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Barnyard Buddies:  Best dog to guard chickens?  |
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youngbunny
True Blue Farmgirl
68 Posts
Jeri
Kirkland
WA
USA
68 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 09:22:48 AM
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Mornin' Gals:
We have three darling chickens. What are the best mid-size dogs (no Pyrenees, please) that would do a great job guarding them, but not eating them? I keep hearing Australian Shepherd? We have raccoons lurking. Also, I have one chicken who isn't laying and is just plain MEAN. She's not a rooster, but she's much bigger than the other two dainties that I have laying...what do I do with her? All my chicks are about 6 months old.
Thanks everyone!
Simpler Life = Happier Life! |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 09:44:10 AM
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just about any dog raised from a tiny pup with chickens, will guard to some degree, but racoons have been known to gut dogs, they can be very dangerous, in my opinion, if you want a good guardian dog, go with an Anatolion Shepard, cause they will guard your chickens, family and property...now as far as a mean chicken, rooster or hen, stewpot or re-home...good luck...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 2:27:52 PM
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They aren't medium but because of their hair they are VERY hard to be gutted, and we have never had one gutted, Chow Chows. They guard family, chickens, other pets, etc. At least ours did. Ours was pure bred though. I've seen mixed ones not be as good. However, our chow chow was kind of jealous of the chickens never hurt them but would pee on their food when ever he could! lol haha But, he also did guard them from coons, and such.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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youngbunny
True Blue Farmgirl
68 Posts
Jeri
Kirkland
WA
USA
68 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 3:46:32 PM
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Thank Guys! Heather...HAHAHAHAHHA!!!
Simpler Life = Happier Life! |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 5:14:34 PM
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Anatolian is going to be very similar to a pyr. My Pyr/Aussie shep hybrid is ideal and she's about the same size as a golden retriever. Pyr guardian instinct is extremely strong, especially if you start them young. Maybe look for a cross and look for the smallest pup in the litter? That how we ended up with Molly-medium :)
"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 6:36:00 PM
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Jen, I have anatolians, and aussies, anatolians are not much like Pyr's in my opinion, I like the anatolians alot more, and they don't have the hip problems, as far as the aussies go, great for herding, but if you let them guard and they ever kill something, they usually will then kill anything that runs...
Heather, have personaly seen dogs gutted by coons, not a pretty sight, also have had relatives dogs drowned by coons, and these were redbone hounds, which are tuff hunting dogs, and yes a dog that has as much hair as a chow, probaly would not get gutted, at least not very easily...and if I had a dog peeing on my other animals food, they would be getting re-homed real quick,lol...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 8:38:49 PM
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He was a great dog except for the peeing, but you could tell it was jealousy. And yes their thick tough fur keeps them from being easy prey to a lot of animals. In fact in China they were the guard dogs for the royalty. That's chow chow in all those carvings, not lions as the guards. He was even attacked by mad dogs in the neighborhood once that go for the throat but they couldn't get through his fur to his throat. He was also great with children. He was just a good dog. Except for one night he was barking his head off (rarely ever barked!), and my step dad went out to see what was wrong, and any time my step dad would get close to the direction he was barking he would run and knock my step dad down. Finally my mom came out with the flash light, shown it in the way he was barking and it was a HUGE coon on top of the chicken coop. He was afraid it would attack my step father and was trying to protect him from it! That was the one and only time he ever "attacked" any of us. And it wasn't a real attack more of a trying to keep my step father away from the coon!
He also was very good around any of our friends, with exception to one that he hated......ended up the one friend he hated was a pedophile!
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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Dusky Beauty
True Blue Farmgirl
1108 Posts
Jen
Tonopah
AZ
USA
1108 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 9:51:28 PM
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Quite a story Heather!
"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." ~Gandhi
http://silvermoonfarm.blogspot.com/
"After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” ~Will Rogers |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Sep 26 2011 : 11:47:53 PM
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Yeah we loved him so much. But we learned from him we could no longer trust friends care for the animals while we were gone. We went on vacation one summer and the friend didn't make sure he had enough water and they get sooooooo hot, he died. :( It was horrible. The friend also emptied his pool thinking he was helping us. It was the dogs pool not the kiddy pool (although it was a kid pool, we used it for the dog cause of all the fur he would lay in the kid pool all summer, we would just clean it out each week and refill it each day). After that we boarded our animals when we had to go on vacation. Any way....loved him a lot. He was a GREAT dog! He just didn't like the chickens getting too much attention! hahaha
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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Barnyard Buddies: Best dog to guard chickens? |
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Best dog to guard chickens?
