Introducing chicks to house pets

[Jerseyjack]

Maybe I'm posting in the wrong sub-forum? I have 14 RIR, 12 day old chicks doing great! When the weather turns a bit warmer I'm gonna take them outside and let them explore the grass inside a 5' round hardware cloth ring.

Right now I keep them in a brooder, upstairs. I go up there several times a day to freshen up the feeder and water, my 6 mo. old kitten/cat goes with me every time. As I sit there talking to the chicks, the cat sits back and watches, but won,t come near them. Every once in a while, he will stand up with his paws on the top edge of the rubbermaid brooder and briefly look down inside.

He's curious but scared of the chicks, I really doubt he would hurt them but???this is the first cat I ever had, don't know much about them either, except he's cool. (BTW-these are my first chicks too)

I also have an 8 yo chocolate lab, wouldn't intentionally hurt anything, but he's a 110lb. oaf. Within two weeks of the cats arrival it would sleep on the dogs back LOL. My lab has only seen the chicks once, the day they arrived, since the upstairs (where the brooder is) is off limits to him. Should I just play it safe and wait until the birds are in the coop/run area?

The dog or cat will never have access to the chicks, but I'm sure that as the birds mature, the dog and cat will be right there and they need to learn the chickens are off limits, I don't want to stress out the chicks either though. As I write this, I am just about convincing myself to wait until the birds are grown, any thought on this, your experiences?

 

[alaskapalo]

Bump I would like to know too.
My dog has attacked a few when he was a puppy but now has kind-of learned that it's not ok to do that. But I am sure if given the chance he would go after one of my hens but just to play with it. So when free ranging I keep a close eye on my girls.

 

[Judy]

Generally, dogs and cats don't intend to kill chicks or chickens, they intend to play with them. Of course their "play" can easily kill the bird. They will chase them, shake them and paw at them. A lot of people teach their dogs to be gentle with the chicks, much as you would teach it to be gentle with a new cat or kitten. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes not. With a cat, the chicks will never be safe around the cat. When the cat is looking over the edge of the brooder, it is the next step for it to reach in and grab one, or jump in. Usually, when chickens are grown, what happens is, the cat gets curious and the chicken pecks it or flogs it, and after this the cat leaves the chickens alone. With a dog, unless they have been trained, they are much more likely to kill the chicken at any age. Also, it's not unusual for a dog to kill chickens even when the owner thought the dog would leave the chickens alone. On the other hand, there are lots of pics on here of dogs lying next to chickens or even chickens sitting on top of dogs.

When my chickens have been let out of their pen, I prefer that my dogs be with them, as they chase off things like fox or coons. But my dogs ignore the chickens -- after being trained to do so. These are both dogs that were probably mistreated when they were young and cower easily; they are also very responsive when told not to do something. And I know it is possible one of them will one day decide he wants to play with a chicken. The predators and pests section is full of stories of chickens being killed by the owner's dog.

 

[Sorin]

Hello! I have not had to do this yet, i got my chickens when they were 2 months old, but I thought I would throw in my 2 cents.

. I have 2 dogs, my lab mix is not interested in mine at all, and a Pomeranian, so I'm lucky, I have successfully trained the Pomeranian to be nice to the chickens even though he couldn't do much damage to the chicks anyway. I would try introducing them soon, only one or two chicks at a time though. Get your dog to lay down and make sure he is calm, give him a little doggie massage or brushing, whatever seems to soothe him

then put one or two chicks under his nose and talk to him about the chicks ( I know, sounds silly) but I think the key is calm, make him think the chicks are his, but are not toys! Just a suggestion

you obviously know your dog better than me, but I have had very good luck training my dogs over the years and this is what I would try

Good luck!

 

[Jerseyjack]

Thanks for the replies, I will keep a watchful eye on them all of course. When I mentioned about the cat standing up against the brooder, I wasn't implying he was thinking about attacking, just the opposite. I have to coax the cat over and talk baby like to the chicks in order for him to even be curious about them. The cat is definitely scared of the chicks.

I once caught a mouse in the firewood pile, thinking I was gonna jump start his killer instinct and make a mouse hunter out of him. He GENTLY played with it, but would NOT hurt it. Figures right! My first cat, only got it because we live on 5 acres surrounded by woods and thought he would keep the mouse population down.

That being said, I doubt he would hurt them, probably even less likely as the chicks get bigger. Does anyone have a cat that can be totally trusted around your older chickens?

 

[MarieNC]

My hens are about a year old now and I have a 5 year old female Lab and a 13 year old boy cat. When the girls were babies, I kept them in one of the bathrooms and let the dog and cat watch them through their covered brooder to get used to them. As they grew older I would let them wander around on the ground and my dog would sniff at them curiously. Once they got big enough to really flap their wings, my cat wanted nothing to do with them. Now my dog and chickens are completely fine with one another. I let my dog in the run with me sometimes and she lies down after she tries to sniff their butts; the chickens really don't care for this! I had to have one of the girls living in the house with me after surgery and I would let her run around the kitchen. My cat would give her a WIDE berth and I trust him completely with the chickens.

 

[lushland]

We had a dog that was not raised around chickens and he always wanted to "play" with them. He killed a lot of our chickens. We no longer have him. Our current dog has been around chickens her whole life and is great with them. She basically ignores them. Our adult hens and our chicks are not scared of her at all. We also have 2 cats. They also get along with the chickens. The cats hang out in the chicken coop and sleep in the nest boxes. We were a little worried when we let our 5 week old chicks out with the adult hens because the cats showed a lot of interest in them but that was a couple weeks ago and everything is fine. I think it depends on the individual animals. But it is possible for all of them to get along.

 

[KimberlyJ]

When my chicks were a week old I would take one out, hold it so the dog could see it and firmly tell him NO and LEAVE IT. The chickens are laying age now and the dogs are ok around them but I am always near by. My boxer stays on a lead when outside so I have additional control. We currently have a sick chicken in the house, she is able to wander all over and the dogs don't bother her at all. I'm sure if I wasn't at home though they would chase her to death. Our cat got enthusiastically greeted by the flock the first time they came out to free range, he will never get near a chicken again!

 

[hsdiaz]

Good question, I've been wondering the same thing. We have 2 male cats who occassionally bring us mice and birds, so I have held off introducing them. Our chicks are 3 weeks old and their brooder is kept in a bathroom behind a closed door. All the chirping does have the cats very curious, but they move out of the way when we're going in and out of the bathroom. I know that the chickens will be able to defend themselves when they're full grown, but I'm wondering when it's safe to let them all get to know each other.

 

[Naughty]

my lil bichon friese dog - fancy word for yapper - goes out in the chicken yard while i am at work during the day.. so far the banty roo has him scared... but he spends all day running up and down the fence line barking at the dogs next door. these dogs will sit silent and watch my birds all day - i think the chicks would forget they were there and a threat .... but since the lil dog gets em moving and barking the girls just avoid that side of the yard.

funny thing is that if he comes in b4 they get out while its dark - no problems but if he comes in after the sun has risen they will try to chase him.. he's pretty mellow but does growl when they try to flog him... he seems to not have a problem - so far so good lol but i dont trust him around younger birds yet