Dogs...HELP!

[jjthink]

Quote:
I know this is difficult to hear, but it may be that the most loving thing you can do for your birds is to adopt them out to a safe home, if you cannot assure their safety at their current home. I don't know how many you've lost to your dogs but really, even one is too many. Our feathered friends are at our mercy - they count on us to protect them, at least from our own family members.... I get that there can sometimes be a freak accident but here it sounds like there has been more than one incident, and almost inevitable from the description.
Sorry - this morning I guess I am channeling birds - they don't have a voice. They need better from us.
JJ

 

[Sjisty]

I agree with JJ - either rehome the chickens or the dogs. Maybe try a protected run for either the chickens or the dogs. Either way, I don't see how they will ever be able to live safely together.

 

[PunkinPeep]

It may be possible to retrain them, but if you do not have the time and determination to really spend a lot of time and patience on them, i would rehome one or the other. At my house, a dog who takes to that sort of thing simply has to go.

 

[sourland]

Obedience training for the dogs, good fences for the chickens, and lots of work on your part = solution to your problem. As others have said the safety, to the best of your ability, of your birds is your responsibility. Good luck resolving this problem.

 

[kla37]

My two roosters (have had to be rehomed) did a great job of training my irish wheaten terrier to stay away from the chickens! She's awesome around them now. She maintains a distance of about 3-4 ft from them. If they start to move toward her, she walks away. I wonder if the idea of tying a dead chicken to a dog's neck for 3 days would work for you. I know some farmers who swear by that method.

 

[Ivywoods]

I've had dogs and chickens most of my life. Currently we have 7 dogs. Some dogs can be trained but there are a few that, even though you think you've got them trained, a running chicken, or two chickens scrapping will set that dog off and the chase and kill are on.

One of our dogs is a German wirehaired dachshund. We got him specifically for blood tracking wounded deer. He knows his job and he does it well. HOWEVER I cannot trust him around the chickens. The chickens and that dog cannot be loose in the yard together unless someone is there with him. So that is my solution. He gets locked in his kennel or inside the house unless my husband and I are in the yard with him.

Even after using a shock collar on him he will go after the chickens if given a chance. When we are with him in the yard he stays by us and obeys, but you can see him focused on those chickens and literally trembling because he wants to take off and chase them.

We have a great pyrenees pup (about 5 months old-a replacement for our aging LGD). A while back he took off chasing one of the roosters that was running around wildly after having just been released from a pen. The pup managed to pull out a few tailfeathers. After a good scolding and a whack on the butt that pup does not chase the chickens any more. That is all it took. Just goes to show how different dogs can be. The mother of this pup once took a rooster away from the dachshund when he was going to kill it. She sat down with the rooster between her front legs and guarded it from the dachshund until we got there. Good dog...that is her picture in my avatar. We haven't lost a single animal due to predators since we got these LGD's.

***The dead chicken around the neck thing didn't work for me when I tried it years ago with a diferent dog.***

 

[bobbi-j]

I don't agree that you need to get rid of your chickens or your dogs. As previously stated, you may need to build a run for your chickens, but you don't need to get rid of them. The dead chicken around the neck DID work for me. It all depends on the dog. It's helpful if you can train them as pups. Our current dog - a black lab that we use for hunting - got introduced to the chickens as a puppy. I took him in the coop, held a chick up to him, told him NO everytime he showed interest, and in about 5 minutes he wouldn't even look at them. He's 7 1/2 years old and I've never had a problem. That was my dog. That doesn't mean it won't work for yours. I hope you can resolve it and be able to keep your dogs AND your chickens.

 

[Chicken Lass]

I have a dog run for mine and a shed and an outdoor coop for the chickens, where they spend most of their time. When I want to let the chickens out for a bit, I just shut the dogs inside for an hour to let the chickens have fun - although I've never seen the chickens never fly over the dog fence. When I'm ready to put them up, I just gather all the chickens back together with a handful of their favorite food and back in they go! I did however have a dog once who got one of my chickens through a wider gap in the fence, so you have to be careful.

 

[cochinfan]

I moved my chickens into a very large area with a four foot fence. I had been assured that the chickens would stay in there. Some of the heavier birds do (cochins) but most of the lighter birds I have don't. So if they fly into the pasture the coyotes get them and if they fly into my yard, very occassionally one of my dogs get them. I am trying to determine how to make my fence higher without spending and arm and a leg. I would like them to have the whole area rather than just a part of it.

What does anyone think about extending the fence up with some type of netting? Nothing jumps into the pen, I just need to keep the birds inside. I don't really want to have to clip all of those wings.

Any ideas? I'm not going to get rid of the chickens or dogs! I want to keep them separate from each other. My dogs are not the type that are fixated but have grabbed when there has been a huge flurry. They are all very obedient so the problem doesn't exist unless I'm not present.

thanks for any help!

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
How about putting netting over the top? Some of the lighter birds can fly pretty high. I don't know how large your area is, but some game farms have netting that covers very large areas. You can use posts to keep it from sagging.