Heelers and chickens?

[TheCrazyClucker]

I recently got 2 heelers. They seem pretty calm but I don't know how they'd be around the chickens... Would they heel them to death? Thanks.

 

[angusrooster]

good morning,i would not trust any dog with my chickens.as in my recent post my sons dog showed no signs of agression towards my girls but she killed one now she is not let around them.good luck.

 

[bobbi-j]

There are too many variables to answer this question with a simple yes or no. How old are the dogs? Have you done any training with them? Do you intend to do any training? The dogs' personalities are another big factor. Until you know, I hope you can keep the chickens and dogs separated.

 

[emckee]

I keep chickens on a cattle farm, where there are always two or three working dogs, usually heelers. My chickens live on the second floor of a building now, because nothing I did was effective enough. I've seen a dog rip plywood and roofing nails off a coop to get to the birds, after sitting quietly beside them for several hours.
The only thing that seemed to deter them at all was when my grandfather hit one dog with the chicken it killed. Super old-school, thought he had LOST his mind, but it did work with that dog.
Don't trust them with the birds EVER if they're older dogs!

 

[Henny]

I have a heeler mix that is 4 yrs old and a heeler that is almost 2 yrs. I got both dogs as puppies. I would take them with me whenever I went out to the chciken coop and always kept an eye on them. Yes, until they learned not to catch the chickens and rip their feathers out it was a problem. They caught on after time and now I can leave them with the chickens unsupervised and they are great protectors and herders of them when need be. The dogs need to realize not to be predators of the chickens but herders. I think if they never have been exposed to chickens the predator side will take over. That's where you need to be present to correct them.

 

[annewandering]

We were taking care of my daughter's heeler for a time. There were a bunch of wandering chickens that came by often. Well we looked out there one day and the heeler was herding the chickens. It was the funniest thing we had ever seen. If one of them started to stray she pushed them right back into the herd. We had to bring her in to let the chickens go on their way.
Still I am uneasy about dogs and chickens. It just would worry me all the time they were guarding the chickens.

 

[TheCrazyClucker]

There are too many variables to answer this question with a simple yes or no. How old are the dogs? Have you done any training with them? Do you intend to do any training? The dogs' personalities are another big factor. Until you know, I hope you can keep the chickens and dogs separated.

Both dogs are about 7 months old. We got them from rescue so we're not totally sure. The people at the shelter did a lot of training with them before we adopted them. Yes, we have ourselves, and we're going to do WAY more training! The dogs seem to be pretty laid back but when they see our cattle that's a different story.

 

[TheCrazyClucker]

I keep chickens on a cattle farm, where there are always two or three working dogs, usually heelers. My chickens live on the second floor of a building now, because nothing I did was effective enough. I've seen a dog rip plywood and roofing nails off a coop to get to the birds, after sitting quietly beside them for several hours.
The only thing that seemed to deter them at all was when my grandfather hit one dog with the chicken it killed. Super old-school, thought he had LOST his mind, but it did work with that dog.
Don't trust them with the birds EVER if they're older dogs!

That's what my dad did with one of our dogs, and it worked a miracle. If they ever killed even one chicken that dog would be hit in the rump with the carcass and put somewhere where it can't get the chickens when they're out. Our flock free-ranges and I'm not exactly going to lock them in the run one day and not let them out. We also have quite a few roosters, and I'm sure a sharp peck on the muzzle and maybe a claw in the back help the dog learn its lesson will do the trick, right?

 

[angusrooster]

i also have a border collie cross,most laid back dog i have ever owned she has had some training i can have her lay down,she will stay until i walk to close to a hen and flaps its wings or something and here she comes.so be carefull,keep a close eye on them it only takes a second .