I had an uncle that had an 80 acre farm in Ohio. He grew a variety of vegetables, had hogs, etc. I spent some time there in the 60s as a youth.
He had a pack of half wild, loose dogs. He trained them thru beatings and shooting offenders to not break into the chicken coops, which worked surprisingly well.
Dry food was sporadic, usually only in the winter. They competed with hogs for slop. I watched those dogs dig up potatoes in the garden and they would eat dry cow corn from around the silo. They also kept the rabbits and cat population in check.
