Are Dogs and Chickens OK together?

[Hen-ry Higgins]

Yes, very true. Even though I show my dog getting along with my chickens in my video

, he is never alone with them. I don't "completely" trust him, but almost. It's best to err on the side of caution and keep an eye on your dog as he or she interacts with your precious chickens. I wouldn't ever want to give anyone the impression that you can completely trust your sweet, lovable dog with your chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

Having a dogs that are trustworthy requires work and time. Once realized you can have poultry benefitting from free-range that would not be possible otherwise.

 

[aoxa]

I think it very much depends on your dogs.

I have 3 dogs, and all are awesome with the chickens.

Pictures: Note we had a hen recovering from a pretty terrible goose related injury in the house. That is what you are seeing in some photos

 

[Miggea]

I think, as with cats and all other smaller animals, its down to the dogs instincts/temperament and training. We own an ex-racer (greyhound) and I think once the chickens we have are large enough to really have them interact we can train the chase desire out of him for them. He is a very low-prey grey so it only took one good whack on the nose from the cats for him to decide it wasn't worth his time to even investigate them. He is happy to co-exist with no chase/kill response. Right now he is VERY interested in the chickens when he is around them, I think its the size combined with how active their movements are but I haven't seen the tell-tale grey signs of the chase response but I still want to wait until the chickens are full grown to properly introduce them. A good peck on the nose will discourage him from getting to close haha

 

[ZoeS95423]

Today I watched my Yellow lab chewing on a bone, and he was sharing it with the chickens! For whatever reason they wanted it haha. He didn't mind. Wish I would have gotten a picture.

He was raised with the chickens, and as a pup, any interest he showed in them other than sniffing he got a firm NO.
Never had a problem, other than sometimes he can be a jerk, if my ducks decide they don't want to be in the kind he makes a quick lao around it to get then back in. Or when we play ball and they are sleeping in the yard he has to run right through their little group and get them all stirred up!

Training an adult dog may be a little more difficult but with a lot of patience I'm sure it can be done. Where I know some people who have adult dogs and have recently added chickens to their backyard, the dogs had never seen a chicken before, and didn't seem to care much. The only thing the dogs would do is sneak in the coop and steal an egg or two..

 

[GGBEAR]

well as I said previously my dogs a Labrador and ive only had my chickens just over 2 weeks she seems quite happy with them she more interested in eating their poo ( yuk! ) she always been a bit stupid she 7 now but very good at accepting new things

 

[Blooie]

After reading this thread and posting a comment, I decided to see what Molly, our 10 year old English Setter, would do if I let a few birds out. We leashed her at first, and she quivered and pointed and literally salivated! She lunged for them but was jerked back with a firm, "No bird!" (We use that phrase when the pheasant she is on is a hen) After the first 10 minutes or so we took her in closer to the 4 chickens outside of the run, and she shook and whined like she was getting her toenails trimmed. But she calmed down surprisingly fast. Ken sat on the ground and she lay down next to him and tried desperately to watch all 4 chickens at one time. Then Mathilda the brave came over and pulled a few hairs on her tail. Molly lay totally still, watching. Then she put her head down on the grass and ignored the tail hair thief!

Another half hour went by and we had no issues, so we let her off leash. She's always been very obedient, even in the hunting field, but this was all new territory for her. Giving her credit, she did still fall back on her training. She inched close to one of the birds, and then Mathilda saw a bee! Oh, MY! She ran right underneath Molly and out the other end, never slowing down, and I snapped a picture. It was so funny to see Molly looking at the chicken and the chicken running for all she was worth toward that bee on the dandelion without even realizing how close to danger she was!

But even after all of that, I would never let her out unless she had our undivided attention. I will still not completely trust her around them. And the funny thing is, as soon as all of the chickens were back in the run, she was right back to being her crazy self, running the length of the run, trying to dig again, and jumping up at the run door. Weird dog.


Molly meets Mathilda

 

[centrarchid]

After reading this thread and posting a comment, I decided to see what Molly, our 10 year old English Setter, would do if I let a few birds out. We leashed her at first, and she quivered and pointed and literally salivated! She lunged for them but was jerked back with a firm, "No bird!" (We use that phrase when the pheasant she is on is a hen) After the first 10 minutes or so we took her in closer to the 4 chickens outside of the run, and she shook and whined like she was getting her toenails trimmed. But she calmed down surprisingly fast. Ken sat on the ground and she lay down next to him and tried desperately to watch all 4 chickens at one time. Then Mathilda the brave came over and pulled a few hairs on her tail. Molly lay totally still, watching. Then she put her head down on the grass and ignored the tail hair thief! Another half hour went by and we had no issues, so we let her off leash. She's always been very obedient, even in the hunting field, but this was all new territory for her. Giving her credit, she did still fall back on her training. She inched close to one of the birds, and then Mathilda saw a bee! Oh, MY! She ran right underneath Molly and out the other end, never slowing down, and I snapped a picture. It was so funny to see Molly looking at the chicken and the chicken running for all she was worth toward that bee on the dandelion without even realizing how close to danger she was! But even after all of that, I would never let her out unless she had our undivided attention. I will still not completely trust her around them. And the funny thing is, as soon as all of the chickens were back in the run, she was right back to being her crazy self, running the length of the run, trying to dig again, and jumping up at the run door. Weird dog. Molly meets Mathilda

Behavior you describe is similar to that exhibited by both of my German pointers (also used mostly as bird dogs) with chickens and ducks they are not familiar with. Both dogs are now used in the capacity of guardians. Full trustworthiness was not realized until each was about 18 months old and quality protection was not provided until dogs where about 24 months old. Full trustworthiness means I leave driveway for work with both dogs staring at me while sitting among ducklings, juvenile bantams and a pair of games with chicks in the front yard. When I get home at end of day dogs come in from field where main flocks are kept to great me as they rush through birds they started with in morning. The dogs sleep much of day except when responding to disturbances while at night they work about 20 acres giving all varmints hell. Chickens around house and in yard can roost anywhere without fear of predators owing to those dogs.

 

[Angierob]

Only dog, and there's been a good number, that I've seen that couldn't be trained, was my dad's short legged Jack Russel Terrier type. She killed everything. Other than her, it's been easy to convince the dogs the Chickens are not prey. Certain dogs took quite a liking to the chickens, and I'm convinced saved them from many predators. No cat or coon or hawk or dog or weasel.... is going to risk getting attacked by a dog in order to pilfer a chicken. They just move along to easier prey. 

I have a dog long legged j Russell she is a predator for sure. She sets outside the coop and watches me and knows I love the chicks. She seems uninterested really now that they've been there 6 weeks. This morning I saw her run toward the pen just to scare them. Reba has to let everybody know who's boss. I don't think she would hurt them. But until they are much older I take no chances shutting the gate as I go in and out. However once I forgot and my rascal a dashound just sneaked in and laid down. He wanted to play but was quickly kicked out

 

[Matthfoster]

Any one have a dog actually protect from predators? We have 2 older sled-dogs who are in retirement mode and hoping to let them mingle as they would shy away foxes/owls/etc.