Dogs..

[ncflowerpower]

We raise our dogs with our chickens and have had no problems. We have a mutt/lab, a yorkie and a beagle. The mutt is a gentle giant and has been with us 10 years and has no interest in the chickens. The yorkie we got as a puppy two years ago and we had to work with her in the beginning; total supervision around the chickens for about a year. The beagle is a new puppy to us and is 9 months old and is doing great with the chickens. Again total supervision probably for the first year or more. We let them all in the pen with us and the chickens and we supervise when free ranging.

The yorkie likes to round up the chickens and is good for getting them out of the gardens

She likes to put them back in the pen.

The beagle looks like she'll be a herder as well, but we do keep an eye on her since she is a bird dog. She seems like she likes swimming in the pond more than chasing chickens.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it takes time and training to have the dogs around the chickens. People are always amazed by our dogs going in the pen with us, but with proper training and lots of love I think you CAN train dogs to behave with chickens.

Donna

 

[jessied1227]

Well, after a lot of close scrutiny of our Boomer the past two days, I had my husband install a cable run for him this afternoon. I do see him doing a bit of serious watching when he thinks no one is around.

The chickens could care less about him, but I did see a few instances where I went to the door last night and called him away from the chickens when I was observing him from the window.

He'll just have to stay on the run while he's unattended until I am 100% sure of him.

Quite frankly, I like my chickens a lot more than him. I would never have even thought about him being a danger to my girls. Dogs will be dogs.

Thank you for everyone's candid responses
Jessica

 

[yearofthedog]

Resurrected this post because I just had to marvel at the way my dog, Stickers, who is Jack Russell Terrier/Basenji just LOVES the chickens. She watches them, lays down next to their outdoor pen, waits patiently for scraps of food that inadvertently gets thrown out, chases away the other dogs when they pay too much attention to them. She keeps my fat cat, Harley away even though he doesn't care for them at all.

We adopted Stickers from a girl that works at the local animal shelter and often takes dogs home to foster until she adopts them out and we got lucky with her. She is great with the chickens!

I also have a 10 year old Old English Sheepdog who is also good with the chickens. He's a sweetheart anyhow, but he is truly an gentle old soul when it comes to animals smaller than him. The chickens don't even flinch when they see him.

Though, I won't take any chances, I'm grateful that there is no overt aggression towards them. I also have two tiny Min Pins(4 and 6 lbs) and my Jack Russell and they are NOT so great...can't win them all I guess!

 

[SpottedCrow]

Seems to me that having a dog around chickens comes down to two things: Training and Temperment.
If you train the dog so that it KNOWS that the birds are yours and they are not to be harmed, then things should go okay.
But it you have a dog that's thick as a brick, then no amount of training is gonna help and it's best to keep everyone apart.
My sister's collies HERD the kids when anyone comes to the door. Julie will stand in front of them and Scout will make sure that they stay. It's hysterical to see, and I've been herded too...Have I mentioned that I LOVE collies?

 

[Weewanona]

Ozark Hen,

Lovely Collie.

Here's some suggestions:

Amir (Arabic) 'prince'
Adonis (Latin, Greek) very handsome young man
Amo (Spanish) 'master of the house'
Aso (Philippine) 'dog'
Asta (Scandinavian) 'beautiful god'
Atlo (Indian) 'lot of courage'
Angus (Gaelic) 'one' or 'choice'
Akita (Native American) 'protector'
Alan - might mean 'peace', 'handsome', 'hound' or 'rock' (Celtic)
Albert (Teutonic) 'noble bright'

 

[ozark hen]

hey, thanks for the names. He was going by the name of Einstein but you know it just doesn't fit him. He is smart but the name just doesn't suit him.
I even considered trying to name him something that rhymed with his original name but that only leaves me ...stein, heinz, and they just don't fit him.

spotted crow...you are right, it really depends on the dog's personality and not totally the breed at all.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I have an australian cattle dog and even as a puppy he was wonderful with the birds. He likes to lick their tails every once in awhile, but otherwise they are his chickens to protect. He's even chased off coyotes to defend them! The only thing he has ever done to harm them was to accidentally run over two young chicks who were with their mom. He realized what he had done and tried to lick them to make it better. I knew something was wrong when he was cowering in the corner in the garage, but I couldn't blame him for that.

He gets free run of our 5 acre property and rarely wanders. If he hears anything stirring at the barn, he stands to attention right away and watches for any intruders or predators. He also loves to eat the bread when we throw it to the chickens.

The chickens have actually come to be fearless of him and will walk right by him without a thought. If I have chickens in a cage though, Dalton (the dog) loves to run by them smacking his mouth to make them run away from the sides.

He's also great with breaking up fights. He pushes roosters off hens if they are being too rough and will chase away roosters from fighting with other roosters. He also herds the birds back to their coops and keeps young ones together in groups. It's funny how he takes care of them so well.

 

[ozark hen]

What a cool dog..that Dalton.

 

[chickaboo7]

We have a 6mo old Corgi. So far so good. She does chase and bark at them but she is a herding dog just doing her job. I did notice something today. One of the girls squatted and she ran over and started licking it. Will this lead to bad behaviour ? I hope not