How to introduce dogs to chicks?

[droy1028]

I have an American Pitbull Terrier. My second year owning chick's she bit one's head off when it squeezed its head through the bars on the old dog crate that I allowed them to get some sun in out in the yard. After she got a time out she pretty much left them alone.

Then a couple weeks later. She got a hold of one of my pullets wings and tore off a portion that was up near the shoulder. The pullet recovered, but I think she left an impression on the pullets brother, who grew up to be a hefty young cockerell, and he gave my pup the business a time or two. After that he would fluff up and flap his wings at my pup and she would tuck tail and move the other direction.

Since then, the cockerell had been relocated into a crock pot, due to an attitude problem, but my hens took note of the cocks gestures when the dog would get too close and now the dog leaves them alone.

I've also made improvements to my small pen (Xtra large dog crate) by running chicken wire around the inside walls of it to prevent them from sticking their little heads out. The dog has view of them from the time they move from brooder to small pen and has become familiarized with the young'ns. They're not allowed out of the pen until they're fully feathered and resemble a smaller sized full grown chicken.

Now the dog respects all of my chickens and treats them as she does any other member of the family. She's actually protective of them and keeps other predators away by chasing any potential wanderers out of the yard.

Hope this helps!

 

[ChickyDownUnder]

We have friends/neighbours with dogs and chickens. In all cases, the dogs came as puppies after the chickens. In all cases, the dogs are separated from the chickens by a fence, two look like schnauzers (one small, one large), one is a Siberian husky, all have had a go at the chickens through the fencing. One has destroyed our fencing. Also, we have lost 2 chickens to other neighbours dogs (one a golden retriever), who repeatedly assured us that their dogs were so soft and kind and well behaved.... That said, it works on farms, and I've seen farm dogs wander around the chickens with no issues, though I've heard of one farmer getting rid of a dog because it kept running after the chickens. So, it's about the dog knowing its place, best of luck with the training of these big babies with big teeth.

 

[Hanna710]

Well, I had 6 chickens and a boxer that was 6 years old and a poodle that was 13 years old and my sons dog that was a small dog that was a hunting type. When I got my baby chicks I had them in a my dinning room in a tall box with small places for them to peak out of and the dogs loved watching them through the holes. My dogs knew when I said something like no or baby and they feel in love with my chickens like I did. It just took one peck from them to keep them away. Now that being said, I would let the chicks and the dogs learn each other. I could let my chickens out and they all ran around the yard and the dogs were like their over seers. Never had a problem and you may or may not. I had chickens, dogs, squirrels all in my yard at once sometimes. Boxers are loving dogs and if you have never had one you can not understand their protecting of smaller animals.

I’ve grownup with boxers and I 100% agree they are so sweet which is part of the reason I believe they would get along if introducing them at a young age.

 

[mag7mm]

I have chickens and ducks that free range on my land, and the ducks hatch and raise there ducklings free range also. I have two German Short hairs trained to bird hunt that spend there days hunting and playing outside with the birds. They will hunt a grouse in the yard and leave my birds alone, people always ask how I manage that? Well when I first started bringing birds home the dogs obsessively would start sniffing at them in the crate and I would tell them (NO those are mine!) I made it clear to the dogs that those birds are off limits and are part of the homestead. I never have had an issue and after about the first week of every time they showed interest reminded them there mine they pay know attention to them now. Matter a fact if one of the birds acts up the dogs head over to protect them. Just a added note I added two outside cats last fall and again no issues after little training. They actually are sleeping in the coop alongside the birds now.

 

[mschele]

We have an English mastiff who is the calmest dog we’ve ever had, and a rescue that’s probably a shihtzu-poodle mix who is NOT of the calm variety—he can be somewhat reactive, but not aggressive. Both are well-trained. Minni the mastiff doesn’t care about the chickens at all for the most part. She wanders through the flock, lays down, and watches them. Charlie the rescue was just beside himself when we first got the chickens 8 months ago. For 5 or 6 months we only let the chickens out if Charlie was inside, but a few months ago we got a training collar to try with Charlie. When he locked in on a chicken I told him to leave it. If he didn’t, I’d beep the collar. He got the buzzer (just a vibration—not a shock) once or twice when he didn’t respond to the command or the beep. I was amazed at how quickly he lost interest in the chickens! Now that everyone is free to roam, you can tell he’s still curious about them, but he doesn’t fixate on them or get so excited when he sees them. If the rooster thinks Charlie’s too close to the girls, he lets him know. (There’s no way the rooster will catch him, but Charlie doesn’t know that.) Having the chickens in the run probably made Charlie MORE anxious because he could see them but he wasn’t able to check them out. Once we felt comfortable letting everyone mingle, he was able to satisfy his curiosity and move on. Dogs and chickens can definitely live together peacefully. Just take it slow and watch everyone’s reactions. If your dogs get tense or overly excited, back off and go even slower. Good luck!

