Brittany Spaniel + Chickens???

[Chicken O Rama]

Hello everyone,
I've had chickens for 4 years and I've always wanted a dog. I ran into the loveliest, prettiest, happy dog while at the animal shelter, and it is a 5 month old female brittany spaniel. I know they are bred the hunt birds which isn't going to make the chickens happy, probably. Is it possible to train her to where she wouldn't try to kill them? I really love this dog but I also want my chickens to be safe.
Thank you!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I have a 7 year old English Setter. Probably about the same hunting drive as a Brittany Spaniel.
We bought a house and 25 acres that came with Guinea hens. Very spoiled guinea hens, they come to the house looking for handouts every day. Right after we moved in, we went to town and left the dog in the fenced in yard. When we got home, we heard the guineas and this desparate barking. The 5 guineas had cornered the dog around back of the house, trying to figure out where he stands in the order of things I suppose. Now, when I came around the corner, the guineas backed off and the dog came running up to me, hiding behind me and watching those scary birds. DH encouraged him to bark at the guineas and chase them off. He has been doing that ever since and I cannot break him of chasing them. I don't think he would kill them, but he will never just leave them be either. I think it is entirely our fault that he is a bird chaser, but I know he is not a bird killer. He could have killed those guineas while we were gone, but he didn't touch them and hasn't tried to hurt them since, but he loves to chase them out of his yard. Setters are considered GUN DOGS, their job is purely to locate the birds - a good percentage will not retrieve. Most that I have met are very gentle dogs, not prone to killing anything.

I think with careful introduction and supervised visits for a while, you may be able to get them to get along.