Chickens housed next to my Labrador’s kennel

[Shoshone]

I am new to chickens. And this question is initially going to sound so incredibly stupid but I have to see if anyone has crossed this bridge.
One corner of my lot has dense wonderful shade, which in Arizona is a premium.
My lab’s kennel is there. And yes she is a bird dog and would retrieve a chicken given the chance.
there is room for my coop and run there as well. I mean there is another spot I could use but with less shade.
I’m am confident I can keep the chickens away from the retriever.
But will the lab stress the birds to death.
She is a smart dog and I can teach her not to bark at the birds. But she is instinctively “birdy”
What do you think?

 

[MinniesMomma]

It depends on your dog's attitude towards the chickens. If she is going to spend all day barking and harassing the hens, it's not a good idea. If she is able to ignore them, they would probably be okay. My dogs can lay right next to the chicken run, but they don't bother the birds, and the birds ignore them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My guess is unless your dog is pretty high strung or destructive (i.e. will chew through metal), it'll eventually realize that it's just not going to luck into a chicken dinner, and learn to ignore them.

Or you could put a solid fence between dog area and chicken area, and that should hopefully help the dog not fixate on the chickens, and the chickens feel safer from dog.

 

[Shoshone]

My guess is unless your dog is pretty high strung or destructive (i.e. will chew through metal), it'll eventually realize that it's just not going to luck into a chicken dinner, and learn to ignore them.

Or you could put a solid fence between dog area and chicken area, and that should hopefully help the dog not fixate on the chickens, and the chickens feel safer from dog.

Kinda what I’m thinking... thanks!

 

[mailmamm]

I am new to chickens. And this question is initially going to sound so incredibly stupid but I have to see if anyone has crossed this bridge.
One corner of my lot has dense wonderful shade, which in Arizona is a premium.
My lab’s kennel is there. And yes she is a bird dog and would retrieve a chicken given the chance.
there is room for my coop and run there as well. I mean there is another spot I could use but with less shade.
I’m am confident I can keep the chickens away from the retriever.
But will the lab stress the birds to death.
She is a smart dog and I can teach her not to bark at the birds. But she is instinctively “birdy”
What do you think?

My dog is housed next to my chickens too. I put plywood between the two pens and zip tied it to the chicken run. Having he dog nearby I think helps keep predators away but don't really know because I haven't seen any interactions. With out the plywood the chickens spent the whole day in the hen house because they were scared. One day we came home from somewhere and found the hens in with the dog! I was so worried about them for ever and this proved that the dog got bored with he chickens apparently. My dog is not a lab but is part border collie/healer.

 

[Justso]

The grass is always greener on the dangerous side of the fence.

 

[Shoshone]

 

[Sueby]

My chickens run shares a section of chain link with my dog pen. He would kill a chicken if he ever got ahold of one, I'm sure. We bought the chain link fabric that's maybe 3 feet high so they can't stick a head through & get it taken off. He goes out there & stalks them on occasion, if they fly he barks. They 100% ignore him, he doesn't phase them in the least. If anything they enjoy tormenting him, LOL.

 

[Shoshone]

Thank You! Great idea