Can dogs and chickens EVER mix????

[CityChook]

Well, first,

from MN

I want to say how deeply sorry I am to hear that you lost your beloved rooster. Your heart is still broken and will take some time to heal. Hugs to you.

I have a lab and she is fully trustworthy with the hens even when unsupervised. But I work with her every day (I'm a SAHM) and she has a complete understanding of where she lies in the hierarchy of the family pack. And it's about parallel with the chickens... If you continue to work with the pups, they will come to understand what is "yours" and therefore off limits. But it takes time and lots of patience.

I won't bore you with stories, but I can attest to the effectiveness of a shocking collar for quickly clearing up unacceptable behavior. We had a problem with my pooch jumping on my elderly mother when she would come to visit, and when she drew blood (not viciously, but unacceptable never the less) I was at my wits end. I got a collar and made sure that it HURT. Honestly, it only took once. Problem instantly solved. And I was worried that she would equate my mother's frequent visits with getting shocked, but that never happened. Now she wears the collar periodically when she needs a little reminder session and I never have to do anything more than give her a beep. We actually call it her "good dog" collar and see an immediate change in naughty behavior by simply getting it out of the drawer.

Good luck to you and sorry again about your Banty.

 

[obchix]

I have a very large blind dog that my neighbor invited into her yard. Her chickens were out and I said something about if he catches them he will kill them. He has killed numerous gophers when he could see.... well he caught one and it was done. Very sad...

Now we have chickens and he doesnt even pay attention to them at all. (except for the gross chicken poo eating) We have had the chix since they were 2 days old and never any problems with him or our other dog. He must know they are part of "his" pack and not hers?? Good luck!

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

I'm sorry you had to learn that terrible lesson the hard way. I'm sure you are devastated. The simple truth is no, you'll never be able to trust dogs with chickens. You can however, keep them separated with a strong fence and live harmoniously.

 

[sciencechick]

It can work.
We have a Beagle mix and she's a true baby-sitter. She's tried to nurse baby-bunnies, kittens, turtles... and chicks. Whenever we get new chicks, we let her sniff them, encourage her to be gentle and she not happy unless she's given every little fuzz butt a good sniff and lick to make sure everybody is doing fine. Then she lies down with them and keeps an eye on them. They like climbing on her and sometimes roost on her back.
The first batch of chickens that I raised are now 21 weeks old and free-range together with the dog in our yard all day long.
The chickens definetely rule the yard!
The only problem is that the dog seems to find free-range eggs before I do... but we're working on that issue

 

[Mahlzeit]

Quote:
Of course you can trust dogs and chickens just like you can trust dogs with cats and whatever other animals they live with. As said on here many times its all about the training your dog has had. To many people get dogs thinking they are gonna be born knowing what they should and shouldn't do. You should know if you can or can't trust your own dog personally. I have a 10 month old rottweiler. Only one time did he chase a guinea hen and it was just in a playful manner. I yelled no and he stopped right away. He comes out with me everyday morning and evening with the chickens. We have some free range chickens along with some in runs. He just hangs out there with no interest at all in chasing or attacking them and trust me he's full of playful energy. I raised him from little on making sure he knew chickens were not for chasing. He stays outside all day with the free range chickens coming and going in the back yard.

 

[loopityloop]

I have a bullmastiff with unknown background-dog pound pooch. I didn't want to stress about her and the chickens, and so I've spend a heap of time working with her and chickens from when they were peeps.

I still would never leave her unattended with the chicks or peeps....or chickens. I do let her/dog help me clean the pen, and walk amongst the chickens.

As long as I can keep an eye on her, she's safe to be with them in the same environment.

I never leave her without me there with the chickens. I wouldn't want to even trust that it was okay.

I do call her chicken mama. lol The chickens peck at her toe nails...and she doesn't even look at them.

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

Quote:
Of course you can trust dogs and chickens just like you can trust dogs with cats and whatever other animals they live with. As said on here many times its all about the training your dog has had. To many people get dogs thinking they are gonna be born knowing what they should and shouldn't do. You should know if you can or can't trust your own dog personally. I have a 10 month old rottweiler. Only one time did he chase a guinea hen and it was just in a playful manner. I yelled no and he stopped right away. He comes out with me everyday morning and evening with the chickens. We have some free range chickens along with some in runs. He just hangs out there with no interest at all in chasing or attacking them and trust me he's full of playful energy. I raised him from little on making sure he knew chickens were not for chasing. He stays outside all day with the free range chickens coming and going in the back yard.

