus, most any dog you know how to train well could work for you. Just be aware that, should you choose a "purebred" dog, pick one with "instincts" more amenable to training.


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## Hexe

We had the same issues and solved them with a Blackmouth Cur and a Catahoula. Both are VERY tolerant towards animals belonging (chickens and other free-ranging poultry, cats, sheep/lambs, cattle/calves) and very un-tolerant towards everything not belonging. My BMC actually differentiates between our chickens and the neighbors! (the birds are different breeds but essentially look the same). 
Training him was - more or less - making the right action easy and the wrong action difficult. Hence - he was never unsupervised outside, unless I was there. The kennel is located next to the barn, so he was locked up there when I was at work (just his presence was a deterrent), until he was a little older (maybe 18 months?). Then I allowed him to be loose at night during bad weather (he didn't roam during rain, ever) and the poultry was inaccessible anyway. Then I gradually left him out longer and longer until he was loose all the time. Never had him kill anything of ours. 
This is a long process, but I am looking at the years of supervision and training as payment that will pay off in at least 10 years of untroubled service. 
One drawback I have about both breeds is that they are not made for the winter temperatures we experience in Maine. They are fine going outside when there is activity, they do wither up a little when I'm doing chores and they just sit around waiting for me. The other problem I ran into was that their drive to hunt has to be curbed a bit. This was an issue only in their first and second fall, no other time of year did this show. I used electric collars to discourage that habit and a few gentle corrections was all it took. Also, I can not stress this enough - I'm a firm believer in "a tired dog is a good dog", they are exercised and not allowed to get bored - a bored dog is nothing but trouble...

I also agree with the other posters - there are many 'odd' breeds that will do that job for you. In years past I had an Akita that was fabulous at this job and before that a St. Bernard that was unbeatable...
You just never know.

Good Luck.


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## Jreed

Easy, I raise all dog's with chickens, ducks, cats, goats, sheep's and so on, always have a few sacrifice bantam free ranging and all these animals are family not toys. Dogs are crated in coops at night and brought into coops under supervision as often as possible. All dog's meet a big mama ewe or buck goat and learn some instant respect. I provide structure and guidelines and reward is given for good behavior. All dog's are exercised well, boredom is trouble.


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## Jreed

Bubba1358 said:


> YES! This sounds exactly like what I need. What type of terrier are they? How did you/do you continue to train them?
> 
> With the rotation you mentioned, how does that work? Do you alternate one night in the house, one night in the barn? Or one outside, one in a barn stall? What benefits does that have over a single full-time dog?
> 
> I saw in another thread that English Shepherds can fit the bill. Anyone have experience with them?


You want a homestead dog, get a Feist.


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## TamnNate

We have had two Saint Bernards at different times that do want you want yours to do. The first one we got at nine months old and naturally protected cats and chicken (we didn’t have rabbits). The second we got as a pup and trained him to be that way. Both were full time outside, but they do get depressed and or lonely without a lot of attention from their people. We have never had a second dog to see if that would require less attention, but we never needed to as we give him plenty. Our two Saint Bernards were both easily trained and very smart. They want to please their owner. they are a bit lazy, and won’t usually play fetch, but will protect cats and chickens if trained to. They can also kill them if not. I don’t know about rabbits because we never had them. I am guessing that if trained from a pup that they would be okay. A Great Pyrenees trained from pup are a dog bread for this purpose as well. From what I hear you must train them from young to both stay in the yard and what to protect though. We have never had one, but have been thinking about it as our Saint Bernard is getting old, but we will likely stick with a Saint Bernard since we have already had good luck with two.


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## todd_xxxx

Jreed said:


> You want a homestead dog, get a Feist.


Feist is hunting dog with high prey drive used for hunting varmints. They are terriers. In other words, pretty much the last type of dog I would want if I didn't want it killing my chickens and rabbits. Live stock guard dogs have been bred for thousands of years for exactly the purpose the OP needs.


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## Alice In TX/MO

Good discussion, but the original post was LONG ago.


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## todd_xxxx

Understood. Just putting it out there in case anyone has a similar question.


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