Dog killed chick

[RoosterCogburn7]

GSD as in German Shepard? In any case what kind of gun, we live in Texas in the Country on a Private Road so we can have whatever guns we want and use them. We have a 9mm most for my protection of me and my children and we have an AR15 and regular shot guns. I'd be more than willing to do that if it works!

Yes, I am getting a GSD puppy. My cat had a few two incidents with 9mm shots in it's direction to slow it down from its charge rather than putting him down. Second time was the charm. Now, he looks on with disinterest hunting smaller game. I have plenty of firearms, but it was what I was wearing at the time. For a cat he is pretty cool, he just needed to be chicken broken. My puppy when I get him, I am going to take him out on a harness regularly and walk him by the coops so that it is something he sees as something in the background. After enough of that, I will take him out on a harness while they free range so he thinks of them not as prey, but a herd.

 

[cowboyclayt]

Thank you for your non rude constructive advice. I will probably get her a run while we wait to have a kennel built. She will get proper training as well

No problem!

 

[Eggsoteric]

You will still need to treat the dogs/house for fleas. Keeping them in the laundry room will do no good as fleas aren’t too particular as to who they catch a ride on. I would suggest that you have a chat with your vet to see what flea treatment s/he would recommend works best for your area.

In my opinion, there are no shortcuts for good, solid canine training. There will come a day where that dog won’t be wearing that e-collar, will be too far away to kick or you won’t be able to pop off a round because you’re not packing a gun and WHAM! - you’re right back to square one blaming the dog for following instincts. Fact of the matter is, even with solid training, there are just some dogs that you won’t ever be able to trust 100% around chickens.

We have 7 dogs. Out of the 7, there are only 2 that are allowed into the pastures where the chickens are kept and then, only under supervision (chicken pastures are enclosed with electric net fencing to keep other ground predators at bay). None of our dogs are LGDs, they're family, so, it’s more important to me that I not set our dogs up for failure vs. forcing the everybody must get along or else rule.

Right now, if your dog proves to be unsafe around birds then you can either re-home or, until you sort out training, secure your birds.

 

[cowboyclayt]

You will still need to treat the dogs/house for fleas. Keeping them in the laundry room will do no good as fleas aren’t too particular as to who they catch a ride on. I would suggest that you have a chat with your vet to see what flea treatment s/he would recommend works best for your area.

In my opinion, there are no shortcuts for good, solid canine training. There will come a day where that dog won’t be wearing that e-collar, will be too far away to kick or you won’t be able to pop off a round because you’re not packing a gun and WHAM! - you’re right back to square one blaming the dog for following instincts. Fact of the matter is, even with solid training, there are just some dogs that you won’t ever be able to trust 100% around chickens.

We have 7 dogs. Out of the 7, there are only 2 that are allowed into the pastures where the chickens are kept and then, only under supervision (chicken pastures are enclosed with electric net fencing to keep other ground predators at bay). None of our dogs are LGDs, they're family, so, it’s more important to me that I not set our dogs up for failure vs. forcing the everybody must get along or else rule.

Right now, if your dog proves to be unsafe around birds then you can either re-home or, until you sort out training, secure your birds.

Especially once they have the chicken taste in their mouth.

 

[Mamato6]

@TalkALittle that is a good point! My other two dogs protect the house/land without hurting anyone/anything they just have a deeper get out bark. Like just yesterday something had gotten one of my MIL's black bantam Silkies and the dogs went nuts and scared whatever it was away before I could even get outside. Unfortunately it was too late. They are great around the chicks and older chickens

@RoosterCogburn7 thats a pretty good idea, now to get a harness small enough!

@Eggsoteric I think we will go the training route, she is a lab mix which is usually a good family and multiple animals dog. For now we have been keeping a closer eye. I've been keeping my chicks in the run for the most part but my MIL insists on keeping hers out even though she knows the puppy likes to "play" with them

 

[Happy Chooks]

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[MINDANAO DAVE]

View attachment 1043686 View attachment 1043685 I don't know if this is the right forum to post in because it's not exactly a predator but Tuesday night our puppy killed one of my 10 week old chicks. I am beyond devastated. What would you all do to/with said puppy. My husband wanted to shoot her right then and there. His reason being is that even though he thinks she was just trying to play with it (she's about 4 months old and plays rough with our 2 yr old gotti Pitt and 7.5 yr old Pitt) he thinks that she'll just end up doing it again. And although I hate her right now I'm an animal person and don't like to see them die, but at the same time, I don't want I don't want to keep my chicks cooped up all day (their run is a decent size for now, there are 10 pullets- 4 are 10 weeks, 5 are 9 weeks and 1 is 5.5 months- the run is 6 x 6 with an additional 4 x 6 underneath the coop but they're only going to get bigger) we live in an area where no predators have been spotted nearby (the only things I've seen are blue jays, cardinals, road runners, bunnies and deer) I just really don't know what to do. My 7 and 9 yr old girls were bawling even harder when they thought that my husband was going to put her down because we just lost the chick and they love the puppy and didn't want to lose her too. On the other hand if we give her away to someone without smaller animals or chickens they will still be devastated. *sigh*

Get a shock collar and when the puppy heads for the chickens hit the button and give him a shock. Soon he will associate the shock with the chickens.

 

[Mamato6]

@MINDANAO DAVE we were thinking of going that route but for now whenever she is outside she is on a run. She has plenty of shade if she needs while out there, and we leave a bucket of water as well (she isn't left out there all day, but we live in Southern Texas so even being outside for a little while is hot)

 

[Patinas]

You might borrow a shock collar to use a time or two to train the pup to stay away from the chickens. We had a problem with only one of 4 dogs roughing up pullets who had flown over our 4ft fence into our yard. It only took 2 shocks, but I would place the chicken in a crate or cage when the dog is near the chicken, but unable to hurt it. Our dog would not even look at our chickens again, and we later had 3 yard chickens who have always been safe.

I am not a fan of shock collars because a lot of people use them in excess but the one I have also has a vibrate mode so that's why I bought it. I have used the vibrate on her and it has worked in the past to "snap her out of it" when she's lost her mind. But, chickens were an entirely different story.

I let her try to get familiar with the chicks while they were still in the brooder but her little brain would snap and she just wanted to get them. Since the chicks weren't in danger of her getting to them I didn't use the collar on her during that period of introduction. I thought time and patience would prevail. Besides, I couldn't tell if she was wanting to play with them or kill them.

Long story short...the first day I let my chickens free range, I took the dog out, with the collar on and on a leash. She tried to lunge at the first chicken she saw so I hit the vibrate and it did absolutely nothing. So I hit the shock just once. She TOTALLY got the message and since that day, she has never tried to chase or hurt a chicken. She now mingles with them every day and they accept her as one of the flock. She even eats off their treat tray with them if there's something she likes on it. I've even seen a hen run right by her and bump into her and no reaction. She seems to have gone 180 and actually shows interest in protecting them much to my amazement and they pay attention to her wild barking if something comes in the yard.

I now have no worries about the dog so in my case, the collar was a great training tool...only if it's used correctly!

 

[Mamato6]

@Patinas that is a good idea, I may try that once she's a little older