# Best Guard for Chickens



## wife89

What is the best animal to keep my chickens safe? My brother mentioned donkeys? never heard of that.. any ideas?


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## R&R Farm

I have a jenny and she has been observed chasing a fox out of the pasture. Would I trust her as a sole guardian for my chickens? NO! There are several reasons one of which is that the donkey is not in the chicken pen. I have had chickens disappear while the donkey was on patrol close by (several nights in a row). Another reason is that the chickens sometimes free range and can go places where the donkey can't. I put my Anatolian pup in an adjacent pen to where they roost at night and just her presence has deterred predators. I haven't lost a single chicken in 4 months....Mike


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## MonsterMalak

Because I have raised chickens all my life, and lost enough to repopulate a small country, my trials and efforts have been many. 

I have trapped, posioned, shot, relocated, electric fence, predator resistant fences, used every deterent suggested,,, but few worked as well as dogs.
The beauty is that dogs work 24/7. Livestock Guardians work best. Penned or fenced fowl until dog is mature enough to be trusted. 

Although I raise Turkish Boz and Kangals, I would recomend Great Pyrenees for small farm poultry. Have less Play Instinct as puppies, and easier to train with such a tempting thing as chickens. Turkish Breeds can work well, as I raise poultry, but take more work to get them past the puppy stage. 

This is my current Chicken Protector!!! He is only 10 months old, but would fight a Mt Lion
.


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## wife89

Thanks.. we have a 8 wk old pyr puppy that we were wondering if he would be good for chickens. He was with goats for 5 weeks, so we weren't sure about chickens. We are going to tie him in the yard with the chicks and let them get used to one another. Would this be a good thing? Not sure how to train him not to eat the chickes


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## R&R Farm

I personally would not tie him. If you could pen them adjacent but separate until they get accustomed to each other that would be better. I had a few incidences with my pup wanting to play with chicks but was able to supervise and correct bad behavior. She is 8 months old now and lives full-time with chickens and goats with no problems....Mike


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## MonsterMalak

I would recommend only suppervised CONTACT VISITS for some time. Penning close together, or having the fowl penned, and the pup on the outside. Correct play behavior. Then when trust is built, choosing the right ones to release will be crutial. A game hen with chicks is GOLD. She will TEAR the pup up if it threatens the chicks. This alone can make or break your efforts. 

Please do not give up on them. Where as the high prey drive breeds will be almost unbreakable once Tasting Chicken, LGDs can frequently be corrected. I havehad pups that killed many chickens when not suppervised, to grow up to be trusted dogs with loose fowl. Tlking about Silkies and Cochins that could not run or fly. Roosted on the ground. Safe from everything, including the once Chicken Killer dog.
I have had femaes that wuld revert to killing chickens when her pups were at the weaning stage. Maternal instinct to feed the pups. Cant blame her, it is nature. But she went back to being safe afterwards. 
Suppervision until safe is the key. Penning the fowl will prevent the play behavior until enough suppervised encounters take place. Then like your children,,,, correction when needed.

Good Luck!!!


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## BarbadosSheep

My two Anatolian pups are in a very large pen that has two sheep fenced on one side of them and 8 chickens running around the whole pen. There is a cattle stock panel in there so the chickens can leave if they want to, but they rarely do. But they CAN escape of the pups decide to play with them, which they have done on a couple of occasions. For the most part though, the pups ignore the chickens.


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## wife89

Thanks everyone. We put him out there with the chickens while I was cleaning up the yard and he pretty much sat there watching them. We are going to do this again daily until he is out of his crate at night. I don't want him out of his crate until he has his rabies shot because we have about 5 acres of woods with quite a bit of wildlife.


