How to get my dog used to chickens

I have a 1 1/2 year old pit/lab mix dog. We now have our first batch of chickens in our coop in the backyard. My dog is constantly barking at the chickens now (they are safe inside, we made sure). Is there anything we can do to help our dog get used to the chickens in the backyard?

Hello and welcome!

There are a bunch of threads on this forum about training your dog with your chickens.

Here's one that has some specifics:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/348428/training-dogs-off-the-chickens

We used a combo of positive reinforcement for good behavior, and negative reinforcements for the bad at our house. We have a black lab, a coonhound, and a mini dachshund. We used a spray bottle with apple cider vinegar and water when the chicks were in the brooder, and we also had to use the field training shock collar on the coonhound once the chicks were outside.

Now my coonhound is still pushy around the chickens, but all she basically wants to do is lick their armpits. ALOT.

Our dogs have an invisible fence in our back yard, and we put the coop and run just outside of it. They go to the edge and sit near and watch the birds, but they don't bark at them. In fact, my lab barks if a large bird flies overhead and runs over to the pen, and all the girls run for cover!

I think you should start with bringing the dog over on a leash, and have some treats to distract him/her. Get him to do tricks and stuff, and reward him any time he looks away from the chickens. Yank on the leash if he starts to obsess. If you have to yank more than twice, start walking in the other direction. You may have to start from pretty far away and gradually move closer.

Good luck!

How obidient is the dog...? How good is her recall response..?

All our dogs live with our other animals.. we just picked up a pit from the pound on the w/end. She's about a year old, she's been introduced to the other animals around here but it will be a long time before I can let her run loose without supervision with them like our older ones.

this question has been asked here so many times that I just saved my response in a document file

training.   training.  more training.    Just like cleaning the coop and scooping poop and all the other jobs that come with having a pet.   The only thing more necessary to a dog than training is food!
 
You already know that he is excited with the chicks.   Find the closest distance that the dog first notices the birds in the brooder.  This might be in another room if he is one to constantly glance at the door.    Put your dog on leash and get some extra special treats that he only gets for this work - bacon, grilled chicken (no spices!), hot dog chunks, etc.     When the dog glances toward the birds, say his name and "leave it"    If he looks at you, give him a treat - if he doesn't, give a light pop on the leash (think tap on the shoulder).  When he looks at you reward him.  
You can also teach him "watch me" the same way.   You can practice this at random times though out the day.   If you have a couple extra minutes while you're watching TV or whatever, just say his name, pause, "watch me"   When he makes eye contact, then reward him.    You can also (if you get in the habit of keeping a small treat in your pockets) catch him looking towards you say "watch me" and then reward.  Or just praise him verbally.
 
Once the dog is reliably paying attention to you and the birds at a distance, move a little bit closer.   If he absolutely blows you off, you're too close.  Just back up a bit and begin again.   Eventually you will be right amongst the birds.    You can then start at a distance or with a long line (20' leash or so) and work from there.    I never ever leave my dogs/chickens loose unattended together.  
I don't even trust Rayden

I don't mean I constantly hover over the dogs when they are out with the birds, but I am in the area and aware of what they are doing.   Think of it as a small child.  Even though you've taught them not to play with matches, would you leave them alone in the house with matches scattered all over the floor?
 
The most important part of the training is to set the dog up to succeed.   Don't give him a chance to chase the birds.  Don't give him a chance to disobey.  
 
ETA:  The best thing about teaching "leave it" is that it works for everything.   Drop something on the floor and don't want the dogs to touch it?  "leave it"    See dog running toward a snake?  "leave it"     Lots of training and work, but it pays off!

OK, I have a bit of a follow-up question: I have an 8 1/2 month old border collie, that does WONDERFULLY with the chickens (never chases, not really all that interested). I am wanting her to "guard" the chickens - that is, just lay down and stay within 10 - 20 feet of the girls when they are turned out to deter cats/hawks/etc. She follows the sit - down - stay just fine, but the guard command seems to be giving her fits. She'll stay for 3 - 5 minutes, then apparently loses interest and wanders off. (Often with a glare towards me...I think she feels like I gave her the stay command and then forgot about her...hehehe...) Does anyone have experience training dogs to guard their flock? Any tips? Is this something she will eventually get better with as she gets some age on her? I typically give her 5 - 10 minutes of frisbee time before I ask her to guard (to get out some energy) - is this counter-productive? I should mention - she is out of agility lines, and does not have a natural herding instinct AT ALL. Pic of Lexi (the Lexicutioner) below:

thanks, everyone! we are working on it we have figured out what excited tyson about the chickens. and we have also noticed that if we dont make a big deal about the chickens he won't either. but he does run and glance in the coop. but i can promise you they will never meet face to face...i think tyson would be all too excited for that. we have taught him to sit by us at the coop if we are just going out to "check" on the chickens. when we walk away we just say come and he does follow and he leaves them alone. little progress is still progress!

HA! K.I.S.S. (keep-it-simple-stupid) wins again! I have found the key to getting Lexi to stop abandoning her post is a simple stick. You give her an old stick to shred, and it GREATLY increases her stay/guard time. Maybe using a distraction like that would help keep your dog from being so interested in chasing the chickens?