How do I safely introduce my dogs to the chickens?

[I HRT YARDBIRDS]

Im not 100% sure if this is in the right section! but here it goes anyhow say...



I'm at a loss here. Jeep he pawed at the coop once & now he acts if he could care less. Country on the other hand. He starts shaking I'm not sure if it's from excitement or his being afraid of them? My plan was to free range them but now I'm not sure what to do. I want to be able to keep all my critters....any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks

 

[jlmissouri]

Whatever you do don't leave them alone for awhile. Be sure you are there the first time they meet and make sure your dog knows not to bother the chickens. I introduce them and then stand back to watch. A shock colar can be a great way to train the dog as well. A good dog is the best thing for the safety of your chickens, a bad dog is the #1 predator I deal with.

 

[I HRT YARDBIRDS]

Thanks for the info. The dogs are usually on a leash but weather permitting we will be putting up a Hotwire fence. Maybe that'll help protect my chickies...

 

[prostar]

Do one on one introductions at first. See how the dogs react - if your chickens let you hold them -do that so you can easily block any shenanangins.

If that goes well (no aggression, calm postures) with the both you can do introductions with both. Make sure they're both on leash and both have handlers at the time - just in case. Again check for posture and all that. If they're still calm and ok with everything, do some obedience work with them around the chickens. (This basically just has them focusing on you instead of the distractions - the chickens) see how well you trust them then.

Many dogs, no matter how well trained, just don't do well with chickens. That prey drive kicks in and blammo. Some dogs (like mine) are only a danger to chicken droppings. (It's pretty gross)

Make sure that any interactions or possible interactions are well supervised.

 

[I HRT YARDBIRDS]

Thanks prostar, will definitely give this a shot. Country is the one I'm concerned with. I've been taking him out and when he starts focusing on them to much. I'll kind of tug on his harness and tell him to be nice. And move him a little bit.

 

[brookePA]

We have 2 Weimaraners, so I can give you some pointers. We always get one day old chicks, and we introduce the chicks one by one to the dogs "gentle" we tell them. Even though these are hunting dogs, we've never had a problem with them attacking our hens. We kept the dogs leashed around the birds until we could trust them, normally its taken about 1-2 weeks. Now, my dogs protect and ignore the birds. One of our black giant hens, big Martha, thinks she's a dog. She follows my female Wiem around the yard. Which is hilarious.
It just honestly takes training and patience. But in the end it is worth it. My dogs have protected these hens from both coyotes and Hawks on numerous occasions.

 

[Akrnaf2]

You should remember that dogs are actually wolves and they don't mix very well with chickens! ( from the chicken point of view!)

 

[snow5164]

Oh brother... And we were apes!!i run a dog kennel and I can tell you any dog is trainable it's the people that need a reality check

 

[brookePA]

Agree 110%. No bad dogs, only bad owners.

 

[Akrnaf2]

When a wolf hunts and kill a dear he isn't bad he just acting it's nature!
You should read in this forum about numerous events of chicken that have been killed by dogs.
Believe me this is not the first trade that dealt with this question. And I sow very emotional posts from the 2 opposite sides of the opinion spectrum.
If you want to mix them it is no of my concern, but I think that you should take in consideration al the potions.
Have a good day!