My dogs are killing my chickens

[Skoda]

Thank you everyone for such thoughtful and prompt feedback.

I should have provided more background on my Border Collie and my chickens in my initial post. The BC in fact previously been trained to be watchful of the chickens, simply by repeating the use of the command, "no", when being too aggressive with the chickens. He has lapsed since we introduced the French Bulldog and the command "no" is now only effective when we are around to use it. If no one is around and a chicken escapes the pen, the BC will chase the chicken until it collapses of exhaustion. It will not mutilate it in any way.

I should add that I'm on my second Border Collie. The previous one was such a natural herder that she would herd them towards the coop on command, this was back when I let them free range during daylight when I was around. Perhaps the free ranging accustomed my previous BC to being in their presence and keeping them penned in has triggered a more aggressive herding instinct?

At this juncture I'm thinking I should invest more time in training the dogs on a leash in the presence of the chickens and letting the chickens outside the pen occasionally when I'm around.

 

[PirateGirl]

As @Kessel23 mentions, different dogs will respond to different methods. I would start with whatever training method you have used with your dog successfully in the past. This way the system of associations between behaviors and reinforcements are familiar to the dog and hopefully they will get it faster. If they know a certain command that they can apply to the chickens this would be great. For example my dog was already trained "leave it" which is exactly what I want her to do with the chickens.

 

[PirateGirl]

It's interesting that you mention the pen and more aggressive herding instinct. I think this is possible. There is such a thing as fence aggression as well as leash aggression with dogs. I don't know exactly what causes it, but when they cannot go where they want when they want it makes them uncomfortable and dogs can act out in a way that is aggressive. My dog definitely does this with the leash, if she meets another dog on leash she will snap at it, if they are both off leash, no drama and totally fine with each other.

 

[lazy gardener]

My dog is currently fine with the chickens UNLESS I reprimand a chicken. Then, she feels as though she needs to get in on the discipline as well. She will lay in the yard with them surrounding her. But, if I tell a chicken to get out of the garage, or flower bed, she feels compelled to get in on the action.

My roo actually had a show down with her several weeks ago. It ended up with both of them declaring a truce.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I can't disagree more with you,
I had a 5 year old border collie , rescue dog.
had him trained in two days to leave the chickens and ducks alone. No, I did not beat him.
as you can see from my avatar, I do have LGD's. I got them after my border collie died at a ripe old age..
take a chair, put the dog on a leash. then sit right in amongst the chickens.
teach the dog the word "no" . that comes in handy with any situation..
when the dog shows the wrong attitude toward the chickens. pull him back and say no. if he is just curious, let him sniff the chickens. nothing wrong with that.
If you don't have an hour or two free to train the dog, then you can spend that hour later burying the killed chickens.

Agreed.
We have Aussies and one was well passed 2 years old when we trained him.
Sometimes you have to take advice with a grain of salt.
When someone asks about a herding breed and chickens its not hard to imagine that post from a member who is very passionate and very involved in breeding and selling LGDs to post opinions like that one.

 

[dainerra]

herding behavio is just controlled prey drive. The reason the BC changed his behavior around the chickens is 2-fold. First, a group of dogs reacts to everything differently than a single dog unless you have put work into training them together. Second, the boston taught him that chasing chickens is FUN.
So you simply step back in training. Neither dog has access to the chickens off leash. Work on the leave it command and discourage all attention to the bird.

 

[jvls1942]

just for the record. I did not criticize the shock collar, I did not intend to imply that I was against it. sorry if it was interpreted that way.
I have an invisible fence around part of my
yard. each dog (3) of them has a collar.
I have not put the collars on them yet.
the fence is in place almost a year..
I will not put the collar on any dog until I feel the shock on my hand first.
I do not think it is as bad as electric fence shock. I am thinking it will feel more like a june bug crawling on my skin..
btw. my lgd's did not bother my chickens or any of my birds. except for the one in the picture, I raised the rest from pups.
I am not a real byc'er,, I have lots of acres and hundreds of assorted birds..no pens or cages. all free ranging, and pooping on the sidewalk to the house..
If you have geese, you know that their favorite rest room is a warm sidewalk..
I had 28 such geese..
the notion that a bird hunting dog is prone to chasing birds is false. If you have ever hunted with a bird dog, they only find the birds and retrieve the dead ones. a hunter does not tolerate a bird chasing dog
remember this, you have to be smarter than the animal you are training.
If you cannot train the animal, how does it feel to be less intelligent ?? just wondering.

...jiminwisc......

 

[Duckztailz1]

Thank you everyone for such thoughtful and prompt feedback.

I should have provided more background on my Border Collie and my chickens in my initial post. The BC in fact previously been trained to be watchful of the chickens, simply by repeating the use of the command, "no", when being too aggressive with the chickens. He has lapsed since we introduced the French Bulldog and the command "no" is now only effective when we are around to use it. If no one is around and a chicken escapes the pen, the BC will chase the chicken until it collapses of exhaustion. It will not mutilate it in any way.

I should add that I'm on my second Border Collie. The previous one was such a natural herder that she would herd them towards the coop on command, this was back when I let them free range during daylight when I was around. Perhaps the free ranging accustomed my previous BC to being in their presence and keeping them penned in has triggered a more aggressive herding instinct?

At this juncture I'm thinking I should invest more time in training the dogs on a leash in the presence of the chickens and letting the chickens outside the pen occasionally when I'm around.

What state do you live in? I'd be more than help happy to help, if we are Neighbors!!

I'll give you a secret.. take the two dogs for a nice run not a walk but a run let them get really tired and then begin your training. Do that everyday for a week or two.

Took my dog like 0 days too be good around chickens Ducks geese. And yeah it is an 8 year old pit!

 

[Skoda]

What state do you live in? I'd be more than help happy to help, if we are Neighbors!!

I'll give you a secret.. take the two dogs for a nice run not a walk but a run let them get really tired and then begin your training. Do that everyday for a week or two.

Took my dog like 0 days too be good around chickens Ducks geese. And yeah it is an 8 year old pit!

Hi Duckztailz1,
I'm in NJ, Hunterdon County to be more precise. I thought I updated my profile for that but I guess I did something wrong.

I think your idea is a good one! However, I'm very sad to say that I'm down to one chicken and I don't have the heart to start training so soon. It wasn't long ago that I had such beautiful flock. I just wish I had thought to ask for advice sooner. I'll probably wait until the weekend, maybe even next before I give it a try. The lone surviving chicken also still seems too traumatized for any kind of canine contact.

Thanks for the help and let me know if we're neighbors per chance.

 

[Duckztailz1]

Hi Duckztailz1,
I'm in NJ, Hunterdon County to be more precise. I thought I updated my profile for that but I guess I did something wrong.

I think your idea is a good one! However, I'm very sad to say that I'm down to one chicken and I don't have the heart to start training so soon. It wasn't long ago that I had such beautiful flock. I just wish I had thought to ask for advice sooner. I'll probably wait until the weekend, maybe even next before I give it a try. The lone surviving chicken also still seems too traumatized for any kind of canine contact.

Thanks for the help and let me know if we're neighbors per chance.

Sorry to hear about that... I'm actually in South Jersey so we are neighbors if you're interested in ducks and ducklings I got quite a few and I could hook you up!! Its a different lifestyle than the chick but in my opinion I love Ducks more! They Hardyer, they do better here in the cold weather, they love the rain. And because they're so much bigger and slower dogs really don't mess with them cuz they're normally in a pack moving together. But then again my dog is pretty well-trained so I could be taking her manners for granted.