I have lost 6 of my 7 chicks. Completely Devastated, Not Stupid!!!

[arlee453]

I have a good chain link fence that I can use to separate my dogs and chickens. My dogs have about 1/2 acre of my backyard fenced in and the chickens have a portion of that (about 20' by 80') fenced off for them with a netting cover to keep them in their area.

If I want to let the chickens out, I call my dogs in the house. Then I let them out into the larger fenced in area to roam around and do their chicken thing. The larger fence still keeps them protected from the occasional stray/neighbors dog.

Works like a charm....

Just keep your chickens away from the dog, or vice versa. Problem solved. It's really not that complicated. Nobody needs to be rehomed or even retrained. Just keep them separated.

 

[LynneP]

It's not the dog's fault and Shelties are great guard dogs if predators try to approach your flock. Separate your dog from all your birds, use 1/2" hardware cloth and let her patrol outside the perimeter.

 

[dixygirl]

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[amazondoc]

Hey -- no judgments or sarcasm in this forum, remember?

So the OP made a mistake. Well, guess what -- we all do dumb things from time to time. How about helping her prevent the same thing from happening again, instead of judging her for being human??

 

[Slightly Cracked]

I have 3 outside dogs and 2 inside dogs and they do not bother my adult chickens. BUT babies are a differnt story, I have lost to many babies to my own dogs because I thought I could trust that the mothers would protect them. Now I just keep my babies up until they are grown up, and the dogs don't bother them.

SC

 

[arlee453]

BTW - two of my 4 house dogs are shelties.

They totally ignore the adult chickens, but I wouldn't trust them for 1 second around anything smaller than about a 12-14 weeker.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Sounds like a tragic mistake. So sorry that your dog was, well, a dog.

You've gotten some good advice here about keeping them separate. Best of luck as you move forward with another try.

 

[steffpeck]

moved to opening post......

 

[chickflick]

Shelties are very smart dogs. Just train her. I've got a sheltie that has never bothered any of our new pets, and my daughter has a sheltie that's around the chickens all the time. You need to let her know what is expected of her....don't be so quick on getting rid of a family member!!

 

[Wolf-Kim]

NO! The whole thing "Once a chicken-killer, always a chicken killer" is a LIE!!

All my dogs have killed their share of chicks or ducklings. Accidents happen. Baby poultry is just too tempting. I have retrained all my dogs and trust them outside while my chickens are free-ranging.

Never had a problem with any of them after their initial attacks.

You do not NEED to get rid of your dog. He can be retrained and you can learn from your mistakes. We all can.

Sorry about your chicks. It's hard sometimes.

-Kim