A dog and her chicks...

[prostar]

Disclaimer: I do not condone leaving dogs and chickens together unattended and before you try any of the things I've done...know your dog and have them trained to listen even with distractions!! And make sure they're close enough that if they even show the slightest hint of lunges or aggression...you can intervene. Even with my mutt's behaviors being shown, I wouldn't have her with the chicks unattended.

Okay. Now that that's out of the way....the chicks are about three weeks old now...when we first got them, Peach (the dog of questionable breeding) was quite intrigued.

Well, fast forward a couple weeks. I was cleaning out the brooder, and the girls slipped past me for a bit of a wild escape. Peach was also out...put her on a hold (lay down where she stands and don't move til she's released), she listened. Looked at them calmly. Phew.

Now the girls get regular time out of the brooder as they're getting bigger....hubs set up a seat from his off road desert toy that's still in bits in the garage so we have a place to chill. Peach joins me, lays next to me calmly, even when the girls are flapping around and playing keep away she isn't tense, or out to pounce.

Brave girls. And she just hangs out. She did get a little concerned when one of my red sexlinks ventured a bit away from the rest and was heading out of the garage...but just followed. Didn't actively try to herd (don't think she knew how with something that small!) and kept enough of a distance.

I'm sad I missed one photo op with one of my barred rocks. They were almost nose to nose checking each other out.

We went to go back to the house to get them some treats...and the girls were running between her legs. Totally unconcerned.

I think she's realized they're where her favorite treats come from. (Anyone else's dogs obsessed with chicken poop?!?) so she's pretty mellow with them and leaves them room.

And now...random flock and mutt pics.

 

[hbchicknmama]

I love this! This is something that has weighed heavily on my mind. We have 2 dogs- a 4 year old dachshund and a 6 month old Siberian husky puppy. We have not introduced the chickens to them yet at all. Rest assured the coop will be in a fenced corner of our yard where our garden is but I would like to at some point have them be familiar with each other. The dogs love to chase birds in the yard (we have a pretty big yard) and I have horrible thoughts of them chasing our chicks around if they ever got out. Any tips?

 

[prostar]

Yikes. Huskies do have a strong prey drive and the doxxie...I know their prey drive is strong with things like gophers, squirrels and other critters, I'd imagine similar results there.

Truth be told, dogs with strong prey drives...don't trust em with your chickens. Once that kicks in, all bets are off.

My mother in law has a fair sized flock of chickens. She also has a husky...who has killed a couple even with being brought up around them.

In your case I'll say keep them segragted. When in doubt keep em apart. Things you can try to do though while your chicks are in a safe place is try to do your standard obedience work with your dogs. Praise them when they pay attention to you, not the chickens. Baby steps. That may help them learn to ignore the chickens when they're in their coop/enclosure. Its one things when the chicks are calm but sometimes if they make a fuss start flapping around the dog can clue in that mmn! Chicken mcnuggets!!!

Make sure though that you run some pavers or something along the edges of your coop so no one can dig into it. (I haven't even built my coop yet but maybe someone else can chime in on ways to awesomely preditor/dog proof their chicken's space.)

You know your dogs however. How well do they listen to you amidst distractions (the husky is still a pup I imagine puppy shenanagins still happen!)
If you do try to introduce them, do it on leash and be ready to intervene. Peach got introduced with us holding chicks protecting them in our hands. But if your dog shows lunging or roughness, do not do this...

I don't mean to take away all hope. But there's some breeds where dogs can be okay with chickens. And some dogs within that breed can not be okay. (If that makes sense)
There's some breeds I wouldn't even try due to their instincts.

 

[hbchicknmama]

Thank you

 

[splum]

My Doxie is a chicken killer, I learned the hard way he is now restricted to the house and front yard.

 

[MakelaNJoe]

I have a pit bull who is totally mommy friendly with my chicks she licks them clean and pushes them in coop with nose my Chihuahua is totally terrified of the chicks as they are almost her size and my wheeler is totally restricted from chicken access as instinct does tend to kick in.. but when they are in their coop my wheeler will sit and watch them for hours just playing and eating.. Lol dogs and chickens are great!!

 

[MakelaNJoe]

I ment my heeler not wheeler.. Lol darn smart phones these days..

 

[prostar]

Splum dang. Sorry to hear about that

M&J, darn you auto correct!!!! I hear that!!!

 

[flowerchild88]

My kitty had ducklings that grew up lol but they still love each other. lol and yes definitely agree you gotta be careful and know your animals and make sure they're well fed before you start mixing them.

 

[jess8704]

We have a 1 year old Great Pyrenees and he does good with our chicks. We never leave them unattended together but he is very intrigued by them and stands guard. He's great for scaring of the coyotes at night also.