- Apr 6, 2013
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My chicks are around 10-12 weeks old and I'm having trouble convincing them to come out of the coop. I have two barred rock roosters who do like to come outside. I think they're being frightened by my dogs (2 shih tzus and a lab/german shepherd cross who is 8 months old). My dogs don't "chase" the chickens, but they follow them around and I think it freaks them out. I'm not sure whether to correct this or not, as the dogs aren't harming the chickens, and I assume when they get older and those rooster hormones kick in that they will stand their ground to the dogs. So my question is, is a dog following a chicken ok? It actually seems to be one of the shih tzus who starts it, and then the other two join in. The lab/shepherd puppy doesn't seem to care about the chickens unless my shih tzu is following them. And I don't want them to avoid the chickens altogether, as my dogs are very useful for helping me find stray chickens who haven't come inside at night!