Do Dogs and Chickens EVER mix??

[patandchickens]

Quote:
That is it in a nutshell.

The problem many BYCers have had is in not recognizing the truth of this from the outset, and then feeling shocked or betrayed that the dog they "trusted" kills a chicken (or chickens) one fine day.

Not saying don't do it; but know that it is a delicate balance with no guarantees, so you have to look at the risk/reward tradeoff and decide whether that's what you want.

Pat

 

[bonnober]

Hi - our dog loves to chase anything that runs, and when she has a stick she thrashes it about until it is quite dead. So we were worrried when we got our six chicks. We got Mocha used to the chicks and let her know they were part of the family. When the chickens grew up and were introduced outdoors, we would pick them up and show them to her and pet her., give her treats, etc. Finally we let them out of the run and Mocha just walked casually among them. The only time she chases them is when I am chasing them. She helps us keep them off the porch and out of the house, but only when we ask her to. Be careful when you throw bread to the chickens as the dog might go after it. Mocha dug into the run to get bread from them. Very jealous, but not aggressive!

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Shock collars would work

A lot depends on what breed your dog is and how old. I have a young male dog just out of the puppy stage, and he appears to be a beagle/jack mix. That just screams chicken killer. Playful, hyper dog with hunting breed on each side. YIKES. Needless to say, it took me a long time and a few bantams before I broke him from it. I still HATE to let him out when the chickens are ranging, but mom insists on it. I only caught him pinning a couple birds before, so I don't know for sure that he killed anything...but...I did find him eating/chewing on some dead birds I'd been missing. So I have a pretty good assumption. It's been a few months since then and he's calmed down. But they say once they taste the blood of a chicken, it's hard to break them.


Now my border collie on the other hand, is different. She never killed anything, just chased them. I'd tell her no everytime I saw her doing that. Now she's 4 years old I believe, so she knows better. All she wants to do at this point is herd them

 

[wjallen05]

This Pitbull is good with chickens...

 

[beth59]

We have two border collies that have been taught to "leave" the chickens alone. One of them is highly interested in them and loves to watch them, but she does not chase them. The other is somewhat afraid of them and I have actually seen the rooster chasing her across the yard. Still, I do not leave them together unattended. I've never seen the chickens try to eat or taste dog poo, but the dogs love chicken poo and my younger BC loves to roll in it (ooh, Mom, it smells sooo gooood!).

Beth

 

[fla_native]

Our dogs have never bothered the chickens...even when the chickens try to roost on them! Of course, they dont try roosting on them often, they prefer to hang out with the cat.

 

[kindir]

I have a border collie who is a trained sheepdog and a few times I actually had her herding the chickens into their pen or pushing them up against a fence for me so I could grab one to medicate etc. Then they figured out that she wouldn't hurt them and I couldn't use her anymore since they started flying into her or running on her and letting her nip them like I would an ornery sheep would injure or kill a chicken!!

My terriers would kill the chickens in a heartbeat if they had the opportunity, but the chickens are fenced in and the dogs are fenced in, so no problem there. The dogs understand that they can't get to them so they ignore them. If they were to come face to face with one though, all bets are off unless I happened to be there to call them off.

All in all, take into account the breed and training level of the dog and you will probably get your answer!

 

[NYREDS]

Dogs are preditors, chickens are prey. That defines their basic relationship in nature.
Are there dogs that would never go after a chicken? I'm sure there are, but the safest bet is to keep them seperated because I know there are dogs that never went after a chicken until the day they did.

 

[chickenlady]

My two labs could care less about my chickens. They roam the same yard day in and day out. The hens run under the dogs for cover if the dog happens to bark. I think the hens think that my dogs are roosters, lol.

 

[CarolynPerth]

Having previously had a dog (terrier breed) that proudly presented me with a neighbours chicken, fresh killed, on the doorstep (yes it was awful and of course worse for her!) We never did work out how the chicken or the dog got out.

I was VERY wary about my current dog especially when he scratched at the coop and barked at our hens when they first came to live with us. I still won't leave him unsupervised if the chickens are free ranging but he's calmed down and ignores them when he is with me in the garden. I'd never forgive myself if I found one of ours dead and know I could have easily prevented it. You can't blame the dog so its just best to make sure its natural instincts don't get the better of it one day when you let your guard down..

Lucky he doesn't eat their poop (he prefers the cat litter box for fine dining) but he did once eat a half corn cob from their yard and ended up costing me over $1000 in vet bills when it got stuck!

Oh yes, the cats spook the chickens much more when they practice feline stalking techniques with them. I recently went out to see what the fuss was all about and found all 6 chooks running about in a panic because the favourite nesting box (they ALL have to use the same one!) was occupied by a very comfy, sleeping cat.