Help! Dogs killing young chickens

[Chicalina]

they can still sound the alarm while not being in contact with the chickens. I think you need to fence in the birds. Are they in a secure run? If they free range, can you fence an area for them where the dogs cannot get in?

At present, the dogs represent a greater threat than raccoons, so you've got to deal with that first.

 

[Chicalina]

what breed are they?

 

[sourland]

Realistically your dogs are still pups. Even LGD can not be trusted until they are mature. Obedience train your pups, and protect your birds with hot wire when you are not present. Correct their bad behavior immediately so that it does not become firmly ingrained. Good luck.

 

[BenlynFarm]

New developments! I think our youngest pup has been falsely accused, slightly. Let me add some details. Our 9 month old pup is Anatolian/Caucasian mix. I have caught her before mauling the chicks to death, almost like playing with them but I've never seen her eat them. There is a chance I always caught her before she had the chance. I took her away from the chickens a while back. The 6 month old pup is Pyrenees/Anatolian. The only time I have seen him with a chick was when a small 4 week old chick had gotten out of my brooding area and he had played with him, the chick was all wet but lived. Then, last week we caught him eating a chicken about 9-10 weeks old. We didn't see him kill the chicken and have never seen him look at them like he wanted to go after them. Then, after that we kept finding a dead young chicken in the coop each day. Our chickens free range in a pretty secure fenced area. They are in the same area as our sheep and the youngest pup at night. I couldn't lose anymore chicks so I took the dog out of the fence last night. I was worried he may run off because he is young, but he did great and stayed right by the fence guarding. HOWEVER, I still found a dead chick in the coop this morning!!!! SO, there is something else. While I did see him still eat a chicken, I'm not certain now that he was the one who killed it. I'm thinking maybe he found it. We've had the coop open so the chickens could get out every morning with a small door in the coop. We've never had issues until now. For now, we are going to close the coop up each night and let them out in the morning so we don't lose anymore. I am wondering if it could be one of our cats because some of the chicken is eaten but not all of it, and left in the coop. Or if it could be one of the many feral cats that lives at the neighbors but come onto our property often. Anyone seen issues with cats before?

 

[Flockincrazy]

Looking for any advice on how to break a young dog from killing young chickens. I have two young LGDs, both which kill the small young chickens. One is 9 months old and one is 6 months old (he just now started killing them). They haven’t killed any of my full grown chickens and don’t act like they are even going to. Is there anyway to break them if this or is the only solution to separate them?

Separate and they need to be slowly introduced to them and never off lead

 

[Flockincrazy]

New developments! I think our youngest pup has been falsely accused, slightly. Let me add some details. Our 9 month old pup is Anatolian/Caucasian mix. I have caught her before mauling the chicks to death, almost like playing with them but I've never seen her eat them. There is a chance I always caught her before she had the chance. I took her away from the chickens a while back. The 6 month old pup is Pyrenees/Anatolian. The only time I have seen him with a chick was when a small 4 week old chick had gotten out of my brooding area and he had played with him, the chick was all wet but lived. Then, last week we caught him eating a chicken about 9-10 weeks old. We didn't see him kill the chicken and have never seen him look at them like he wanted to go after them. Then, after that we kept finding a dead young chicken in the coop each day. Our chickens free range in a pretty secure fenced area. They are in the same area as our sheep and the youngest pup at night. I couldn't lose anymore chicks so I took the dog out of the fence last night. I was worried he may run off because he is young, but he did great and stayed right by the fence guarding. HOWEVER, I still found a dead chick in the coop this morning!!!! SO, there is something else. While I did see him still eat a chicken, I'm not certain now that he was the one who killed it. I'm thinking maybe he found it. We've had the coop open so the chickens could get out every morning with a small door in the coop. We've never had issues until now. For now, we are going to close the coop up each night and let them out in the morning so we don't lose anymore. I am wondering if it could be one of our cats because some of the chicken is eaten but not all of it, and left in the coop. Or if it could be one of the many feral cats that lives at the neighbors but come onto our property often. Anyone seen issues with cats before?

Yes cats will do that and if you have doubts I would put up a game cam

 

[SegiDream]

We've had the coop open so the chickens could get out every morning with a small door in the coop. We've never had issues until now. For now, we are going to close the coop up each night and let them out in the morning so we don't lose anymore. I am wondering if it could be one of our cats because some of the chicken is eaten but not all of it, and left in the coop.

This sounds like an opossum to me. Sorry for your losses. I would definitely secure that coop at night and check it before locking up to make sure nothing could be hiding inside somewhere.

 

[Chicalina]

do you leave a 6 month old puppy alone at night outdoors in an open area?

 

[BenlynFarm]

do you leave a 6 month old puppy alone at night outdoors in an open area?

He’s not alone.

 

[Chicalina]

with the other pup?