Arizona Chickens

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

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Ah Laree I'm sorry. I had one of my broody girls out separated from the coop last week - she was in a dog kennel with no bottom tray so she could get to the grass and hopefully stop thinking that eggs will hatch underneath her! Unfortunately, my roommate let my dogs out and they found a way to get her out of there - he was convinced Dot was dead. Thankfully, he left her alone and brought the dogs inside and when I got home 20 minutes later she had stood back up. This chickie is a tough cookie!! She had a tear on her chest and quite a few feathers stripped out. As terrified as she was she's healing well, and at least she's not broody any more!!

And of course, my dogs were equally pleased with themselves. I know what you mean....I wanted to beat them to death but you love them too so you can't. GRRRRRRR!

 

[Mahonri]

I'm glad my Golden is chicken friendly. She literally lets them walk all over her.

...oh, and happy day, my accountant finally called and said that my taxes were ready to pic up. Don't owe the feds anything till June and only owed the state $637. Not bad.

 

[phoenixmama]

That sucks, Laree. My 5 month old Great Pyr/Newfie mix has proven himself to be a chicken killer too. The last chick I caught him with was a 2 week old RIR. I saw the feet hanging out of his mouth and when I yelled at him, he swallowed the chickie down. *sigh* At least he ate it though...it makes me a lot madder when they die in vain.

 

[LarryPQ]

Thanks, everyone. I have kept the dogs seperate because I know one is a "hunter" and the others are too dumb to realize the chickens are not squeaky toys.

I contemplated processing them, for the "die in vain" reason, but Shane did not look like that would be OK. He's feeling guilty.

 

[cap1717]

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so sorry Laree, any such loss is difficult, but the loss of your breedable Aloha chicks must be especially hard.

 

[redrocketrooster]

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:C I'm so sorry about your chickas...I hope the remaining will be ok.
One of my dogs eats anything smaller than her, ferrets, chickens, cats and SMALL DOGS. She is sweet but a monster.
The other two females are puppies and are like your others. I already caught one of the puppies digging holes under the run fence!
Secretly I have been locking her into the laundry room when I go to see the chickens. She just can't calm down around them.

I wish you luck and that your dogs knock it off!

 

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

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HA! My parents adopted a dog that is the same way. You are not alone. Try and reward your puppy for being calm around the chickens so that you don't create extra anxiety/frustration when you pen her up in the laundry room. When she sits quietly and and lays down, reward her with a treat or toy. Try to redirect her away from the chickens, as it will only get worse as she gets older.

 

[joel david]

I think we are about to start CLOSELY supervised dog and chicken interaction at my house. We had our first (accidental) dog/chook encounter last week that involved some "correction" every one came away unscathed. Two days later Bjorn, Lars and I were giving the cooks meal worms when Bjorn decided he wanted a snack and took off leaving the run open. I didn't pay any attention to the open door and in no time we had dogs and chickens mingling peacefully. So I think the lesson earlier may have stuck, we'll see (carefully). I sure would like for peacefully coexistence because I would really like to turn the chooks out into the yard frequently without having to lock up the dogs.

ETA- Hey, when did I become a GFM? Cool, I just noticed it I'll have to check it out.

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Dog Whisperer had an episode on teaching dogs not to kill small animals. I don't remember all the details, but he did seem to get the dog to learn to let the little animals be. It might be worth tracking down for some ideas. I would have seen it over 2 years ago.

 

[joel david]

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It involves a BIG stick

, just kidding.