- Thread starter
- #31
kristaschics15
Songster
Oh the dogs!! One of mine will just sit and sniff the chicks and the other one wants nothing to do with them! Lol
They will calm down but that doesn't mean you can EVER trust them. If the barking, or worse digging, becomes unbearable a super soaker is an effective deterrent (course I would never use one in cold weather). I have six dogs and only trust one (the biggest and meanest....but also a livestock guardian).
Be careful about the coop especially if you have smart dogs. My elderly aussie figured out how to open the latch so he could get the chicken food, unfortunately another one of mine followed him in and he only cares about grabbing/killing chickens. I now have 3 latches on it.
My dog will never be trusted with them. He's a lab and has a very high birding instinct. My neighbor wants to try him hunting this year because of it. I've been trying to introduce them to him but he's still obsessed. He put ones head in his mouth while I was holding her and as soon as I said no he turned loose. She just shook her head like "what was that???" So I'm super careful about it. I don't think he'll be the smart kind to get in the coop but he will drive me nuts with it for a while.
Talking it out in this thread has really been a sanity saver. I appreciate yall so much.
The chicks (5 weeks old) are sleeping in the very secure brooder on my back porch within my fenced in yard tonight.