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## TwosCompany

I have two mixed breeds that I've had with chickens here from age 8 weeks. They're now 12 weeks and have learned the hard way not to chase or threaten the chickens. Who taught them that lesson? A game hen with chicks. LOL! MonsterMalak is quite correct there. (LOVELY dog, too, Monster!) There is only one chicken they bother and she's a cornish cross that came from a commercial chicken farm that was destroyed in the April 27 tornadoes down here. She has absolutely NO instincts and will stand there as they play roughly with her. They're not trying to kill her, but they use her as a large squeaky toy and have to be corrected. They're doing very well otherwise. They stayed penned until they were about 10 weeks while the chickens milled about. Once we let them loose with the chickens, they pretty much ignored them save that one time they decided the little one looked like a fun thing to chase. Mama hen whipped their hineys and since then they haven't even attempted to catch a chicken. These are two mutts that came from a high-kill shelter--half blue heeler, half English shepherd.


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## R&R Farm

BarbadosSheep said:


> There is a cattle stock panel in there so the chickens can leave if they want to, but they rarely do. But they CAN escape of the pups decide to play with them, which they have done on a couple of occasions.


*What an excellent idea for chicken introduction.*


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## Fowler

MonsterMalak said:


> Because I have raised chickens all my life, and lost enough to repopulate a small country, my trials and efforts have been many.
> 
> I have trapped, posioned, shot, relocated, electric fence, predator resistant fences, used every deterent suggested,,, but few worked as well as dogs.
> The beauty is that dogs work 24/7. Livestock Guardians work best. Penned or fenced fowl until dog is mature enough to be trusted.
> 
> Although I raise Turkish Boz and Kangals, I would recomend Great Pyrenees for small farm poultry. Have less Play Instinct as puppies, and easier to train with such a tempting thing as chickens. Turkish Breeds can work well, as I raise poultry, but take more work to get them past the puppy stage.
> 
> This is my current Chicken Protector!!! He is only 10 months old, but would fight a Mt Lion
> .


I think that is the biggest dog I have ever seen!!! OMGoodness and very handsome.


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## horsepoor21

Fowler > You should google Boz Shepherds ! Monster is only 10 months old ! Some believe that the Boz may well be the biggest dog ever , just never been discovered since they are kept so remote ! I'm so in love ! hehe


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## Fowler

horsepoor21 said:


> Fowler > You should google Boz Shepherds ! Monster is only 10 months old ! Some believe that the Boz may well be the biggest dog ever , just never been discovered since they are kept so remote ! I'm so in love ! hehe


Thanks and I did... and WHOLLY COW!!! they are beautiful!! WOW just WOW what an amazing looking creature. I've never seen such a big dog. My cats would shiver at the site of him. I think I might too...LOL...I love them, Man what a nice looking dog.


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## horsepoor21

Me too ! Saving up my pennies to bring one home with Brian's help !


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## MonsterMalak

Our cats don't shiver. It is funny to see these MONSTERS mother everything they can. Will groom a 4 pound MinPin, or attack a Polar Bear. A dog of quite extreme characteristics.

FRIDAY the 19th I am getting a 18 month old female in to breed to MONSTER,,,YEAHHHH!!!

She is 30.5 inches tall, and 135 pounds already. Wish me luck with customs,,, they are being a BUTT.









This is Angel, our 9 month old female. She is already 29.5 inches. 
Thanks for the interest,,, Sorry for the Chicken Thread Hijack.


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## Fowler

MonsterMalak said:


> This is Angel, our 9 month old female. She is already 29.5 inches.
> Thanks for the interest,,, Sorry for the Chicken Thread Hijack.



Thanks for the pics...more please


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## wolffeathers

Loving the pictures. Congrats on the female, will be watching with interest.


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## sawman65

my chicken yard dog is a walker **** hound. she was raised with the chickens and yes i have games, she went after an asil with a new clutch as a pup and has never again messed with them. lost a chunk of meat from her snout as a result. she will move off her food if the chickens deem it necessary with out any qualms. since she has the run of the yard i have lost 0 chickens. i believe any dog will wok as long as you work it. size just matters on what kind of varmints you have. i had a bad **** problem when i moved to the new farm so my choice was easy to make.


