Dogs and chickens

[Hungry Chicken]

I lost 3 chickens the evening of July 3rd. We have 2 great pyrenese/border collie mix 2 year old dogs who have been trained and are with our chickens all day every day since they were 6 months old. The dogs are in and out of the house at their will via a dog door.

This last chicken attack left the 3 chickens dead without any obvious marks, cuts, puncture wounds, etc. Not even a lot of feathers scattered.
My husband is convinced the dogs killed the chickens, but I am not!

We live on a wooded ravine near a creek. The girls were free ranging in a fenced back yard. There are 6 hens left. Anyone ever seen a dog kill a chicken without any marks?

I'm so sorry about your chickens. I think it depends on the dog. A neighbour's dog got to my friend's silkie once. Bloody and missing feathers, it was horrible. However I do agree that dogs kill more for "game" than to eat, most wild predators carry the bodies off for dinner

 

[The Coop Crew]

I guess I was one of the lucky ones! Reading this post it sounds like most dogs cannot be trusted or have to be trained. This is my pup today with our four new chicks. Never once tried to harm them

 

[thistlewick]

I guess I was one of the lucky ones! Reading this post it sounds like most dogs cannot be trusted or have to be trained. This is my pup today with our four new chicks. Never once tried to harm them

This is absolutely beautiful but also, a rarity <3 Enjoy that pupper!!

 

[The Coop Crew]

This is absolutely beautiful but also, a rarity <3 Enjoy that pupper!!

Thank you! She is such a good girl. She’s always been so well behaved. She’s almost 7 so I was a little worried about her with our chickens but she’s been great! We have some older girls as well (9 weeks) in the coop and she loves to go and lay by the coop while they wander around

 

[The head hen]

So I did a little re-training session with the dogs yesterday. They acted exactly how they are trained to act..to ignore the hens. As soon as I let the hens out to free range, they took their usual guard posts in the yard. They have been out with them yesterday and today without incident. The chickens did make a bee line to the run and coop when the dogs started barking and running to the back of the fence...the hens knew something was up by the way the dogs were acting.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

It really depends on the individual dog. Ours is a success story. We have two dogs. One is a Staffordshire terrier (pit bull) and the other is a mutt mix.

When we first got the chicks, we let the dogs see and sniff them but they couldn't touch them. We didn't make a big deal about it, we didn't make noise or seem anxious. We just stood by quietly, stayed relaxed, and watched.

The dogs were curious for a few moments, especially with all the little peeping sounds, then they got bored and walked away. Months later it's the same. They look at the chickens for a few moments and move on.

I like to think some of it is because we acted like the chicks were no big deal so the dogs picked up on that and behaved in the same way.

Both dogs have high prey drives. No cat or rabbit is safe around them. They love to hunt lizards together. One was a stray and he eats almost anything that moves; I think that's how he survived when he was on his own.

Because of their high prey drives we were initially concerned there might be a problem. We don't free range and the chickens and dogs are never together. In the yard the dogs sniff a little around the coop, then just go about their business. They're uninterested in the chickens. You just never know.

 

[The head hen]

We have great pyrenese/border collie mix 2 yr. old dogs. Both breeds are working, guard dogs. They really do guard the yard when the chickens are out, and it is facinating to watch them take up posts and scan the yard and surrounding woods. We trained them to "leave it" when they were pups. I have seen a RIR peck at one of the dogs tails and he just looked at her and walked away.