So we're moving from LA (back) to San Diego. (Perhaps I'll need to change my login name).
Anyway, we are staying in a friend's condo while we hunt for a house with a yard. So we needed to foster our 3 chickens for a period of time and we've just brought them to a friend of a friend who has a coop she wasn't using.
The problem is that part of the reason she wasn't using her coop was that she has two dogs in the yard now.
We brought the chickens over this morning and the dog jumped at the outside of the chicken wire while I was in the coop with the door not completely closed. Two of the 3 chickens took off through the door and a chase ensued through the yard. Ultimately we got the dog in the house and the chickens in the coop.
I don't think the dog will be able to get in to get the chickens, but he can certainly stress them out, and they may get injured flapping around against the chicken wire trying to get "away."
The "coop" is really a pen, enclosed on the top, which a smaller nesting area that is completely enclosed except for an entry in the pen (and egg collection doors to the outside).
We put some plywood, an old hot-tub cover and some cardboard to cover up some of the chicken wire of the pen and try to create a more enclosed space to help the chickens feel more secure. But right now there is still quite a lot of the chicken wire that the dog and chickens can see each other through.
Any advice about how to deal with the situation?
I was thinking of getting more cardboard to hang (on the inside of the wire) to create a more enclosed space...
BTW, if anyone in San Diego can help with fostering the chickens for a while (especially near North Park...), that would also solve the problem.
Thanks for any advice from those of you with both dogs and chickens about how to help them get along.
Anyway, we are staying in a friend's condo while we hunt for a house with a yard. So we needed to foster our 3 chickens for a period of time and we've just brought them to a friend of a friend who has a coop she wasn't using.
The problem is that part of the reason she wasn't using her coop was that she has two dogs in the yard now.
We brought the chickens over this morning and the dog jumped at the outside of the chicken wire while I was in the coop with the door not completely closed. Two of the 3 chickens took off through the door and a chase ensued through the yard. Ultimately we got the dog in the house and the chickens in the coop.
I don't think the dog will be able to get in to get the chickens, but he can certainly stress them out, and they may get injured flapping around against the chicken wire trying to get "away."
The "coop" is really a pen, enclosed on the top, which a smaller nesting area that is completely enclosed except for an entry in the pen (and egg collection doors to the outside).
We put some plywood, an old hot-tub cover and some cardboard to cover up some of the chicken wire of the pen and try to create a more enclosed space to help the chickens feel more secure. But right now there is still quite a lot of the chicken wire that the dog and chickens can see each other through.
Any advice about how to deal with the situation?
I was thinking of getting more cardboard to hang (on the inside of the wire) to create a more enclosed space...
BTW, if anyone in San Diego can help with fostering the chickens for a while (especially near North Park...), that would also solve the problem.
Thanks for any advice from those of you with both dogs and chickens about how to help them get along.