Introducing chicks to our dogs :)

[Melky]

Chloe peaking into brooder watching. Chloe watching the flock once outside.
She is very protective of my girls. Has chased off deer, coon, and we think a possible snake once in the yard. She chases out squirrels and bunnies too. She is very good at sitting and watching. Chloe’s dad taught her to chase off wildlife at home before the chicks to spare the apple trees from the wildlife. She just chases them out of yard not hurting them. Introductions best sooner not later so they know how to behave. If worry about dogs reaction train on leash first when reliable try off leash. This way you have control.

 

[HedwigsMum]

I understand and read that but that doesn't mean they will kill chickens. That's stereotyping the breed.

Yes, and they're definitely not trained for birding/hunting.
The lab thinks he's a human.

 

[Melky]

Oh my god! Don’t they all! It was shocking the first time my dog realized she couldn’t sit in the chair at the dinner table with her own plate. After all there was an empty seat. She now lays near us on floor and does not bother us during dinner. Takes a little bit of training. Be sure to praise them each time they follow a command and you notice them doing a good job. Dogs innately more than anything else want to please their owners.

 

[Conan]

As many have pointed out, it depends on the dog and how trained they are.
When we bought our place, we asked that the chickens come with. I have two dogs, an old pit/lab and a Doberman. My dobie has a pretty high prey drive, but he is a very obedient boy. My pit/lab could care less about the chickens. She was never even interested in them (the poop, on the other hand... but I digress). Dobie boy was so excited, he ran right at them. I grabbed him, threw him on his back, told him NO and gave his nose a smack and that was that. He didn't even look at them for weeks after that. They walk underneath him and he doesn't budge. He is out with them on a regular basis, unsupervised and has never touched them. I even have call ducks that come up and noodle on him. He won't move. I trust him completely.
You know your dogs, if you trust them to obey you, you'll be just fine

 

[Melky]

As many have pointed out, it depends on the dog and how trained they are.
When we bought our place, we asked that the chickens come with. I have two dogs, an old pit/lab and a Doberman. My dobie has a pretty high prey drive, but he is a very obedient boy. My pit/lab could care less about the chickens. She was never even interested in them (the poop, on the other hand... but I digress). Dobie boy was so excited, he ran right at them. I grabbed him, threw him on his back, told him NO and gave his nose a smack and that was that. He didn't even look at them for weeks after that. They walk underneath him and he doesn't budge. He is out with them on a regular basis, unsupervised and has never touched them. I even have call ducks that come up and noodle on him. He won't move. I trust him completely.
You know your dogs, if you trust them to obey you, you'll be just fine

You can put hot sauce on the chicken poop and they will leave it alone! Other option keep dog out of chicken areas.

 

[Conan]

You can put hot sauce on the chicken poop and they will leave it alone! Other option keep dog out of chicken areas.

They free range so there's poop everywhere... Oh, well. I guess I lose that battle. Thanks for the hot sauce advice, though! I may try that.

 

[Rick M]

Our new puppy wanted to chase the chickens when we free ranged completely. Within a week she would walk outside with me and just look at them and continue on with her stick and bite play with me. Now that we have a fenced in area for the chickens, because of some $^@# hawks she likes to run around the big chicken pen and show them her toy she is playing with at that time.

 

[HedwigsMum]

Seeing the dogs all the time will help the birds to get used to them.
But sudden movements and excitement, even from humans, will frighten them.
They won’t die from that though.
If that were true mine would’ve died a long time ago lol.
It’s constant chasing, stalking, playing that causes extreme reactions.
My friends dog doesn’t intentionally kill chickens but occasionally a bird would get over the 6’ dog run and the dog would play with it to death.
Dogs often want to play and they don’t understand that chickens don’t enjoy it and are frightened and also become exhausted from being chased back and forth.
And that will kill them without the dog biting them.
Some dogs just never learn to be calm around them even if it’s not their prey drive being triggered.

Seeing the dogs all the time will help the birds to get used to them.
But sudden movements and excitement, even from humans, will frighten them.
They won’t die from that though.
If that were true mine would’ve died a long time ago lol.
It’s constant chasing, stalking, playing that causes extreme reactions.
My friends dog doesn’t intentionally kill chickens but occasionally a bird would get over the 6’ dog run and the dog would play with it to death.
Dogs often want to play and they don’t understand that chickens don’t enjoy it and are frightened and also become exhausted from being chased back and forth.
And that will kill them without the dog biting them.
Some dogs just never learn to be calm around them even if it’s not their prey drive being triggered.

Thank you!

