chickens and dogs

[naadarien]

We have corgis. They are livestock herding dogs. As was mentioned above, and with which I completely agree, our dogs were given limited access and then commands so they know what to expect (they were previously trained to follow our commands as they are 10 and 13 years old). Corgis though, particularly the females, can be aggressive with other animals especially those bigger/taller than they so if you are not the trainer type (the training is more for the owner than the dog so any owner needs to be willing to do the work), I'd leave most dogs alone. We do rescue and we get far too many requests from people who chose a dog, even the right dog, but then things didn't work out when the dog wasn't perfect and they get dumped. Every dog has pros and cons, and you should research those before buying. I can see big, lumbering dogs being good for chickens (like that Bouvier mentioned above). They tend to be kind, patient, watchful (more than reactive) dogs. Bernese Mountain dogs, English Sheep dogs, and St Bernard's may work well with poultry, but they are big, eat a ton, and may have time consuming grooming requirements. No dog is a win-win (not generically, at the breed level). Take a year or so. Talk to breeders. Research the breeds. Find the fit that works best with your life and expectations. Chances are if the dog is good fit for you, you'll guide him/her into being a good fit for your flock. Good luck.

 

[Chickens R Us]

I bought both my dogs an Australian Shepard and a Border Collie from farms with working farm dogs. They may not be show dogs but they come from working stock and are very smart, so I like the herding breeds.

 

[vphillips]

didnt realy know whitch forum to put this in but here goes

its nothing spesific
dogs and chickens i know nothing and research isnt helping soooo...

tell me anything and everything you know please it all helps

can any dog be good about chickens or any paultry for that matter

thanks...

How old are you dogs? We have a siberian husky, which have an extremely high prey drive, and we were able to raise her and the chicks together successfully. It took 2yrs of careful training to get her to understand that chickens are not her prey and I can happily say she has never hurt a single chicken, but it was a lot of work and understanding and reading your dog(s) to get them to that point. Our girl is 5yrs old now and the chickens are her best friends, but we do not underestimate that drive in dogs. We never pick a chicken up in her presence and we do not excite the chickens to the extent that they furiously flap etc. We currently have a few 8wk'ers that squeak like her favorite ball so she is being introduced to them with her leash on. We spend a few hours in the yard daily with her on leash and the chicks running loose. She observes them under supervision from us. When she stops watching them intently and focuses on something else the praise is given. We'll practice this for a couple months until she understands they are part of the flock, and they get their big chicken voices. When we think she is ready to be loose with them, we use a mesh muzzle and it's done with us by her side. A few more weeks of this and she'll be ok. The original training with her started when she was 5months old and the chicks were 3days old. She was held by one of us while the other fed, watered, cleaned the chicks under lamp. She was rewarded for specific behaviors of disinterest, unalertness, ignoring the chicks etc. We did this many times a day for about a year between under the lamp and outside in the coop run. After a year of supervision she was allowed to enjoy time with them on leash/muzzled with us close by but not on top of her. This we did for almost another year until we felt she was ready. We then allowed her to be loose completely but with the chicken wire fencing between her and the chickens. after a few months of her not caring what was going on in the coop, we finally allowed them to roam free. The chickens chased her on the first day, then discovered they were the queens of the yard. It's now been 2.5yrs that they've all been happily living together roaming free. First assess your dogs trainability, some dogs show a guilty conscious if they do something wrong, that type of dog you can work with and some dogs will do bad behaviors and be corrected not care and then head off to do it all again, that type of dog you can't work with. So ready your dog(s) well before trying. I say that because our previous husky was like this and no amount of training was going to work for her. I hope this works for you, but it is a long process but so worth having everyone get along.

 

[Chicked James]

didnt realy know whitch forum to put this in but here goes

its nothing spesific
dogs and chickens i know nothing and research isnt helping soooo...

tell me anything and everything you know please it all helps

can any dog be good about chickens or any paultry for that matter

thanks...

I had 2 Shepard's and a mut that got along real well with my chickens (4) 1 of my shepards died of back cancer so I got 2 puppies, they have killed all 4 of my chickens, so I guess it depends on the dog or the age of the dog.

 

[ktomacie]

Its dependent on the dog itself.. Our black lab could care less about birds. Failed as a hunting bird dog 100%. He is more scared of them than they are of him. We have parrots and other inside birds and they control the house.. However my boxer will eat any bird/small animal it can. If for some reason I slip up and don't secure the chickens/ducks/parrots or figure out better training for my boxer he will kill them all. Far to happily.. He is highly prey driven while 2 of the other dogs in his liter happily live with chickens and no prey drive. Completely different personalities. I am working on training 100% now and that is the best thing to do however he will NEVER be trusted.