Dog killing chickens

[ejtrout31]

hi today my older siblings dog killed my OEGB hen the dog is a German wire hair my brother is training her as a bird dog is there something I can do to train her not go after the chickens she doesn’t go after my large chickens we put her back in her kennel after scolding her and she is staying in there the rest of the day. Any help appreciated thx in advance

 

[Cyprus]

My dog killed my chickens too. They're Huskies. I scolded them harshly, kenneled them and whenever they lunge at the birds I spray them in the face with a squirt bottle full of tap water.
One of my two dogs now leaves the bird alone. The other still has problems.

It will depend on the dog's persistence and how consistent you are at training. Maybe you could train her with a bird in a secure cage. Let her watch it but when she lunges or shows too much interest, pull her back and spray her.

 

[WVduckchick]

My neighbor has Brittany spaniels, trained to retrieve quail (I think). One of them got ahold of one of my golden comet hens one day. It didn’t kill her purposefully (she later died due to what I think was the dog broke an egg inside her). They aren’t supposed to kill the bird. But if they are trained bird dogs, I would bet it’s going to be difficult to teach them the difference. Tiny chickens are usually even more inviting to the dogs.

Good luck! And sorry for your loss.

 

[Kiki]

I'm sorry for your loss.
The best thing to do is not ever allow the dogs and chickens in the same yard at the same time.

 

[ejtrout31]

Thx for your help

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

A dog killing chickens is a big deal that can be hard to stop once it starts. It best prevented. It's something that must be taught from the beginning. Teaching dogs to "leave it", and for them not to chase or focus on the chickens. I'm gonna assume this is a young dog? It can take a few years to teach them everything and for them to heed it.

I don't think anyone here can show you, or teach you what you need to know as all situations and dogs are different. I would start by not letting the dog out without a leash when the chickens are out. Someone should always be supervising the interactions. Be consistent, and don't allow the situation to happen again if possible.

Taking the dog to a trainer or talking to one is probably your best option as they can evaluate your dog and situation and perhaps show you some stuff to do.

 

[DobieLover]

Trying to teach a dog to ignore one bird species but point, flush and retrieve other bird species will confuse a young dog terribly. Pointers are bred to have a "soft" mouth. They are not supposed to damage the bird they retrieve. But that is for a dead bird.
As others have suggested, the dog should be leashed at all times when it could get at a chicken.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

When we first got chickens, our dogs loved to chase them and try to kill them. That was mainly due to our previous dog who was the pack leader... Anyway, what we did was we kept them in the coop for awhile and we were out there and watched the dogs reaction to the chickens. If they lunged or showed too much interest, we immediately scolded them and kicked them (not in any abusive way just enough to make it sting and to get our point across ) in the belly. They soon learned that chickens were not to be messed with but any other bird was fine. (They went after a cardinal the day they learned not to mess with chickens)

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Please don't kick dogs for doing what dogs do. Kick the human for not doing what's right in the first place when predators and prey are together.

When we first got chickens, our dogs loved to chase them and try to kill them. That was mainly due to our previous dog who was the pack leader... Anyway, what we did was we kept them in the coop for awhile and we were out there and watched the dogs reaction to the chickens. If they lunged or showed too much interest, we immediately scolded them and kicked them (not in any abusive way just enough to make it sting and to get our point across ) in the belly. They soon learned that chickens were not to be messed with but any other bird was fine. (They went after a cardinal the day they learned not to mess with chickens)

 

[townchicks]

Build a secure run that the dog cannot get into. Training a dog to hunt birds, then expecting it to learn to leave one type of bird alone, is very unrealistic. Maybe a very experienced dog trainer could do it, but if they were that experienced, I doubt they would try.