Introducing a new dog to 4 month old chickens

[angc11]

Hello all! Kind of a weirdly specific question, but I am hoping maybe someone can give me some guidance here. I am a first time chicken owner, I hatched out chicks of mixed heritage breeds 15 weeks ago and they're all happy and healthy. I have 17 hens and 4 roosters (I butchered the excess roos a couple weeks ago). They have been outside since they were 6 weeks old, partially ranging within electric netting and now they are ranging on about an acre of woods.

I don't have any other animals except for the chickens. I have just been presented the opportunity to potentially adopt a 4 year old red heeler (aussie cattle dog) that is supposedly very good with chickens. Her owner just passed away and she was an outdoor farm dog with chickens that she helped herd into their coop. I met her and she is very high energy and definitely needs some basic training and I would work with her extensively on that and also exercise her quite a bit before introducing her to the chickens. I know heelers typically are more for herding cattle and bigger livestock, but I have been assured she has been around chickens her whole life and does well with them. My ultimate ideal goal would be for her to stay out in the backyard with the chickens during the day, keeping an eye on things and maybe even training her to bark at hawks. And really just having her as a general outdoor farm dog.

Before I consider adopting her, my main question is, how hard is this going to be for the chickens to get used to the dog, even if best case scenario the dog is calm and well behaved around the chickens? My chickens are pretty skittish. I have one rooster (Caeser) who is very brave and has taken his place as the alpha rooster, but the rest of the flock is pretty scared of any new thing I introduce to them, even if it's an inanimate object like new roosting bars. They trust me as long as I have food and I am working on gaining their trust more and more (I am a constant presence in the backyard because I work from home so I always take some time to visit with them or work out in the garden near them). I'm thinking that if I introduced what they view as an unknown predator into their territory, they'd hide in their coop and I'd have a hard time getting them to come out and act normally around the dog and not be traumatized. Am I thinking incorrectly here? Has anyone tried to do this to great success or failure? I would love any guidance. I am basically of the mind right now that adopting this dog will be more trouble than it's worth, because I have finally gotten to the point with my chickens where they feel relaxed around me and this may break my trust with them for a while. I'm also working with Caeser (my alpha rooster) to have a trust filled relationship with me so that he doesn't attack me once he reaches full sexual maturity so I am also concerned that this will set back my work with him.

 

[NatJ]

If no-one has any better ideas, maybe bring the dog home for a visit, and walk her around on the leash.

This would give you a chance to see how she reacts to the chickens, and how the chickens react to her.

I would not try to take the dog right up to the chickens, just walk her around or let her wander on a long leash, and watch how things go. Or work on training a little bit, since you said she needs some of that too.

If she completely ignores the chickens (common in chicken-safe dogs), and if she does not chase them or act like a predator, the chickens might not be too bothered by her either.

On the other hand, if she tries to chase the chickens, she is probably not a dog you want at this time.

I have finally gotten to the point with my chickens where they feel relaxed around me and this may break my trust with them for a while.

The chickens probably will not trust you while you have a dog on a leash, at least until they accept the dog.

But if you leave the dog in the house and come outside without her, and act the way you have been acting, I would expect the chickens to act pretty much normal around you too.

(Of course I may be wrong, and if I am, I hope that someone else will chime in to say so.)

 

[rosemarythyme]

If the dog is truly chill around the chickens (which it may not be, being an energetic herding dog) the chickens should get used to it without much difficulty. It's all about exposure. If the dog doesn't chase them and is either neutral or neutral interested, then the chickens will react in kind. Even my skittish birds aren't afraid of my neutral dog, and they'll actively follow my mildly interested-but-neutral dog along the fence, but they bolt as soon as they see my prey driven third dog.

 

[angc11]

Thank you @NatJ and @rosemarythyme for these responses! This actually really helps. I do believe you both are right, it's all up to whether the dog will be as good with chickens as they say she is. I do think there could potentially be a problem where she tries to herd them too much if she's bored and/or hasn't been exercised well enough. I think I will see if I can do a trial with the dog and do a very cursory leashed introduction like NatJ was describing before I make any decisions one way or the other. Thank you!!

 

[thecatumbrella]

Before I consider adopting her, my main question is, how hard is this going to be for the chickens to get used to the dog, even if best case scenario the dog is calm and well behaved around the chickens? My chickens are pretty skittish.

My bantams are also pretty skittish. A couple of weeks after being moved outside from the brooder, my neighbor resumed his multi-year demolition project about 50 ft from their pen. The first day was rough, but I sat out with them to encourage eating, drinking, and leaving the coop. The second day, they did not care. If they do not have a negative experience with the dog, they will eventually not care about the dog. Chickens have been very adaptable, in my experience.