Chickens or Guinea Hens? Does it matter? Will they torture the dog? Aren’t all hounds hunters? Will Sophie kill the chickens/hens?
You will have to train the dog. I convinced my Bassets and Beagles to leave chickens alone. They wouldn’t chase our cats but any stray in the yard was fair game. My Bassets were serious hunters, slower than the Beagles but I’ve seen them run a cottontail to exhaustion and catch it.
I hear Guinea Hens are great for ticks, too. Don’t think they have the fresh eggs advantage. If you have a mean rooster (like my sister-in-law’s infamous “Big Daddy” who attacked anything that came near his hens, including people) he may torture the dog. We also had ‘Bruester Rooster’ - when his last hen died (we think she committed suicide in the horse water trough to permanently get away from BR) he began to follow my horse Henry around .... talk about the ‘odd couple’! I eventually found him some old laying hens (free to a good home) to keep him company. Then again, you may end up with a rooster like “Freckles” that my young niece (6-7 yrs old) could ‘hypnotize’ and carry around under her arm. Your dog may chase chickens - not good. SIL has a Brittany & he has killed a few chickens - will take the ‘hit’ & run the invisible fence to get to them. He’s either tied up or in the dog pen when the chickens are out of the coop/pen and in the yard. Another Brittany would tolerate baby chicks climbing all over her & she was a great pheasant hunter. Depends on the dog. You will also have to look out for raccoons, possums, hawks, foxes, maybe even coyotes, etc. getting into the chickens - need a secure coop/pen. Chickens do require some work. BTW, last batch of chicks was ‘mixed’, about a half dozen breeds - some had feathered feet, some laid green eggs ..... lots of fun. Personally, I’m fond of Rhode Island Reds - brown eggs, large, pretty chickens.