Are small Chihuahuas safe if raised with Chickens (Standard and/or Bantam)?

[NinjaGamer2022]

Thx,

 

[Tonyroo]

The dog will be safe with 1 or 2 chickens near it but not the entire flock. Tiny dogs might become a meal for the chickens.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Safe around chickens, safe from chickens or safe with predators because chickens are larger?

I would say no to all of them.

They might decide they have tiny dog syndrome and attack the birds.
They might be picked on from the birds because of their small preylike size
If an animal will eat chickens, they're likely not going to give a second thought about eating something smaller than a chicken

 

[cassie]

The dog will be safe with 1 or 2 chickens near it but not the entire flock. Tiny dogs might become a meal for the chickens.

People need to keep in mind that chickens will eat anything they can find or catch. This includes small animals and anything that cannot get away. I would not like to lose consciousness in the chicken pen.

 

[NinjaGamer2022]

People need to keep in mind that chickens will eat anything they can find or catch. This includes small animals and anything that cannot get away. I would not like to lose consciousness in the chicken pen.

I believe that depends on the breed. I completely trust my Silkies, but NOT Orpingtons!
Still though, it would be terrible to risk a dog. Thank you for your info @cassie .

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I believe that depends on the breed. I completely trust my Silkies, but NOT Orpingtons!
Still though, it would be terrible to risk a dog. Thank you for your info @cassie .

Your silkies are kinder than mine then. Mine hunt as soon as they can, even though the mice are often not much smaller than they are at that point

 

[SourRoses]

My mom's 4lb toy Chihuahua is fine with the birds. Both ways.
We have docile breeds though. When little Chloe goes out the back there's a sweet English Orpington rooster with hens including Ameraucana, Olive Egger, and Leghorns.
When Chloe and her big JRT brother go out the front there's a rooster flock of Genetic Hackle enjoying a half acre or so.

In the 5 years we've had Chloe, we haven't had any problems with her behavior towards the chickens. Like any Chihuahua, she can be a little cranky. She's been known to snap towards me if I come too close to "her" mom while they're snuggling on the recliner. Mom and I both rebuke her sternly and often mom makes her get down. But mom is a little too soft with her in my opinion, however I consider that her decision to make.
So you can see our training methods are not perfect or very strict.

Chloe has caught and killed a few mice. But she does not bother the birds.
Even her big brother the JRT (11 years old, raised around chickens, and I have always been more strict with him in general) is zero concern around adult chickens. He's out there unattended periodically throughout the day and always more concerned with whatever may be outside the fence. If anything he can be a little intimidated by chickens when he's forced into small spaces with them (like if he wants to come up the porch steps and a chicken is occupying the stairs). His solution is to dart past quickly. At some point he learned that beaks are scary weapons, lol.
Lest you think he must be a timid JRT, I must say that it's the breed of dog I was raised with and he's on par with any other male we've had. Meaning I would not doubt his willingness to attack a grizzly bear even if he could only harm it by choking it from getting lodged in its throat.
The girl JRTs are much more aggressive and driven. His predecessor Rosie was perfectly fine with chickens, and she wasn't raised around them, but she was a very well disciplined, singleminded dog who could be called off anything with the word "Frisbee" so she's kind of an exception.

I find that animals raised around the other type of critter are generally fine. Like, my JRT is great around cats. IF they're HIS cats and he knew them as kittens. He hates other roaming cats with a passion.

With a big exception for chicks. My JRT goes nuts for them and I have to remove him from the area before moving chicks around. It's the frantic cheeping that short circuits his prey drive. Once they're half grown they're pretty safe from him.
Chloe would not be safe around little chicks, she shows too much interest in them. But she is much more manageable in the same room with them.

Now that I've said all that, here's a bit of a contradiction.
A few days ago I rehomed a 6 month Olive Egger hen with a friend, because she was starting to pursue Chloe. She pecked at her wriggly little dog tail a few times while we were out there working on the newest coop. Chloe jumped away or got up on her little kids folding chair Mom had brought out for her. The hen was still staring at her. So she made my "list". Not that I blame her at all... she just had too much interest to be a good fit here.

In the end, I think that's what it comes down to. As a human flock and pack manager, you must be willing to call a situation that's not working and make other arrangements for the animal causing the issues.
Rehoming a hen is not too hard. Rehoming a dog is painful. I once had to give away a sweet Border Collie who started chasing my horse. I thought she was going to turn out good after raising her from a puppy around the horses and other critters. But around 6-7 months her chase drive kicked in and my horse was not a calm sort to bore her out of it.

You can only try your best and have a plan if things go south. Timing is really important. If you're busy or stressed it is not a good time to try to integrate different species.