Dogs never met chickens

[Juniper2]

I have a dog and he's never met chickens before. In the near future I plan on getting chickens so I'm wondering how you would introduce a dog to chickens?

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Mine were introduced when they were in the brooder. The dogs would go up and sniff them, also would sniff while we held them.

All my girls are outside now (laying age) and my dogs never go near their run or coop...

They just aren't that interested. They also don't freely wonder over to the pig either.

However, my dogs would be entirely protective of us as a family if there were an unwelcomed guest 2 or 4 legs. They just seem to know to leave the ones alone I bring onto the property.

 

[Isadora]

You want your dog calm and relaxed when they're around the chickens. Exercising them vigorously beforehand helps that a lot.
When I 1st introduced my puppy to the poultry I would use a sharp toned "uh uh!" vocal noise if I could see she was too excited, or use a low vibration from her E collar.
The goal is that the dog can see the chickens, acknowledge the chickens, but should ultimately ignore the chickens. You don't want them to be too interested or trying to play with them

 

[AGeese]

Took my dog about a month before he wasn't shivering to get at them. Now I can let them out in front of him, but still wouldn't totally trust to leave them hanging togather as he's not a guardian, but a ratter with high prey drive.

 

[mowin]

I had my 3 dogs( 2 lab mixes, and one yellow lab) before I got chickens. Leah is lab/greyhound and I knew she would be the greatest challenge. Had the gals in there new coop/run, and Leah wanted them bad, but I knew she couldn't get at them. A bunch of stern NO's, and she would calm down a little . Everytime I went into the coop, she was at the door looking in with great anticipation, lol.
After about 3 weeks, she couldn't care less about the gals, she was more interested in grabbing a crunchy chicken turd.
About 6 months later, I started letting the gals out for the last hr of the day. At first Leah was quivering with excitement. I would tell her "no" in a normal voice or " leave it". Within a few weeks the gals would walk up to where she was laying in the grass and she couldn't care less.

Interesting enough though. The following yr I got 4 guinea hens. Just there nervous nature would trigger Leah and no matter how much I yelled, once she got triggered, her focus was on killing those guineas. She never did get one, but I couldn't break her from it. Had to get rid of the guineas. 3 yrs later, and she hasn't touched the chickens. Although when I added a roo, she wasn't too please when he started to pin the gals to the ground and tried to stop him, lol.

 

[NatJ]

I have a dog and he's never met chickens before. In the near future I plan on getting chickens so I'm wondering how you would introduce a dog to chickens?

(Personal opinions here. Other methods could also work fine.)

I would start with some dog training, before the chickens are ever present.

A very useful command is "off" or "leave it," with the meaning "do not put your mouth on that." After you first teach the command, you can practice with things like a bit of food dropped on the floor. The idea is for the dog to not touch or grab the food (or later, the chicken.)

I would also try for a good down-stay.

To first introduce the chickens, I would have one person hold the dog, and another person hold a chicken. Let the dog sniff the chicken gently, but not grab/bite the chicken ("off" or "leave it.")

Also practice any commands you like in the same room where the chickens are, or in the yard near the chicken pen. This helps the dog realize that he must obey, even when those exciting fluffy things are present.

Later when the chickens are not quite as new and exciting (maybe in a few days), you can have the dog practice a down-stay somewhere near the chickens (near the brooder, or near the chicken pen, or on the lawn while the chickens are loose on the same lawn.) Of course you should have a leash on the dog at first, and either have a person hold the leash or tie the leash to something, so if the dog breaks the stay he cannot go happily chasing chickens. You can work toward him being reliable enough to do it off-leash.

Later yet, you can take the dog with you while tending the chickens, maybe on a leash attached to your belt so you have your hands free. Reprimand him (gruff or scolding tone of voice) if he tries to grab or chase them.

Some dogs will never get past that point, while some other dogs will go on to be completely trustworthy when loose with chickens. Also, different dogs learn this kind of stuff at very different rates. I cannot predict how it will work with your dog. It's mostly a matter of controlling the dog, letting him know what you expect, and then adapting your own plans based on how the dog is doing.