New chicken owners and small dog

[mcarls22]

We are new chicken owners just brought them home today and put them in a chicken tractor. We have Rhode Island Reds.My small dog is going crazy barking and running around it and not listening to no or leave it. Any suggestions?

 

[Bridebeliever]

I personally would get one out and have your dog "touch it" and smell it. (As long as it doesn't go as far as to "taste" it!) I don't know your dog though, you are the best judge of that. We have a dog that is literally a bird dog. He chases every bird that moves! Oh the poor robins! I knew I would have to break him quickly with our chicks. I did it by immediately exposing him to them and have them out with him with my supervision. I even gave him food with the chicks yesterday and one chick and him were "fighting" over the food. He got pecked and went to give a nip back but I told him NO! and he responded and went back to eating pasta with the chick.
Here's a pic of him with one of our chicks

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[splum]

Our small dog, a dauschound, reacted the same way with our first batch of chicks. He got to them the next day and killed every last one. We are careful now, to keep him from the chicks.

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

 

[Mutt Farm]

Hi! Welcome!

I replied to your thread in managing your flock with suggestions I hope you will find quite useful! When I first brought chickens, my 14 yo Jack Russel came back from the half dead and would have dispatched every one with his 6 remaining teeth! I suggest you monitor very closely and keep puppy dog on leash until you can get a little better grasp. Here's the link to that thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1024459/new-chicken-owners-and-small-dog

 

[mcarls22]

Mutt I have a canin terrier and a lab mix the lab can care less about the chickens it the canin terrier Lacey that is the problem. I'm trying the leash now but she is still going crazy

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[drumstick diva]

Do you mean a Cairn terrier? Terriers have a very strong predator drive - very determined, great diggers. I would never hold up a chick to a dog for him to smell or look over. The dog thinks you are offering him a snack. A dog's reflexes are MUCH faster than yours, especially when they already know they intend to swallow the chick. It could happen in a split second - and you will be watching wondering the WTH happened. Chick will be dead!!

The best thing you can ever do is to make sure your dog and chickens never meet.They can't share a backyard or be out together - ever. You can't alternate time outside between the two. Someone will always forget, or a door gets left open or whatever - you will have a massacre.

I have been a greeter on this site for several years. Most new member introductions get around to the part where their dog (sometimes cat) has destroyed their entire flock, grown or babies . Sometimes by the third time they have replaced their flock, they will think about confining the dog, or building safer coops & runs for the chickens.

 

[dekel18042]

We are new chicken owners just brought them home today and put them in a chicken tractor. We have Rhode Island Reds.My small dog is going crazy barking and running around it and not listening to no or leave it. Any suggestions?

I would never leave a dog with a chicken until I am 200% sure he isn't going to injure it. I think your dog is far from ready. Some dogs are fine with chickens and other birds and pets from the get go, some will accept them with training and some need to be kept separate forever.

 

[mcarls22]

Thank you everybody for your help. I have the chicken tractor on the side yard with a gate across it so my little dog will not bother them. I'm hoping if she can see them from a distance for awhile she will start to get use to them . I will not let the chickens out with the dogs for sure . I'm just hoping I can get the little one to keave the chickens alone why they are in there tractor