Can dogs and chickens EVER mix????

[BroomFarm]

We have the gentlest lab/rott mix you could ever imagine. He's very protective of our home and family, but has never even come close to hurting anything...except the 3 chickens he "played with" until they were dead. He was probably very disappointed in the chickens as a play-toy because I doubt they lasted very long, at all. None of them had so much as a single puncture wound.

The short answer to your question, imho, is this: A dog is a predator, a chicken is prey. Given a chance, and the right circumstances, I believe any dog is capable of killing a chicken. If you train them well, AND ALWAYS SUPERVISE THEM, I believe they can co-exist.

We have since built a fence that our dog can't get over and still only allow the chickens to free range when we are outside to keep an eye on all of our extended family.

 

[DaisyBishop]

I believe it can depend on the breed and it can also depend on the training. I can leave my australian shepard and my border collie outside with the chickens all day and not worry. I would not leave some breeds of dogs with chickens unless they had extensive training. Some dogs have a very strong prey drive that is difficult to overcome.

 

[Akane]

One reprimand for getting a chicken is not going to teach them a thing if you then let them go chase them the next day. It takes repetition and everytime they chase it means you have to reinforce not chasing about 10 more times than you would have. The first thing to do is keep the dogs from ever having the slightest opportunity to chase anything. Leash them while they are around anything they might chase and if they try it say "NO, Leave it!" and either walk them the other way, distract them with a toy, or if your dogs have good training already then put them in a sit or down stay until they lose interest in the animal they want to chase. Do that all day, every day, for as long as they show interest in chasing. Once they don't show much interest in the animal then give them more rope and let them start getting close to the animals. If they try anything then it's "NO, leave it!" and repeat the same distraction methods. If they really can't behave I go tie mine to something a ways away while I finish chicken chores. When I come back they are usually all wiggly and whining which I just ignore and walk them back to the house or their yard. When they calm down I interact with them again. If you are just consistent about not letting them touch a chicken or other animal they will eventually give up and not even find it interesting anymore. I have high prey driven breeds that were used for hunting in asian countries. They love to chase, they love to kill, and given the chance they'd wipe out every animal in a 2mile radius. I have no problems with them. I do leave a remote training collar (shock collar) on my akita when she is loose or on a long rope around the chickens just in case but she pretty much ignore them while they free range and only occasionally gives in to the desire to throw a paw over one in the coop. She releases it unharmed after a bit of squawking.

 

[ChooksChick]

I don't know that puppies can be successful unless you are doing very structured training with them- our Lab does great with the birds, but he's well past the compulsive stage. You must have them to the point of, "Leave it!" being a command they will absolutely obey.

Also, I've found that daily, controlled exposure in a close environment will desensitize and also ingrain that the birds are part of the pack...at least that's how it works here.

We introduced chicks by brooding in the house (in the bathtub) and exposed the dogs daily by bringing them in the bathroom, making them lay, and they watched us handle the chicks for an hour daily. Then we started letting the chicks run around the bathroom while the dogs lay nearby...eventually they became furry jungle-gyms.

You have to know the dogs and you have to be able to control them. These pups could work out, but you need to work with them- a lot!

 

[horsejody]

Quote:

Chicken and dogs can be OK together sometimmes, but there are no guarantees. Don't leave them together unsupervised.

 

[muddipuppy]

My poodle-terrier dog and my young chickens get along splendidly. My dog even rolls balls to them, trying to get them to play! I just introduced them slowly, from when they were chicks and then allowed them to spend highly supervised time together each day. Now, I think he actually protects them. He goes running whenever someone starts squawking.

 

[breezy]

Too many people expect dogs to behave without proper obedience training. Give your dog the basic skills it needs to obey, teach it proper boundries and they will leave your chickens alone. I have 4 dogs who never saw a chicken till March. They went for the birds as a pack and one sharp vocal command from me of " Leave it" and they stopped dead in their tracks. I can leave my birds and dogs togethor with out fear but only because the dogs have the proper training in place. Find a good quality trainer and pay them a decent fee and train the dogs in a group class. I hear people complain about paying for obedience training but I figure if it cost me $ 200 bucks to train my dog to be safe and compliant and well behaved and the dog lives to be just 10 ...then I spent $ 20.00 a year to ensure that my dog wasnt a threat to kids or small animals including my chickens or a liability to me. Seems like a very reasonable fee when viewed this way to my way of thinking.
best wishes and good luck with the pooches

 

[princess araucana]

I think if they are raised together it helps. We had the brooder box in house with the dog and cat hanging around. OUr dog will go after other cats and animals but none of our own.

 

[scooter147]

I've successfully done it for over 40 years.
Only had one chicken killer in that time and he didn't last long.

 

[The Zoo]

You also have to remember that labs are bred to be bird dogs. How old are they? Labs in general need a large amount of training - you can't just let them go and expect them to know what they should and shouldn't do.
I'd find a good dog trainer but until then I'd never trust them together. Any dog on any given day can do something you wouldn't expect or want.

I have a labradoodle I trust with the chickens (he moves out of the way for them) and a lab/husky cross I watch just because she's older and cranky.

My neighbors dog killed my other neighbors goat last week - they'd been around eachother for months and he just decided to go after her. Totally heartbreaking for the girl whose pet the goat was but she also could have avoided the whole thing by having a pen built for the goat and not trusting the dog.