Dogs...HELP!

[PunkinPeep]

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.

x2

 

[wsdareme]

Once a chicken killer, ALMOST always a chicken killer. There are exceptions, though rarely.

If you're having problems with your dogs killing your chickens, why are you letting your chickens free range?

Tie a dead chicken around their necks and leave it on until it rots off. If they kill a chicken after that, either rehome the chickens or the dogs.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Also a tied up dog is not a happy dog.

 

[neenerbutt92]

Both of them are Blue heelers, I use them to help with cattle and they listen wonderfully! They have never ever killed a chicken when I was around, just when they were loose and I was inside for about and hour or so. They have no way of getting bored on our very large from, so being bored couldn't possibly be it. My chickens don't have a run or any way of keeping them confined, my other two dogs both labs do a wonderful job at keeping predictors away from my chickens both at night and during the day. My two heelers have currently been moved away from where the chickens walk around, I was hoping if they were tied kinda close to the chickens they would learn to be around them and not harm them. That did work for about a month, til a chicken wondered over to the dog and must have been taken by surprise. I am going to try a muzzle for when the dogs are loose and I am not around to watch them, this will not harm them in any way and both chickens and dogs will be safe. Then perhaps after awhile they will learn not to bother with the chickens cause it is no longer enjoyable anymore.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I have a chicken killer. The chickens are inside their yard during the day and the dog outside, then when the chickens come out the dog goes inside. Sometimes there isn't anything you can do, except keep them separated. I highly recommend building a yard for your chickens where the dogs can't get in.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Quote:
There you have it in a nutshell. Predator and prey need to be kept apart. I've lived rural most of my life and I just don't subscribe to the idea that all the animals should roam free, be allowed to mix, or that they all should get along or be gotten rid of. Just doesn't make sense to me. Some dogs can do it, for many I think that's putting way to much expectation on them.

At my place the dogs have a run where they stay unless they are out with me. The chickens have a coop/run and are let out into a dog proof pasture each day. There is no mixing, there's no killing, and nobody has to get rehomed.

 

[Ibicella]

You can try and it will help, but you need to build a fenced off yard for either dog or chickens. Because even with training, a dog that listens to you while you are standing there will likely give into it's instincts otherwise.

Best to keep them separated physically.

 

[jjthink]

Unfortunately, muzzles won't prevent killing, just may slow it down a bit. If you want to keep both species, and ensure that not another bird is maimed and/or killed, they and the dogs need to be kept separate.
JJ