Can a dog and chickens safely coexist in a small backyard?

[Shahnaz13]

We had a German Shepard who was chased by a furious Bantam mom when she sniffed the pheasant babies - Gina came never close to the chicks or chickens for that matter.

And then came Prince, a wolf/dog as a 8 week old puppy, into our family. He respected the free range chickens and pheasants and we never had an incident between fowl and wolf but maybe we were just lucky? .

It really lies with the animal. Can you bring the dog in for a "meet and great" on a leash and see how he might react to the featheries?

 

[Berniejane]

So my dilemma is this. I really want to adopt a dog, but I own three pet chickens I am very attached to. I worry that no matter how careful I am, any dog I adopt is going to eventually get loose and eat my chickens. Do you think dog and chicken can coexist in a small backyard? I'd love to hear about other peoples experiences and opinions.

Here's some background on our situation. Our yard is a small, fenced lot (less than .25 acres). My chickens have a good size run, but frequently free-range the backyard when I am around to watch them. The dog I am looking to adopt is a 2 year old beagle. My husband (also very attached to the chickens) tells me to adopt a cat instead, just to be safe. I like cats but I LOVE dogs. Can a dog be trained to tolerate chickens?

So our Yellow Lab/ Australian Shepherd was introduced to baby chicks at age 7 for the first time. We did it very slowly, letting him sniff them, then lick, eventually letting them hop on his back. He showed great interest at first. When we introduced them to outside enclosure, he'd run around the outside like he wanted to chase them. Eventually we let him inside the enclosure and he did try to taste a few of them around. But as soon as he found out that they were no fun to play with he pretty much let them alone. Soon we had him laying down paying no attention to them.
Now, Yoda couldn't care less about the chickens. Although he does alert me when one of them gets out. It all depends on how you do it and the temperament of your dog. We got lucky.

 

[maryann444]

So my dilemma is this. I really want to adopt a dog, but I own three pet chickens I am very attached to. I worry that no matter how careful I am, any dog I adopt is going to eventually get loose and eat my chickens. Do you think dog and chicken can coexist in a small backyard? I'd love to hear about other peoples experiences and opinions.

Here's some background on our situation. Our yard is a small, fenced lot (less than .25 acres). My chickens have a good size run, but frequently free-range the backyard when I am around to watch them. The dog I am looking to adopt is a 2 year old beagle. My husband (also very attached to the chickens) tells me to adopt a cat instead, just to be safe. I like cats but I LOVE dogs. Can a dog be trained to tolerate chickens?

I have two dogs a pit bull and a dachshund mix. They don’t bother my chickens at all of the chickens are in or out of their run But I never leave them alone with the chickens just cause that feels so irresponsible. However the other day I lost my dogs. We searched high and low and they were just gone. We drove the neighborhood we were frantic. Hours later I found them asleep in the chicken run. The chickens were unharmed. They must have followed me in earlier in the day. So go figure. They really only like to eat the poop.

 

[nchls school]

My backyard has turkeys, peafowl, chickens, ducks, and pigeons. There are also 8 small dogs who are often seen sharing dishes with the birds, BUT our dogs have grown up with the birds.

 

[LeeWren]

My rescue pittie (probably with some bulldog; may he rest in peace) was a guardian dog to my three precious backyard girls who always free range, despite a very persistent neighborhood Cooper's hawk. When in the yard he watched out for the hawk, broke up the infrequent squabble, but basically let them be. My Barred Rock Chitin took care of an aggressive cat by peeking him squarely between the eyes when he tried to attack and he never tried to bother them again. Yes, it depends on the animal...BUT I would not put a beagle with chickens even while you are present. They are a hunting dog after all.

 

[Hair@Karens]

So my dilemma is this. I really want to adopt a dog, but I own three pet chickens I am very attached to. I worry that no matter how careful I am, any dog I adopt is going to eventually get loose and eat my chickens. Do you think dog and chicken can coexist in a small backyard? I'd love to hear about other peoples experiences and opinions.

Here's some background on our situation. Our yard is a small, fenced lot (less than .25 acres). My chickens have a good size run, but frequently free-range the backyard when I am around to watch them. The dog I am looking to adopt is a 2 year old beagle. My husband (also very attached to the chickens) tells me to adopt a cat instead, just to be safe. I like cats but I LOVE dogs. Can a dog be trained to tolerate chickens?

I have 2 100 pound labs that hang out with my chickens all the time. They protect the chickens from the foxes and the hawks that come around. One of my hens even sits on top of one of my dogs at times .

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

It depends on the dog, but you could never be sure. What I would recommend in fencing off a chicken area in your yard.

 

[lfrancois]

So my dilemma is this. I really want to adopt a dog, but I own three pet chickens I am very attached to. I worry that no matter how careful I am, any dog I adopt is going to eventually get loose and eat my chickens. Do you think dog and chicken can coexist in a small backyard? I'd love to hear about other peoples experiences and opinions.

Here's some background on our situation. Our yard is a small, fenced lot (less than .25 acres). My chickens have a good size run, but frequently free-range the backyard when I am around to watch them. The dog I am looking to adopt is a 2 year old beagle. My husband (also very attached to the chickens) tells me to adopt a cat instead, just to be safe. I like cats but I LOVE dogs. Can a dog be trained to tolerate chickens?

Hi. I have 2 white german shepherds, They were 2 years old when I introduced them to my chickens who are free ranged. they killed a couple of them when I wasn't watching before I decided to do something about it. I subsequently trained them, not to kill my chickens, which they haven't done since. i currently let them run free with my chickens, turkeys and ducks, I can even leave them all day without supervision with no worries. i also have never had a problem with foxes or raccoons. I actually depend on the dogs to protect them. I taught them that the fowls around the house are part of the family. The way I taught the dogs, and I now have 4 of them. Is that the fowls are dominant over them. there are plenty of youtube ways to train your dogs. I truly believe, that with time and patience, any dog can be trained.

 

[Treaster]

I have three small dogs that I freely let run with my chickens. The dogs all enjoy hunting for mice, rabbits, and even chase stray cats off our property.
I had my chicks in our house for the first few weeks and the dogs were super excited to look at the chicks. The dogs may have harmed the chicks at that time if they had access to them, but I only took one dog in at a time to look at the peeps so I had control over the situation.
When I moved the chicks to the outside pen, they were safely secured so the dogs could see them, but not physically reach them. If the dogs started to get excited over the chickens, I would just tell them " no" and they would calm down realizing the chickens weren't to be harmed. Sometimes I would hold a chicken and let the dogs do a friendly sniff. Again, if the dog started to get excited, I would just say a firm "no".
The first few times that I let the chickens out to free range, I would take out one dog at a time on a leash. I fed the chickens right next to me to see how the dog reacted. Again, if the dog started to act like he viewed the chicken as prey, I would reprimand him with a "no".
My dogs listen well and it didn't take much effort for them to become quick friends with the chickens. They peacefully co-exist.

 

[Ellegibs]

I have 2 pugs that I had before the chickens. They watched the chickens grow from chicks into adults. Neither pay each other any attention. They are in the yard side by side quite often. As many have said, I think it depends on the dog. Many times its suggested to get a dog to protect your chickens from predators.