Already have the dogs--can I add chickens?

[HLAC]

I have a crazed hunting lab. She has been retrieving dead critters since she was 7 weeks old. Like a good hunting lab should be... she's 'full of energy' (hyper)

She's also fed raw meat... chickens, venison, fish... etc. Sounds like her and free ranging chickens would be a bad mix, right? - but it's not.

She's highly trainable and required amazingly little instruction from me to understand that live chickens were not for her to chase or eat. The hens are free to go into her pen and pick through her straw or eat her scraps of food. They practically cuddle up together at times.

Temperment and trainability makes all the difference. Each dog is different.
Good luck with them and welcome to the forum!

 

[prochicken]

When my chickens were free range our doberman would always try to herd them back into the coop. But he never tried to harm them.

 

[mrsteiner]

All your chicken loving dog pictures are hilarious...and has encouraged me to try to make this work. We've had obedience training and I think I can teach my boxers to live peacably with their new family members. Thanks for all your posts!

 

[terrilhb]

Here is some of my dogs with the chicks

The dog this chick is on we rescued. Before we got him the neighbors said he killed everything and went after people all the time. He was 4 when we found him. He now lives with 3 other dogs, 2 cats, 3 goats, and 20 chickens. The only time he is aggresive now is if he feels we are in danger or the other animals.

 

[Judy]

I've trained 4 dogs to leave the chickens alone. Retriever and lab mixes, Jack Russell, and a mutt, may be Chihuahua and spaniel. Jack Russels of course are prey dogs, and mine hunts, kills and eats mice and rats, and probably other critters, but ignores the chickens.

Usually, dogs want to play with chickens -- they shake them and of course that kills the bird. Generally they don't eat the kill.

If you train your dogs that the chickens are part of the pack, to be left alone, just as you would a new puppy or kitten, they will go a long way toward protecting your flock from other predators.

 

[werecatrising]

I have a pyrenees mix and a doberman. Both are great with the birds. I had Darla, the pyr mix, first. I intially left them in a fenced in area when they weren't supervised. After awhile I let them free range and everyone was fine. I know now that Darla would give her life for her birds.

I adopted Quinn, the dobie, a little under a year ago. He was about 7 months old. I expected to have to do tons of work with him. He actually learned very fast. He tried chasing them a few times, would just sort of run towards them then watch in amusement as they scattered. It only took a few corrections for him to stop. Now he helps stand guard when I have chicks outside for the day. At night if I have some hiding I need to find he will sniff them out on command. Any other time he just ignores them.
Ginormous chicken, your story reminds me of a clients dog. They live with a golden retreiver on land with a pond. The goofy dog will run down to the pond and bring back ducks. Never hurts them, just brings them to the owner.

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
I have a German Shepherd who was 2.5 years old when I got my baby chicks. He is perfect with them and when they are free ranging he really doesn't pay any attention to them. For the longest time I wouldn't allow him outside with the chickens unless I was also outside with him but now I don’t have the worry. One day I was outside with the dog and had given him a treat bone to chew on... I looked over and my Australorp was beak to mouth with him eating off of the same bone. I wish I'd gotten a picture. I stood guard closely that time just to keep an eye on things and even then we had no issues. My dog though is very good and keeps guard over his cats also... I think he just naturally thinks his job is to protect all creatures of ours and is very gentle. I've seen him get highly upset at another dog that a friend brought over when their dog would get too close to our cats. Now I still won’t leave him and the chickens out all day when I'm at work; maybe as time goes on I'll continue to put more trust into him. For now they are only together running free when I'm home after work or on the weekends.

I wonder if it is the breed. I have a shepherd mix (not sure what she is mixed with but she looks like a miniature german shepherd) . When the rabbits were in the back yard, she would lay next to the cage and if my mother's dog came too close, or our lab, she would growly at them. Even got in a fight one time when the blue healer tried to pick at the rabbits. We we got the chickens in the coop, she went out there and would not let the other dogs get close. She circled the coop over and over and if they got too close, she growled at them. It was very strange. I don't worry about predators when she is outside, cause she sleeps right by the cage, I dare a racoon to try and get through Annie!