How To Train Your Dog Not To Kill Chickens

[GloriaGaynor]

I have two Mountain Feist, bred to hunt just about anything. They have been paying way too much attention to my coop, now that I moved it inside their fenced domain. They bark and go crazy anytime the chickens are in an uproar about something, and they have made my chickens really skittish so that I can't get them to cozy up to me when I bring treats. Yesterday, I had the coop door closed but not latched and one of the hens got out and was promptly killed by the dogs. My yoga instructor told me an old country solution to this problem worked with her dog. So, today when Larri started barking and being aggressive towards the chickens, I went and got that dead chicken and wired its feet together. Then, using a carabiner, I hooked the wire to his collar. I am going to make him drag it around all day and then let him loose tonight. As you can see in this photo, he was instantly shamed and he has hardly moved since then. This is a wonderful (although gross) punishment because I didn't yell, hit, or scold. I'll letcha know how his behavior changes after this experiment!

 

[BellevueOmlet]

Sad. I hope you find a solution. My brother's dog ate one of his chicks and it was really sad. Fortuneately the dog protect the flock and acts like a heard dog around them. Very cute and nice because he protects them from predators. How many chickens do you have? I've seen a flock of chickens chase off a dog since they do pretty well when working as a team.

I hope you find a solution so you can have both dog and chicken in happy coexistence.

 

[centrarchid]

My dogs no longer kill chickens but if I were to tie one on like that, the carcass would be eaten fairly quickly by dog it is tied to. Do keep us posted as I am interested in how different training methods pan out.

Could you see how dog interacts with live birds while a dead one is tied to its neck? That might be a away to drive training home.

 

[dainerra]

you do realize that dogs LOVE dead things? they go out of their way to roll in them, chew on them, and carry them home.
This type of training, at best, means a dog that is too scared of chickens to go towards them. At worst, it is completely useless. It does nothing to teach a dog HOW to behave around chickens or what, exactly, is expected of him.

There are a lot of different training methods, depending on what you want to accomplish (guard? ignore?) but they all require actual effort on the part of the owner. Quick fixes like this are useless in the majority of cases.

Also, be careful because your dog could easily hang himself if the bird was to get caught on something.

 

[FOWLEDPEAS]

I have actually tried this method years ago. It only worked for a short time. A trick I saw a lady use one time seemed to work real well with her parrots, cats, and dogs: She would take the parrot and allow it to bite the cat while holding the cat. She would take the cats and do the same with the dogs. The cats never bothered her parrots again and the dogs stayed clear of the cats. The thing that worked for me recently, was to buy a remote-controlled shock-collar. Yeah, sounds cruel, but it works fast! Two mild shocks to our pi-tbull taught her to NEVER chase after a bird again! I bought mine off Amazon, and you can either use a sound or a shock to frighten the dog with it. Good luck!

 

[aggiemae]

I can't imagine this would really work, especially with a hunting breed.

I have herding dogs and one of them was obsessed with the baby chicks (AKA: tiny self propelled squeak toys). The hens are around 18 weeks old now and though she doesn't nip them any more she still tries to "direct" them. Our other three dogs (and our cat) can be outside with the hens but I would never trust this dog unsupervised.

At the risk of sounding harsh, you need to get better control over the dogs. Get a book or find a trainer who can help you teach your dogs the "drop" command. Meaning that the dog stops doing what ever it is they are doing and drop to a down position immediately and stays down until it is released. It takes some real effort but in the long run your dog will be safer for having learned it.

 

[downsm75]

I have actually tried this method years ago. It only worked for a short time. A trick I saw a lady use one time seemed to work real well with her parrots, cats, and dogs: She would take the parrot and allow it to bite the cat while holding the cat. She would take the cats and do the same with the dogs. The cats never bothered her parrots again and the dogs stayed clear of the cats.  The thing that worked for me recently, was to buy a remote-controlled shock-collar. Yeah, sounds cruel, but it works fast! Two mild shocks to our pi-tbull taught her to NEVER chase after a bird again! I bought mine off Amazon, and you can either use a sound or a shock to frighten the dog with it. Good luck! 

I did the same thing.

 

[downsm75]

I can tell my dog to "LEAVE IT" and he will ealk away. I would NEVER let him out unsupervised with them.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

my dog was taught just today not to chase my chickens. One of my hens is real aggresive towards any animal except her own species. Shell chase magpies, crows (all birds) and today she showed my kelpie that shes not to be messed with, 2 sharp pecks and a clawring to the face and my dog went wimpering of

. Now when ever he walks through the chicken pen he keeps to one side and runs as fast as his legs will take him hahahahha wimp, but at least he doesnt harass them anymore

 

[sjshaw1980]

I've actually had this same problem and read in several places that "carcass training" is effective. One of my 4 dachshunds has killed 2 pullets and both my turkey poults so far this year (goodbye thanksgiving and christmas dinners...). I'm trying carcass training with him today. When I tied the body over the back of his neck, he was instantly shamed and has been moping all afternoon in his outdoor playpen. He's barely moved and is obviously unhappy so hopefully this little experience will burn into his doggy memory that turkeys are not to be touched. Another part of this training is to confine him (in a shady spot of course with food and water), and completely ignore him. He is supposed to be alone and isolated from "the pack" all day, don't even say his name. It sounds cruel, but I hope it works. Better that he have to go through this than end up having to find a new home.