Help, please. Our lab is licking his chops @ the chicks!

[chickiemomeredith]

This is new. Last year we had baby chicks, but no dog. Now we've got a 6 month old lab AND chicks. How can the dog & baby chicks coexist?

I appreciate any help. Thanks!

 

[a123andpoof]

What we did was we let the dog see the chicks at a distance, then as they got older we let them have supervised visits. Telling her to be nice, she quickly figured out that she can nudge the chicks, but her mouth goes nowhere near them. Keep her hands on her collar or keep her on a leash so you can quickly correct her before any harm comes to the chicks. This is just what worked for us. Our dog is a mini dachshund, but I think as chicks they sound like toys. The dog loves to try and herd the chicks, but we are constantly telling her to be nice. But now she does great with the grown chickens loves to try and get them to play with her lol

 

[Nslangton]

I am working on the same issue. Interested in what others will say. My dogs are obsessed. I was hoping the novelty would wear off, but no such luck yet. They are so excited by the chicks, we had to put a kennel around our pen because I felt that the dogs were ready to break through. They look at me like they can't believe that I am growing them such tasty snacks.

 

[Presidential]

We have three labs. We would hold the chicks and let the labs explore them, almost daily. When they were in the run, we would stand with the labs to reinforce the desired behaviors. Our labs LOVE the chickens.

Their affection for the chickens became a problem last night. Our chocolate lab jumped INTO the coop, squeezed right past me while I was feeding!! She has never done anything like that before - she is a show dog - very well behaved. She stepped on four of our 21 chicks and killed them. She was not being aggressive. It was a hard lesson to learn.

I think I can trust my labs not to bark at, attack, or eat my chicks - but a playful lab can hurt chickens, regardless of training.

 

[chickiemomeredith]

Thank you all for the replies. This is very helpful - and, Nslang, that pic is EXACTLY what Coy is doing, well when we let him anywhere near the coop which is about 5 feet away now.

I'm so sorry to hear about those baby chicks. That is well-stated, though. So far he's tried to "play" with the grown ones, and we saw that he wasn't trying to hurt it, but an excited dog is an accidental killer. It now is missing a collar of feathers.

Thank you. Basically, just keep an eye out as much as we can. Good luck, Nslang!

 

[yellowirenut]

My dog was the same way, only took one "nip" at his nose from the chickens threw the fence to keep him at bay. My birds are a year old now and he leaves them alone even when they are free ranging.

 

[chikiebaby1600]

i dont even know if my dog even know we got chickens hes not that smart even for a not so smart dog

so cute little fuzzy yellow creatures i want to play..bone?

 

[Aeropennchick]

I have been using a spray bottle with a few tsp of apple cider vinegar in it with my hound dog. If she acts too interested or starts whining, she gets told NO and then gets sprayed if she doesn't back off. She got sprayed a fair amount today - the chicks came outside and RAN AROUND> that was difficult. But, in the end, no chicks were injured in the training of this dog

 

[Domestic_goddess]

This is my little dog Jazmine...She gets so excited every time she hears little chirps from the chicks. I tell her "gentle, be nice". If I feel at any way that she could harm them...out she goes. If she chases my older chickens, she gets in trouble....but for the most part she just wants to play with them. I think it's better to start young with them, they need to have some contact with them...so they are comfortable around them. Keep them on the leash around them, and pull them back any time they get to close...always give praise for being gentle and nice. The key is that dogs are unpredictable and you just have to use your best judgement and be careful.

 

[Albanese07]

Our Boxer is fascinated by the baby chicks. We tried to introduce them to him and told him to be nice. He snapped and chick ended up in his mouth! Thankfully it eas not hurt!
Now we monitor him very carefully. He goes up to the chicken coop and stares at them for hours on end. They respond by pecking his nose through the wire. When this gets tiring he lays down and watches them.
I'm hoping he gets over his fascination soon!