Introducing Dogs to chickens

[Bauer in Montana]

 

[yotricia02]

Quote:
P-Funk, you are not disagreeing at all, just saying that you gave up on the dog. I lived in Denver for almost 10 years and part of that time volunteered at the DDFL. I saw many dogs that ended up there simply because nobody wanted to work with them. In my post, I tried to get across that you don't have to start with a well-balanced puppy. We started with an abused adult that had been through 2 families and spent too much time at the shelter and yet he could be corrected. Believe me, the first 3 months were challenging at times, but I just kept at it. That said, there is a guy in the neighborhood who used to have a flock of chickens and now there are only 4 survivors. His dogs is a spaniel and she kills birds. When she dug out of his yard, she paid us a visit and killed our rooster. They seem to be unable to cure her, but then she is a very bored bird hunting dog.

We got a chcocolate lab that was in a cage all the time. He ran off a few times but now (a year later) I can leave him out there for about 20 mins without supervision before he "wanders" off. He is a happy dog and I look forward to see his reactions with chickens this spring. Mine are not free range so I don't have to worry about the dog attacking them or anything. I am worried about him peeing all over them because he wants to tag the chicken area. Anyone have any ideas if that happens?

 

[rmh0508]

I am more worried about my dog lol. One of the girld attacked my 80# German Shepherd today when she came to sit by me. Scared the bejeezus out of my poor dog lol. I do have to agree with the obedience opinions on here though. I have a 2 yr old GSD, a 2 yr old Aussie and a 13 yr old Chi mix. All of them completely ignore the chickens ANd I have chicks through adults and standards and Bantams. The dogs have all been through obedience classes and are worked with regularly. When my dogs are told to leave it the will not even look at what the were told to leave. My Aussie is deaf but he has a hand signal that basically means "get away from it" and he will actually move across the yard from something when signaled. It is all in the training and who your dog views as the pack leader.
My chickens free range and my gogs have run of the property as well and I have never had a problem...

 

[seanw]

I have a German Sheppard/ Golden Retriever cross and trained her in short order, I watched a video posted somewhere on this web site of the dog whisperer and in 15 or 20 minutes and close supervision the dog was trained. And for anybody who watches that show knows, just because your nice doesn't mean that your dog will be. There is the pack, herd mentality that comes into play, and who is actually in charge, you or your dog makes a world of differance...anyway it helped me.javascript:insert_text('

',%20''); good luck

 

[chickchicks]

i have a staff lab mix called buddy who was a stray we hadhimabout 3 months before getting some chickens

we let him sniff the box and then let him see them throught the run for a week

after a week the chickens came out free round the garden and the dog was to watch behind glass for a day ( patio doors are all glass)

after this he chickens would free range and i did it in stages but from day one of taking the dog to see the chickens on a leash with a mask on the chickens attacked him and he seems to know whos boss from then on he now runs around with them free no problems ( unless there is a bone then its a free for all)

i put him on a leash as he is a nasty dog with others his size but he seems to love the chickens and protects them from pidgeons all day long and loves his roll he always wags his tail when he sees them and chases themaround with a toy drops the toy and waits patiently to see if the chickens will play back !!!

you just have to keep an eye out incase things urn as chickens and dogs dont always speak the same language

 

[speckly chicken]

Good thoughts - thanks everyone for all your thoughts and opinions. I have a German Shepherd mix that I will be introducing to chicks when I get them. Lots of food for thought here.

 

[Jo Anne]

that is a beautiful retriver

 

[keyloulou]

when we had real young chicks one of our Boston Terriers would lay outside the chicken yard and watch the chicks while drooling. I would scold her for watching them and drooling and make her lay somewhere else because she forced her way in one day and killed a chick. I thought the drooling was she thought they were food but now she drools when she is around the new puppy. Behaviorist have said that the drooling is a sign of nervousness. She does not know how to react to the quick movements of the puppy or chicks. I would never trust any of mine around the chicks but now the chicks are now near full grown size the dogs can go into the chicken pen with me. They don't even care about the chickens but do get scared when a chicken pecks them on their hinny while they are looking for chicken poop to snack on. I never take them in more than one at a time and the chick killer is only allowed in there with two people so one can sit with her while the other cleans up or feeds. She is known for hating cats but we want her to be able to be out in the yard is we get the chance to free range in the future. There is no way I would let all 5 Boston Terriers in the pen with the chickens at one time. I don't think it would matter but I will not take a chance of something happening. I love my dogs and I love my chickens. We have two BYM chicks that are a couple of weeks old right now so no dogs in the pen until they get a bit bigger. Yesterday the chicks found a way out of the pen and were running around like crazy while all of the dogs were out in the yard. The dogs were all busy trying to stay far away from the puppies so they didn't even notice a Bantam hen and two yellow chicks running around as we tried to herd them back into the penned area. I think if you work with the dogs and show them the chickens are not toys they can live together in harmony as long as you keep an eye on the whole group.

 

[treefrogging]

It's so cute to see the pictures of dogs and chickens! Haven't had my dog see them yet because the chickens haven't been in the run yet, but I'm thinking it will be okay. He's pretty friendly to everyone/other animals. He may just want to sniff them through the run.

 

[daleandtina]

I have a lab and German Shepard who have killed their share of chickens because I thought they could be unsupervised too early. But we didn't give up because we needed a poultry protector too. They are both able to be unsupervised now and are completely compatible. But it's about pushing your will and not giving up and not leaving them unsupervised with dogs under 2.