- Jul 21, 2014
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We got our first baby chicks this week. We took our time and built a nice coop. We fenced a chicken yard with shade area and sun area and even made certain to cover the top with fencing to keep out the owls. Underneath the coop we used 1/2 inch hardware cloth and the remainder of the fencing is six feet, heavy gauge, coated hex wire. We have a four year old Great Pyrenees and his instincts should be to act as a guardian. I began going to the fence with the baby chicks in my hand and he would nose it and sniff it, but wasn't aggressive. The first two nights we left the chicks in the house in a kennel, but each day I would take them out and put them down in their pen and let them run around. Our dog would go beserk. I would correct him and he would run round and round the outside of the pen and try to get through the wire. I caught him one time taking the wire with his teeth and trying to pull it loose from the fence boards. I would check him and he would stop, but he continued to stay totally focused on the baby chicks. This afternoon we left to go pick up something to eat and bring it back home. I wouldn't leave the chicks in the pen, but I did put them in their coop. We were gone less than 30 minutes and came back to find our dog inside the pen. He had literally used his teeth and chewed through the wire (we didn't use the light gauge, but the heavier wire that was coated). He had chewed a hole as big around as a 55 gallon drum. He got into the pen and was in front of the coop trying to nose the sliding door open. We tried to get him out and he refused to come. He's a large Pyrenees at 160 pounds. I had to spray him with the hose to get him out. What can we do to get him adjusted to the chickens.