Any hints as how to live peacefully with a border collie who wants to taste feathers.
Nancy
Nancy
Border collie
- Thread starter CityChick446
- Start date
Electric fencing around the birds and LOTS of training and exercise for the dog. They are obsessed with their job - which is to herd/pursue anything that moves. It would be a rare border collie that could ever be completely trusted around chickens. Does not make them bad dogs. It's just the nature of the beast and what they were bred to do.
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I saw this video before socializing my dogs with my chickens...
http://successwithpoultry.blogspot.com/2008/04/dog-training-with-chicken-reducing-prey.html
My two aren't particularly aggressive, but they would have killed my chickens if I had allowed it. They're dogs. With chickens. I started by assuring that they knew these were MY chickens, not THEIR chickens. They were not allowed in the coop, or even allowed to be nosy around the run. Then I brought the chickens into the yard and made the dogs sit still while I set the chickens on their backs (while I had good hold of the chickens.) The next time (on a different day,) I let the chickens free-range in the yard for 10 minutes, scolding the dogs every time they did anything inappropriate, like running at the chickens. We did that a few times, only for a few minutes, then they got the idea that the yard belonged to the chickens as well, and were very sure of what behavior was not allowed. Then I allowed them in the same yard while watching out the window.
I can brag now that I let the chickens and the dogs run around the yard all day, and I'll be gone 5 hours at a time, with no incidents. The dogs now know that chickens are part of the yard life, just like they are. They share table scraps with them, and chase away any unwanted animals, like cats, that get too close. Now I have baby chicks in my bathtub, with the bathroom door open, and the dogs come over and watch them, but don't mess with them. But I do have a husky/aussie that wants to mother them, and I have to make sure she has limited access, because the babies don't appreciate being licked.
BUT...
BIG BUT...
Some dogs will never be trustworthy around chickens. I had to stop dogsitting a friend's schnauzers because they kept trying to chew through the wire to get at my chickens, even while I used shock collars on them. Also, my husband wants to adopt another dog, but now we can only get them as little puppies and train them from the beginning, because I just have too many chickens freeranging in my yard to throw a new, untrained adult dog in there.
http://successwithpoultry.blogspot.com/2008/04/dog-training-with-chicken-reducing-prey.html
My two aren't particularly aggressive, but they would have killed my chickens if I had allowed it. They're dogs. With chickens. I started by assuring that they knew these were MY chickens, not THEIR chickens. They were not allowed in the coop, or even allowed to be nosy around the run. Then I brought the chickens into the yard and made the dogs sit still while I set the chickens on their backs (while I had good hold of the chickens.) The next time (on a different day,) I let the chickens free-range in the yard for 10 minutes, scolding the dogs every time they did anything inappropriate, like running at the chickens. We did that a few times, only for a few minutes, then they got the idea that the yard belonged to the chickens as well, and were very sure of what behavior was not allowed. Then I allowed them in the same yard while watching out the window.
I can brag now that I let the chickens and the dogs run around the yard all day, and I'll be gone 5 hours at a time, with no incidents. The dogs now know that chickens are part of the yard life, just like they are. They share table scraps with them, and chase away any unwanted animals, like cats, that get too close. Now I have baby chicks in my bathtub, with the bathroom door open, and the dogs come over and watch them, but don't mess with them. But I do have a husky/aussie that wants to mother them, and I have to make sure she has limited access, because the babies don't appreciate being licked.
BUT...
BIG BUT...
Some dogs will never be trustworthy around chickens. I had to stop dogsitting a friend's schnauzers because they kept trying to chew through the wire to get at my chickens, even while I used shock collars on them. Also, my husband wants to adopt another dog, but now we can only get them as little puppies and train them from the beginning, because I just have too many chickens freeranging in my yard to throw a new, untrained adult dog in there.
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan 
I am fortunate in that my dogs are not interested in chickens at all. I do keep the chicks away from them - just too tempting.
I am fortunate in that my dogs are not interested in chickens at all. I do keep the chicks away from them - just too tempting.
Hi && Welcome!!!
- Dec 22, 2009
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Hi and 
from Ohio. So glad you joined. 
from Ohio. So glad you joined. 
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