Are Dogs Always Predators to Chickens?

[JatCat]

I have a Cavalier Spaniel/Cocker Spaniel mix and he's generally great with other "prey animals" (we have 2 rats and a rabbit, and the most he does is get low on the floor with his butt up in the air, ready to play), but would chickens trigger something in him that would make him snap at them? The only time he ever got aggressive with any of my animals was when my clueless kitten tried to steal his food, and my dog took a bit of fur off of the cat's ear. (The kitten still hasn't learned his lesson) A few summers ago, my neighbors let me bring one of their chickens over to my yard for a bit. The dog was fine, only he was persistent in sniffing the chicken. I guess the chicken got a little spooked, but my dog quickly stopped advancing when it was necessary.

What do you think? Can dogs be compatible with chickens? Or would supervision be needed at all times?

 

[csneill]

Thanks so much for that. My update this evening is that I am keeping my naughty dog. I had arranged this morning for him to go to another family that had a farm w no chickens where he could free range with some other dogs & cats. As the time got closer & closer to meet the guy, I started feeling more & more emotional & physically nauseous about giving up my dog. He's been with us for 12 years after all. So I texted the guy & said I just couldn't part w Kirby. He completely understood & wished us luck. We are now making plans to build him a pen & in the meantime he'll be tied up until we get some fencing in. I felt complete relief after making my decision & calling off the re-homing. Oddly enough Kirby doesn't seem to mind being tied up. My other dog comes over to keep him company & mostly he just lays around & sleeps in the sun- except when he gets the urge to chase a chicken, I guess. Hoping for the best here on the farm

 

[trillian]

We have a Mastiff and a Stafford Bull and they both adore our chickens. Once, a feral cat came sniffing around and the Bully went after it, then back to "his flock" and sniffed around to make sure they were all there. They lay in the yard and then chickens crawl all over them. We brought the chickens in the house as babies and the dogs were exposed to them from then on....

 

[Noahbird77]

I LOVE pit Bulls!!!!

 

[Birdydeb]

I'm sorry. My day is ruined when I read yet another story of chickens, ducks, rabbits and goats being killed because someone's dog was running free. I have a hard time understanding why their agony from losing their animals is totally acceptable and taking care of the problem is not. I love dogs, have had dogs all my life and rescue dogs. But we are absolutely phobic about keeping our dogs contained behind our fence on our property. I don't think it is too much to ask that other owners do the same. I just want to scream when someone tells me their dog has "a right to run free" since we are in the country. So any of the above mentioned animals are supposed to die a horrendous death because a dog has the right to run free?

A friend of mine lost her ENTIRE herd of goats last year because she was "out in the country" and someone thought their dogs should run free. Goats she raised from babies....some ended up dying in her arms. She was devastated. The pictures and images stuck in my mind for days. The authorities were useless but perfectly okay with the dogs being shot if on their property. They couldn't catch them no matter what they tried, including staking out the barn at night. It was a pack and they were sneaky....killing for the sake of killing.

I could tell story after story of destroyed animals but it just brings up bad memories. And yes, I accept the fact that if one of my dogs gets on someone else's property they are in jeopardy. It is why we are diligent to make sure they don't get loose. Most of the people around me in this very rural area accept the fact that sometimes dogs escape and they won't react with shooting first....they will try to run dogs off. Most of the time this works. When it doesn't .....a dog pays the price for an irresponsible owner.

 

[yellowherb]

@csneill Since it's already killed chickens I think the odds of retraining it at 12years old are slim. My neighbors had a daschund and I would watch him grabbing their peking ducks and drag them around the yard and chase their chicken flock. It seems harder for the little hunting dogs to control themselves than it does for the larger dogs.

@outlawfarmer I hope this decision not to drop the dog does not come back to bite you. Especially as his original target was your child. With a gun in my hand I would have been hard pressed not to shoot the dog. I can't stand pit bulls. My daughter has been bitten too many times by pits and pit mixes roaming our neighborhood and if I found one on my property, it's owner would be digging a hole.

 

[trillian]

Here's the requested picture!! Bully, Mastiff and our Buff Orphington, Japanese Bantam and Barred Rock

 

[thecreekhouse]

Was your GP raised with chickens? Asking because we are new to chickens and have two GP. Our female we got as a puppy and she us now 3. Our male we rehomed at 18 mo and he just turned 3,however he was raised as a puppy with chickens.I am not really hopeful with the female. Any thoughts?

We didn't get the chickens until he was full grown. He just has the classic, zero prey drive temperament that you want to see in a Great Pyrenees

 

[mimsy]

I had a beagle/doxie mix and a pom who were always good with any small animals. Currently I have a 12 year old pitbull and a 19 year old Aussie who have also never chased any small animals.




There is Lump, my grandson, Zander and you can see Zeki the starling on the bed with them as well. Zeki rides the dog, the turkey tries to, but he's kinda heavy for poor Lump. He's been bit by ferrets, rode by parrots and he just doesn't mind anyone. He will chase coons and cats that go into the chicken yard. If he catches up to them he runs them over, but has never used his mouth. We had an issue with a rather mean tom cat getting in the yard and actually standing his ground to us humans. Lump ran at him, with the tom growling...ran him right over and then turned and managed a one more run over before the cat decided he had enough and ran over our fence. A strange rooster hit the yard once and it only took one run over and it was out of the yard fast. A kitten was in the yard and he just whined till we got it and brought it back to the neighbor. He will even let our own (or are they his?) chickens steal his food. He doesn't really like it, but they peck him in the head and he lets them get away with it. Our bunny considers him her best buddy and does nose kisses and stands on his back to get in a better position to periscope around.

He seems to hate death though. Brought him fishing once and when he saw us kill one he spent the rest of the day with his tail tucked and laying as close to the car as he could while looking sadly at the dead fish. Tried feeding him the fish and he was not interested at all. He won't eat anything that remotely still looks like it did when alive.

 

[Nikosbirds]

I can tell you that my experience has been largely good with my dog and her flock. She is mixed breed (German Shepherd Dog and Boxer we think). When we first got our chicks she was only about 6 months old. We lost one bird- my husband and I disagree about what happened, but it's possible that she played too rough-we didn't see it. However, since then, (it's been 2 years), she hasn't hurt any birds. In fact, she will break up cockfights when they break out- which helps keep the peace. The one thing she does like to do is occasionally run past the flock, startling the ladies. Whether this is intentional or incidental, I don't know for sure, but I think she gets a kick out of it. But she knows that "No chickens" means to back off. And, at this point, the chickens are used to her antics.
I think it's probably smart to choose your dog breed carefully. It seems like a shepherd would be a good choice. Also, look for articles on introducing dogs to chickens. Be patient and don't leave them alone until you are pretty sure the dog isn't a risk. Good luck!