Are chickens smart enough not to try and jump into the dog yard?

[SoORchick73]

My dog will kill my girls if given the chance. Shes a Siberian husky and has killed before (seagulls on the beach). We built her a seperate enclosed yard, yet she is DYINGGG to get to the chickens (she CANT get over or under the fence, she is older and we made it dig proof). The fence is 4' high chain link...so the girls can clearly see her sitting there behind the fence, when I do finally let them out to free range. They are only 10 weeks right now and I want them fully grown before I let them out into my yard. Will they steer clear of trying to hop up onto that 4' fence? I do plan on clipping their wings regardless. I just dont want them thinking for a second they can trust the dog. Thanks....

 

[Cetawin]

In answer to yur question...No, they are not smart enough to stay away from the dog because it is there and supposed to be there and they will go over a 4' fence if they see her food in her dish and thinks it looks good. You need to make sure they cannot get into the dog's area by putting a top on it or keeping the chickens confined to a secure run.

 

[JulieNKC]

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My leghorn has an acre fenced off for her and the other girls. Does she stay here? No, she squeezes through or over the fence to the neighbors where there are 2 labs. And she takes her EE buddy with her. She and her friend are confined to the baby pen until I find a new home for her.

 

[SoORchick73]

wow i had no idea, oh man. this wasnt in the plans

their covered VERY secure run is 15'x4' but i really wanted to let them out to free range. i have 6 teen hens. i guess i will have to tie the dog up when they free range since its not possible to cover the dogs yard. dangit.

glad i asked this before finding out the hard way...

 

[danischi24]

Just keep their wings clipped & you will be fine.

 

[chkn]

Yes, clip the wings and keep them separated. Hens are dead ducks in that situation. One minute happy go lucky, the next minute limp and dead.

 

[SoORchick73]

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So if their wings are clipped we will be ok???? They wont be able to jump??? The plan all along is to keep their wings clipped....

 

[PaleMelanesian]

No. They are not smart enough. I lost two for that very reason, and a third survived only by being a crazy turbo-speed game hen mix.

Clip their wings or make the fence taller.

 

[JulieNKC]

Quote:
So if their wings are clipped we will be ok???? They wont be able to jump??? The plan all along is to keep their wings clipped....

Clipping their wings will make it harder, but I would watch them. Smaller and lighter boned breeds will still be able to jump pretty far even when clipped.

 

[KFox]

My chickens walk directly up to the dogs to check them out. Same with our two barn cats. My Buff Orpington, Annie, followed me into the barn and stole cat food a few days ago. My cats are too old to care. My bantams can jump about 5 ft off the ground. I didn't believe it until I saw it. My standard size chickens can jump 4 ft right now, but that number seems to be dropping. When they were younger/lighter they could jump higher.

One thing that helped when mine were escaping was the vinyl fence weave stuff. I wove it through the fencing on the side I didn't want them climbing up. They couldn't see anything over there through the fence and therefore had no interest in going. Maybe you can block their view and make it less interesting? I would for sure also cover the top if at all possible and/or clip wings.