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

[klangsley]

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?

We have two border collies, who are very good with the chickens. We already had chickens when the younger dog arrived as a puppy, and she has done super well with them. The other border collie got to know our chickens as an adult, and has never been interested in doing anything with them other than cleaning up their poop (ugh). The dogs did, however, alert us when a fox was around. They chased that critter like crazy. Having said all that, we do NOT leave the chicken and dogs out together while unattended (why tempt fate?), and I would never trust anyone else’s dogs with our chickens.

 

[Chickenslol]

it really depends on the breed, i wouldn’t recommend a hound dog or lab, but a border collie or other herding related dogs that are on the smaller side would love a few chickens to hang out with. our dog was with the chickens from when they were chicks, so that might be a big part of it. when you do get the dog, i recommend asking if you can bring it to visit the chickens first, or foster it for a few weeks before officially adopting. just be smart and careful.

 

[AnnMarie81]

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 3 dogs, 2 of them id comfortably leave outside with my chickens. The other one is high strung and though I dont think he'd attack them, he definitely likes to chase and pounce. I watch them closely when I let them free range. They only get to when I'm up there with them to avoid injury. It might be best to get a small puppy and raise it around them instead of adopting a dog thats grown.

 

[AfterMath342]

I mostly agree that dogs and chickens should not be mixed. We had a 10 year old Cairn terrier when we first got our chickens and it could care less about its feathered companions. However, if a squirrel was sited in the backyard the dog took off like a dart. Our neighbour's shepherd mix got into our yard once and nearly killed one of my chickens. My chickens would literally peck flies and dirt off my sleeping terrier and it would barely wake up to notice. The dog and chickens peacefully coexisted for years. Once again it very much depends on the breed but I would not recommend any type of 'bird dog'.

 

[cooingdove]

as pretty much everyone said it depends on the dog, atho we have a beagle, a hunting beagle who's killed coons, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits but never goes after chickens. it took A LOT of training but it did work. she's a very good dog.

 

[2hotchicks]

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?

Beagles are hunting dogs but they have a very strong pack instinct. My beagle is afraid of my 2 hens (after a few pecks on the nose).
The most important pack members eat first, so if you get a dog make sure he is always fed after the hens. My cats are always fed before the dogs. If we bring in a new dog they understand quickly that the cats are important members of their new pack.

 

[Studabird]

I have two dogs and free range turkeys. The dogs one Mountain Cur and one Pitbull. The Cur was two when we got chickens and he doesn’t and never had interest in them. The Pit was a few months old when we got him and I caught him pinning down a turkey twice. Both times he was very mightily corrected and now doesn’t mess with them. Granted the turkeys are much larger than the chickens who don’t free range but on the rare occasion when a chicken gets out because my 10 yo isn’t paying attention during feeding time the dogs just look at it with curiosity. I have experience with beagles and would NEVER leave a beagle alone with chickens. They have a very high prey drive and are not smart. (Before you hate on me about talking bad about beagles look it up their lack of intelligence has been well documented in many studies i.e. Stanley Coren ranks the beagle’s intelligence at 131 out of 138 breeds) Beagles are going to do what they do and that is hunt. Rabbits, chickens, whatever thing gets into that little dumb head of theirs.

 

[SnootyHen]

I have huskies. One of them is their beloved protector and she is fiercely loyal and I trust her unsupervised with them. She loves them and insists on being part of anything to do with her chickens. One of them is old and crabby and doesn't care but because of her age, she can be a little unpredictable. She can't hear or smell very well so she spooks easily and I would be too afraid a chicken would scare her unintentionally and she'd snap. We lost one of our girls in November, she was 12 and a big teddy bear and she liked the chickens well enough but I never left her alone with them without the other dog there too because she is very much a bird dog and loves chasing regular birds out of her yard (has caught a few too!) so she was only allowed supervised visits.

Three dogs, all the same breed and all raised the same with 3 different answers.

 

[cooingdove]

They have a very high prey drive and are not smart. (Before you hate on me about talking bad about beagles look it up their lack of intelligence has been well documented in many studies) Beagles are going to do what they do and that is hunt. Rabbits, chickens, whatever thing gets into that little dumb head of theirs.

I disagree that beagles are dumb, but your certainly entitled to that opinion.

 

[WindingRoad]

My dog is fine. Shes a doberman. We got chickens when the dobie was 11. However, my friend growing up got a husky as a puppy and it nearly decimated their entire flock. I think I would definitely avoid ANY dog that is a herding dog, hunting dog, or high energy dog. Even with those things in mind, every single dog is different and you just can't trust them right off the bat. It was a year before we started letting the chickens free range with the dog and felt comfortable about it.

One of my chickens got attacked by a poodle. Former owner. She is missing a lot of feathers on her neck. They never grew back.