How did you train your dog to live with chickens?

[A Swede in France]

a bit late but my dog is a mutt with a lot of hunting dog in him, so I was a little worried at first, but when I got the chicks he would lay outside the brooder or stick his head in and let them peck him. to this day he goes out to the coop with me every morning and night to do my chores and put them to bed... my rooster is afraid of me but loves my dog! View attachment 4247762

So cute, thanks for sharing!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I don't know if this will help in your situation but we have adult dogs and we introduced the flock to them as chicks. The chicks were indoors in a tub on the floor where the dogs could see and sniff around them but not get at them.

This was their first experience with chicks (as far as we know; we adopted them as adults) and they were very curious about all the movement and peeping sounds but lost interest after a little while. We held a chick out for them to sniff but that seemed to stress out the chick so we didn't do that again. The tub stayed in the kitchen and the dogs just got used to it being there and didn't pay much attention to it.

When we moved the chicks outdoors, we let the dogs have a good look and sniff all around the brooder but they couldn't get inside and again they lost interest after a little while.

We just kept doing that as the chicks grew. Under supervision the dogs could sniff around, but the chicks were familiar to them by that time and they weren't all that interested in them. "Oh yeah, those things again. Hey, are we going for a walk soon?"

We still don't allow the dogs unsupervised in the yard where the pens are and we don't let them linger near the pens too long because they alarm the hens a little. We let the dogs have a look and then move them on. The dogs are okay with that.

They're good dogs and obedient but that doesn't take away from the fact that they are natural predators. They love to hunt rabbits and lizards so they have strong prey drives. We don't leave them alone in the yard and they never have access to the pens. So far so good.

 

[A Swede in France]

I think when your dog arrives and see chickens there, they will both check each other out and it will just naturally be peaceful.

The first flock of chickens I started with were a few days old chicks, my dogs were curious, the chicks were curious, I let them be while supervising. Dogs smells chicks bum bum, chicks peck at dogs nose and dogs discover how yummy chick poops are and they just mingle.

However, one of my chicks were a rooster, he took no kindly to the smelling of bum bum from the dogs, he spread out his tiny wings and it proved that he and 1 of my dogs were mortal enemy.

Other than that, they are peaceful with each other, not hanging out, but they don't bother each other at all.

Too funny! My friends have a dog who is obsessed with chicken poop and chases the chickens around just to smell their bums. What a life!

 

[A Swede in France]

Sounds very reasonable @EmmaDonovan , thanks for sharing. I'm hoping they will get used to each other and definitely expect the chickens to freak out at first. When I got sheep it was a mess for half a year, then everyone calmed down and the sheep stopped being more curious than the chickens could handle. Now they all hang out together Sheep are obviously not predator though, and I absolutely know what you mean with prey drive and supervision. You never know what triggers a dog's instinct and I would be devastated if anything happened.