hens stopped laying after dog got in coop, now what?

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josiefox

josiefox

Hatching
7 Years
Mar 24, 2012
5
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9
Help! My great pyranese dog (livestock guardian, ya right!) got into my coop and malled all the chickens around in the snow in the back yard. I only lost one as a result but now none of my hens will lay and they are afraid to come out of the coop. I've tried to encourage them by giving them new bedding and giving them extra food and scraps. Please if any one has any more suggestions let me know. Will my chickens ever begin laying again? thanks!
 
How long ago did this happen, and do you still have the dog? They have stopped laying because of the stress of the attack. Under normal circumstances (Predator no longer present) they would generally resume laying within a couple of weeks to a month. If the predator (your dog) is still present and causing daily stress, I have no idea what the impact willl be.
 
it happened about a week ago. Yes, I still have the dog. We got the dog a year ago just after we got the chickens because we were told that great pyranese dogs will protect chickens from bears. If I get rid of the dog, I'll be inviting the bear back. We had trouble with a bear last year and we also have honey bees and berry patches so the bear can be a real problem especially since we have five children. Up til last week the dog was okay with the chickens in the back yard. But I guess he got bored and decided to play with them, unfortunately he played too rough and the chickens didn't see it as fun.
 
How old is the dog? It can take up to two years to properly train a LGD to be fully trustworthy. Might just be a bump on the dog training road.
 
I have a GP that Was given to us as a 10 month old because she was killing chickens. They severely punished her and for a long time she was very hostile toward the chickens. I kept them in lockdown in the coop for 2 1/2 years. This winter, She has fimally relaxed and I let her in the run with me, gave her lots of love and attention. Lots of time and patience later, the chickens have been totally free ranging for the past week. You can do this. GP's are wonderful dogs, yours just got bored. We also got a Great Dane/Black Lab mix a year ago and they are fast friends. They play together and keep each other amused.
 

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