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## dwn1

MonsterMalak said:


> Because I have raised chickens all my life, and lost enough to repopulate a small country, my trials and efforts have been many.
> 
> I have trapped, posioned, shot, relocated, electric fence, predator resistant fences, used every deterent suggested,,, but few worked as well as dogs.
> The beauty is that dogs work 24/7. Livestock Guardians work best. Penned or fenced fowl until dog is mature enough to be trusted.
> 
> Although I raise Turkish Boz and Kangals, I would recomend Great Pyrenees for small farm poultry. Have less Play Instinct as puppies, and easier to train with such a tempting thing as chickens. Turkish Breeds can work well, as I raise poultry, but take more work to get them past the puppy stage.
> 
> This is my current Chicken Protector!!! He is only 10 months old, but would fight a Mt Lion
> .


nice looking dog...It made me sell my coyote costume


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## Chief Cook

Would you believe that a **** nearly wiped me out of chickens, and my DH had 9 experienced **** hounds? We would come home around 2am to find that nasty bandit chewing on a hen. DH put his best hound on that **** and just knew he had caught him. Thats when he stumbled over his best hound feasting on chicken! Never could trust that dog again! So good luck with your LGD. Remember what might be nerve racking and horrible now, will probably make you chuckle about it years down the road!


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## ChristieAcres

From all the reading I have done regarding LGD's, GD's of all sizes, I think we are either really blessed or just seem to have a knack training dogs (ours is a medium size). We adopted a 6 yr old Lab/Chesapeake/? (could be Collie in him) male, who was a bit thin for his size @ 60#s. After a few months, "Sam," was now 10#s heavier, more muscular, and we had a wonderful guard dog! With each critter introduction, Sam understood they were to "guard," not to harm. He takes his job so seriously, he is on watch 24/7, doesn't leave our unfenced property (6.68 acres), and hasn't harmed a single one of our rabbits, chickens, cats, or piglets. Sam & "Bella," one of our adopted spayed cats, regular play "bait & chase." For predators, we have Eagles, Coyotes, Cougar on occasion, Black Bear, and a few dogs that roam. When our chickens are free-ranging, Sam will lie on the grass, and watch them. If a few go into the front, he will follow them, watch over them, then go to the back, again, to check on the others. If the rooster sounds off, Sam is right there. Due to his size, mainly, we are prepared to take over & execute the predator. Sam lets us know whenever there is a predator, will attempt to fight, and runs off every dog who wanders on our property. Meanwhile, he doesn't mind if both of our cats sleep in his doghouse during the day.

A word on our "introduction" of critters to Sam. When we got chickens, we brought him into the fenced orchard, where we first kept them. He was shown a chick, allowed to sniff, told him "chicky nice, no bite!" Sam tried to lick one, and I told him NO very firmly. After a few times, I put the chick down right in front of Sam, in between in his paws, and he looked up at me, then down at the chick. I told him to "be nice!" He then sat down, and watched at the chick wandered off. Sam began to follow the chick, but I stopped him, told him, "NO," then told him to sit. I praised him, pet him, and just repeated that a few times. Then, I would bring him in the orchard, and leave him in there for a few minutes, 1/2 hour, then for an hour at a time. We have had our chickens for two years, can let them roam all over, and Sam has never hurt one in any way. 

Despite the fact I really love our Sam, I'd sure enjoy getting a Great Pyrenees, eventually.


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## Rock

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He will play with the rooster all day, till they are worn out.








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But if a chick hops into his bowl when eating he just stops till they leave


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## HappyFarmer

MonsterMalek your pup is beautiful.
HF


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## Sededl

Rock said:


> [/IMG]
> He will play with the rooster all day, till they are worn out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [/IMG]
> But if a chick hops into his bowl when eating he just stops till they leave


How sweet, and what a handsome boy!


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