The one thing we all need to remember is that Rottweilers and Labrador Retrievers are completely different types of dogs. Labs have been bred and trained for a hundred years to go and retrieve birds. It's tough to discipline a dog to ignore that instinct. I've had some wonderful labs, beagles and other bird dogs and no way would I ever leave any of them unsupervised around the chickens. That instinct is hard wired into their brain and no amount of training will ever completely remove it. It wouldn't be the dog's fault if it chased a bird and retrieved it. It would be mine for ignoring what the breed was developed to do. So I choose to build a fence and keep them separate. Simple solution to make everyone happy.

 

[Akane]

Of course you can trust dogs and chickens just like you can trust dogs with cats and whatever other animals they live with.

Even with training, even with them behaving perfectly while you are around and never having shown any interest in another animal I would never ever trust a dog alone with animals small enough for it to kill. I don't leave my dogs loose with the cats when no one is home. 99% of the time they could be fine and my akita helped raise one of the cats from a 3 week old kitten but all it would take is that one incident or accident or misunderstanding and I could have a seriously injured cat. I don't leave my akita home alone loose with my shiba either because despite the fact the akita loves the shiba and is rather protective of her there is 60lbs of size difference between the dogs. It would take so little for injury to happen. If I'm not home my dogs are with me or confined to seperate rooms or crates. If I'm not in the part of the yard the chickens have access to my dogs aren't either. I'll be the first one to bring up training methods and say that any dog can be trained to accept other animals if you are willing to take the time. I'll also be the first one to say dogs are dogs and training only works if something exists to enforce it. Otherwise any half intelligent dog is going to figure out when you aren't capable of enforcing a rule and some day break it. Any dog even if not intelligent enough to figure that out can just plain make a mistake when there is nothing to stop them.​

 

[Mahlzeit]

Quote:
Of course you can trust dogs and chickens just like you can trust dogs with cats and whatever other animals they live with. As said on here many times its all about the training your dog has had. To many people get dogs thinking they are gonna be born knowing what they should and shouldn't do. You should know if you can or can't trust your own dog personally. I have a 10 month old rottweiler. Only one time did he chase a guinea hen and it was just in a playful manner. I yelled no and he stopped right away. He comes out with me everyday morning and evening with the chickens. We have some free range chickens along with some in runs. He just hangs out there with no interest at all in chasing or attacking them and trust me he's full of playful energy. I raised him from little on making sure he knew chickens were not for chasing. He stays outside all day with the free range chickens coming and going in the back yard.

The one thing we all need to remember is that Rottweilers and Labrador Retrievers are completely different types of dogs. Labs have been bred and trained for a hundred years to go and retrieve birds. It's tough to discipline a dog to ignore that instinct. I've had some wonderful labs, beagles and other bird dogs and no way would I ever leave any of them unsupervised around the chickens. That instinct is hard wired into their brain and no amount of training will ever completely remove it. It wouldn't be the dog's fault if it chased a bird and retrieved it. It would be mine for ignoring what the breed was developed to do. So I choose to build a fence and keep them separate. Simple solution to make everyone happy.

I had a lab before the rottweiler. He never chased the chickens either he once dug his way into the pen just to get at the scraps we throw the chickens. Like I said every person knows their own dogs personality and how they are. My chickens that free range go into the back yard with the dogs all the time. I have no problem leaving mine alone together thats how they are all day. For the past 7 years since I started with chickens and haven't had one issue. I'm not saying you should all do that but for me it's not an issue.

 

[d73]

I have a black lab/retriever mix male and a golden retriever female.
When I was keeping my peeps in the house while they were little the dogs got used to them. They would watch the peeps for hours on end.
Now I let my chickens(4m old) and dogs outside together for about 2 hrs a day.
One time someone came over to my house with a dog and my chickens were out. The dog took off after my chickens. My dog protected the chickens by intercepting and tackled they other dog.

I leave my dogs alone with the chickens all the time. Never had a problem.

Then again my dog grabbed a rott in mid air by the throat while the rott was leaping in a attack on one of my kids.
From my exp. with golden retrievers for 19 years they are very family protective. And I think my dogs veiw my chickens as family.