 

[GoodGuinea]

You won't really know how it will go until you try. Take lots of precautions. My dog is sweet as can be around most other animals. We were being careful as we tried to get him used to our first batch of guinea keets, but my son left him unattended ONE TIME and he killed a keet within seconds. We never even tried to introduce him again. He can be around once they're grown - guineas are more aggressive and they'll run him off. But not the little ones. We learned the first time.

 

[eiani]

My dog is a retriever and currently 8 years old. I’ve done a lot of training since she was young so she listens very well. She was 4 years old when our chicks arrived. I’ve trained her and 2 other dogs that I occasionally babysit to leave the chickens alone. I lost 2 pullets to my friend’s dog because I trusted her too soon. My dog, Ellie will not touch the chickens even if they are right next to her while I’m busy in the garden. There are many ways to train your dog but this is how I did it.

Everything was done multiple times, multiple days with each different encounter. She was required to stay in a sit or lay down/prone position while with the chicks or chickens during training.

I let her see and smell the chicks while they were in the brooder.
I showed her one in my hand.
I set the chick on the ground out of reach.
I set the chick on the ground within reach.

When we started free ranging the chickens Ellie was on a leash but had to leave them alone. Eventually I let her off leash. She was corrected (ah or no) every time she got too close or showed too much interest. This was what I did to train the other dogs, individually, and used Ellie as a training tool.

Ellie is out among the flock daily and I have had no incidents. The other dogs were trained less so I am more cautious with them. Hope this helps. Good luck with your chicks and dogs.

 

[2Old2Crow]

Dogs are like people. All different. I’ve had 2 labs around the chickens. They don’t care about them at all. But as has been said here, if you dogs have no discipline training, at best the chicks are a play toy and at worst a chew toy. I will say, my last lab loved to circle around the birds and do the bear stomp. She had great fun doing that,,,,,,,,,the rooster not so much.

 

[eiani]

Dogs are like people. All different. I’ve had 2 labs around the chickens. They don’t care about them at all. But as has been said here, if you dogs have no discipline training, at best the chicks are a play toy and at worst a chew toy. I will say, my last lab loved to circle around the birds and do the bear stomp. She had great fun doing that,,,,,,,,,the rooster not so much.

Agreed. All animals have different personalities, as are people and their relationships with their pets.

So that there are no misunderstandings, I was merely stating how I trained the three dogs that are around my flock often, so that OP and anyone in the future would have another example. Discipline was implied when I stated that I’ve been training my dog since she was young.

All three had different personalities and they didn't learn at the same speed. The two dogs that I do not own, use to chase my birds and did not listen very well initially, especially the younger one. As stated earlier one has even killed 2 of my pullets becoming her chew toy. All three were salivating during the first several introductions. Two kept lunging at the birds that were in the coop. All of which was corrected on the spot. That all stopped once they learned I was in charge and the flock belongs to me.

Needless to say, common sense dictates.

 

[AngieDawn]

I am going to take a wild guess that you've never trained a dog beyond housebreaking puppies. I suggest you instead focus on how to keep the chickens and dogs safely separated. Dogs are prey animals. Chickens are prey. You need to have a deep understanding of canine motivations and how to control them to pull this off.

This is my version of, "don't try this at home."

I absolutely 100% agree

I’ve heard more stories about someone’s dogs killing their chickens then any other animal.

I’ve had 2 chickens ever killed by another animal. Last year a raccoon stuck its arm through the fence and grabbed my hen that insisted on sleeping outside

And 3 years ago I had my favorite hen killed by MY BOXER who dug under the fence and was trying to play with her.