Do you trust your dog around your chickens?

[schellie69]

We have 5 dogs 4 are Chihuahuas or Chihuahua mixes them I trust with my chickens with me there and alone, I have a beagle mix that I only let out with supervision not that is is mean or anything just part hunting dog and I think he likes to chase the chickens to much, but I have been working with all the dogs to get them to leave the chickens alone so I do think dogs and chickens together is fine but you have to do a lot of work with the dog to make sure that no harm comes to the dog or the chickens. It will take time and repetition to get the dog and chickens use to each other.

 

[sgtmom52]

I totally trust our 12 year old Beagle around them ~ we are working on the 2 year old German Shepherds!

 

[valreegrl]

With anything, there is risk.
But, any dog can be trained to "live cohesively" with livestock.

I have a chihuahua who I can trust 100% around the chickens. But, I have a GSD pup who I cannot at the moment. His instinct tells him to herd and although we are working on his inhibition he isn't quite there yet. There was an instance where one of my girl's escaped and before I knew it, Timber (GSD pup) had her in his mouth. However, he simply walked over to the coop and let go. No harm whatsoever.
My suggestion would be to take a good look at your lifestyle and choose a breed wisely. Do lots of research. Ask local trainers. And look at what exactly you want in a dog and the amount of time you have to train/exercise.

Good luck on your search

 

[Dane Chick]

We have a Great Dane Pup (4.5) months old. We adopted him at 8 weeks, and he has been exposed to grown hens and baby chicks since his arrival at our home. He is excellent with them all. He likes to lick the fluffy babies. I have 3 month old chicks that don't always cooperate with coming in the coop at night, and the dog will herd them in, sometimes catching one softly in his mouth and bringing it inside the coop. The coop is also my pups first stop on his morning walk, he adores watching them file down their plank and greeting the girls each morning when i let them out. We got new chicks last week, and i had them sitting in a box on the table while i set up the temp brooder with water and food. I came into the family room to find the pup (he is BIG, 70 pounds and 26" at the shoulders) laying calmly on the couch with 2 chicks sitting on his butt. Wondering how they escaped from the box i stood out of sight and watched. Pup gently put his giant face in the box and extracted another, and placed it with the group he had on the couch. Then he put his nose against them and licked them, before falling asleep. I took some great pics that i will post when i have time to upload them. The key to mixing chickens and dogs is to get a breed that does not have a hard prey drive, and to give the dog access to the chickens early in its life, with intensive training. My dog loves his chicken friends and he appreciates a raw egg each morning too!

 

[glenolam]

Our two girls, a lab/pointer mix and a shar pei mix (although the shar pei is really hard to see in her!), are not good with the chicks or tween chickens, but they are great with the adults - the lab mix even chased a hawk away from the adults as they were free ranging.

Our girls stare at the cage the chicks go in once hatched and look up at us as if to say "Pleeeeeese....can't I have just one?" The shar pei mix even shakes because she wants one so badly.

We just tell them no and make sure we protect the chicks. Once everyone is big enough for the hen house there's no more worries.

As a matter of fact, our white silkie rooster bullies our lab mix!

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

My cattle dog and shepherd are good with the adults, but not with the babies. I believe the peeping and flighty behavior of the chicks arouse their "I wanna play" side. They also respond to the adults if I have to chase one down then they get excited and start barking. Would I ever trust them alone with the chickens, I THINK NOT. With us, no problem.

 

[CorralitosSunflower]

Our landlords have four yellow labs who we completely trust. I am not sure they ever did any special training with them, but have always had chickens around. I think if your dog respects you in general, meaning they understand you are alpha, whats yours is yours and they won't mess with it. I can have all five of my baby chicks outside, with the four dogs hanging around and they won't show the slightest bit of interest. They do like to sniff around quite a bit once the babies are put away to figure out what the heck those little chirping things were. I don't know if I would leave them alone with the chicks, but chickens no prob. They even had one of our older hens who was gettin picked on by the rest of the flock live in their yard and kennel with them for several months until she passed of old age. I wonder if there is a specialized book about training chicken dogs, for harder breeds who have a lot of hunting instinct?

 

[SilverPhoenix]

My border collie is extremely trustworthy around the chickens, and both of my corgis are also very trustworthy around the chickens. I cannot trust one of the corgis around the chicks because she's a chowhound and things anything that could fit in her mouth and smells good is food, but she's perfectly fine around the adult chickens and doesn't hurt them at all. My three dogs are even allowed to go in the coop if they want, and they help herd the chickens if there are any escapees. My previous border collie I owned was also stellar with the chickens.

A sheltie would most likely do great around chickens if you raise them being familiar with them. Herding dogs in general tend to be great with flocks.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I totally trust our border collie mix male with them now....but it took a little bit of training when we first got the chickens. Now he lays down and they walk all around him. Our dachshund girl was great around them when they were smaller, but now she is terrified of them since a broody hen chased her once.

 

[rooster0209]

My lab/border collie cross and doxie both leave the chickens alone, as does my in laws golden retriever that "vacations" here alot.

I bought a shock collar for the lab/bc, he tends to turn his ears off when he is determined about something. One afternoon and two shocks and he leaves the birds alone. He doesnt wear the collar anymore, no need. He comes out to the coop with me and walks among the birds. He was already 2yrs when I got the chickens, so age isnt always the deciding factor.

The golden was loudly scolded when he caught one that he spooked up out of the grass. This is what he is bred to do, scare up birds. After being scolded, he no longer bothers the birds. This however has not deterred his "ear" for the sounds of wild pheasants.

My doxie, well a chicken taught her how to behave.

She used to enjoy darting into the flock and scaring them up in the air. One day, she went yelping across the yard w/a chicken behind her. Problem solved.

Remain consistant and determined.