Chicken compatible dog breed

[PeeperKeeper]

Ginger is 20" at the shoulder. Skippy is 2 inches taller and longer with feet like an elephant! Mindy was about the same size as Ginger. She was the runt of her litter and her mother was also on the small side. I've seen Aussies and Borders of vaious sizes. Check out the parents. We knew Mindy's mother and she was a great family/farm dog.

 

[whatsup chickenbutt]

a dogs natural instincts are to get the bird, I think. It really is all about you. And if you get a puppy, it will grow up to respect the things you train it to respect. I have a sharpei who will chase and try to grab, though not kill, any cat, but his own, and though he did kill a neighbor's chicken last summer, I have since gotten my own, and with a lot of time spent out there with the chickens, with him, he is very well behaved, and I dont watch him anymore. We have 4 chickens that get out of their yard all the time and he doesnt bother them at all. I also have a little terier who couldnt care less about the chickens, with no work on my part.

 

[ChickenLuva]

Quote:
All excellent points, which is why I think we've been so fortunate with our Lab. First of all, she has the most wonderful demeanor I could have ever asked for in a pet. Secondly, I spent a lot of time training her to behave around the chickens or she would still be chasing and nipping at them for fun. Now, the only reasons I watch her with them is because she tries to steal their food and eat their poop! Eeeewwwee!!!

 

[HuestisFarm]

Well, I can tell you one thing... don't get a Boxer! *lol* My 3 go absolutely nuts when they see our little flock of free-rangers. My male is the worst - on several occasions he's gotten one of our roos. Thankfully, they have become smart & won't run anymore... they actually play dead & Nico will typically walk away from them at this point. It's the thrill of the chase that the dogs like.

But I assume it's all how you raise them too. Getting a pup & teaching it to respect the chickens at a young age is key.

Best of luck to you!

 

[bkbuz1987]

It has to be the individual dog. I have a 12 year old cocker lab mix and a 1 yera old rottie lab mix. This is the first time we've ever had chcikens. We had the brooder in the sun room and let the dogs and cats check out the chicks. They would all sit in front and watch, we didn't know what any of the dogs or cats would do.

We are now one big happy funny farm. The next time I let the chickens out of the run and the cats out of the house I'll take a picture of the dogs, cats and chickens together. We have gerbils running around in balls sometime too. Like I said, one big happy funny farm

 

[tomcio]

I have a Siberian Husky and a Jack Russel Terrier. They both play nice with our cockatiel and have little chasing interest if it comes to birds (it took them an hour to get used to our guinea fowl). It took a while to train them to be this way, but with a bit of patience, I think any breed can be tamed to understand the difference between live-stock and 'toys' so to speak.


Good luck.

Tom

 

[Renee]

I really don't know what I'm talking about here, but it seems to me that any dog bred for hunting or killing might take more training to live peacefully with chickens, whereas a shepherd or working dog of some sort might be a bit easier to train, overall. Of course, individual dogs vary, but it seems wise to avoid terriers, hunting breeds, greyhounds and so forth. In my experience, Australian Shepherds are too smart (who wants a dog smarter than they are?) and require constant activity to remain happy, so I would avoid them unless they could be kept busy. I have a yellow lab (bred to be a bird dog!) and she wanted to eat the chickens when they were little, but now she runs away from them unless they peck her binkie. She doesn't like chickens messing with her binkie, so she will sneak up and steal it from them. I never leave her alone with the chickens, though.

 

[fatguyaz]

Quote:
I agree. It's all about the training. I have a cattle dog mix that has killed three ofm y birds, so far, but is much better now, since i've had more time to put him and the birds together and work with him. I wouldn't trust him alone with them. A younger dog (not neccesarily a puppy) would be better as far as training goes. Make sure the dog knows that YOU are the boss and these are YOUR chickens. Make him lay down and bring the bids over to him and let them walk around/on top of him. He'll understand eventually.

 

[aladatrot]

www.circlecaussies.com

FINALLY! A subject I know a little something about! I have Aussies, and I actually use one of them to corral the chickens and get them gathered and penned. It does take training, but in my own opinion, a dog who desires a job is easier to train. I'm just unbelievably partial to Australian Shepherds as an all around "get the job done" dog. I hope soon to have a picture of our gentle chicken round up on the site. I love to watch my Aussie gather and move the chickens as if they were sheep. I guess to her, a flock's a flock!

M

 

[Littlechick]

I have a 3 year old yorkie, and he's great with our chicks. He gets mad when they won't play with him, and it makes him pout. Too cute. Raised from a pup, I think a yorkie would be the way to go. They're very sweet. Here's a pic of my little guy.

I love my Chuy.