Hi

I'm not at all concerned about our dogs harming the chicks; they are very manageable, although they do get pretty rambunctious when they're excited.

My real worry is the chicks dying from fear. In the literature that came home from the school, it says not to expose them to dogs, because even a docile pet can frighten them enough to kill them.

I do know people whose dogs are around their chickens without any issues, but now my daughter is absolutely terrified about this. I promised her we will hold off on introductions for a bit, but I'm not sure waiting very long would be beneficial. I guess my way of thinking is if the dogs are "part of the landscape", they're less likely to cause problems.

We are fortunate that our chicks have their own room (spare bedroom) in an in-law suite - with two doors and a couple of rooms separating them from the "main house". It is now referred to as "the chick's room". Lol.
We haven't let the dogs in the in-law suite since bringing the babies home.

I appreciate any insight anyone can offer!

Hi

I'm not at all concerned about our dogs harming the chicks; they are very manageable, although they do get pretty rambunctious when they're excited.

My real worry is the chicks dying from fear. In the literature that came home from the school, it says not to expose them to dogs, because even a docile pet can frighten them enough to kill them.

I do know people whose dogs are around their chickens without any issues, but now my daughter is absolutely terrified about this. I promised her we will hold off on introductions for a bit, but I'm not sure waiting very long would be beneficial. I guess my way of thinking is if the dogs are "part of the landscape", they're less likely to cause problems.

We are fortunate that our chicks have their own room (spare bedroom) in an in-law suite - with two doors and a couple of rooms separating them from the "main house". It is now referred to as "the chick's room". Lol.
We haven't let the dogs in the in-law suite since bringing the babies home.

I appreciate any insight anyone can offer!

I meant to add that even after they're introduced, the dogs will always be leashed if the chickens are roaming.
I think what scared me was the potential fright from the mere sight of my guys.

I'm having problems replying to posts, so hopefully this works!

Thank you all for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully!
I love all the knowledge you're sharing and hearing about yours dogs, too!

I'm feeling much better after hearing from everyone. I think my daughter's fear and how anything bad happening would impact the kids and chicks made me a little less logical than I should've been.

We crated the dogs this evening and brought the chicks in, in a small box - first situated across the room so the dogs could hear them peeping. I gradually moved them close enough that the boys could peer at them.
The hound was calm, quiet, curious and lab was whiny/talk-y.
The chicks just kept cuddling up and falling asleep lol. Cooper barked once and a couple of the babies just threw him a side-eye. Haha.
I kept telling them they were my good boys and they had more than a few pumpkin cookies while they were in there.

We'll do it again tomorrow morning and then after they are tired out from our run, I'll take them to the chick's room on their leads so they can have a look - just not close enough to stick their nosy faces in the brooder.
Baby steps.

I'm so grateful for you all, and your willingness to help!

Neither of my guys has ever shown any prey drive, except when they tree neighbour's cats in our yard. Even then, I'm almost positive they want to play.
They are dog and people-selective but the fact that they leave the ducks alone is definitely a good sign.

 

[JaeG]

Our dog is a chocolate lab/english pointer mix (so a hunting/bird dog). She's great with all creatures and I had no problem having her in the same room as our hand reared finches when they were out of their cage (they now live in the aviary, messy, adorable creatures that they are). Our dog knows what "No" means and she knows I mean it.

When we started letting her off leash at the beach or park I would keep her on the lead and walk her until she noticed the ducks or seagulls. A firm "No" and waiting until she ignored them and she was fine. A ball is much more fun to chase (how she lives to chase that ball)! She'd sneak into the chicken coop to grab an egg if she thought she could get away with it but she completely ignores the chickens.

 

[hillbilly91]

Thank you!




I'm having problems replying to posts, so hopefully this works!

Thank you all for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully!
I love all the knowledge you're sharing and hearing about yours dogs, too!

I'm feeling much better after hearing from everyone. I think my daughter's fear and how anything bad happening would impact the kids and chicks made me a little less logical than I should've been.

We crated the dogs this evening and brought the chicks in, in a small box - first situated across the room so the dogs could hear them peeping. I gradually moved them close enough that the boys could peer at them.
The hound was calm, quiet, curious and lab was whiny/talk-y.
The chicks just kept cuddling up and falling asleep lol. Cooper barked once and a couple of the babies just threw him a side-eye. Haha.
I kept telling them they were my good boys and they had more than a few pumpkin cookies while they were in there.

We'll do it again tomorrow morning and then after they are tired out from our run, I'll take them to the chick's room on their leads so they can have a look - just not close enough to stick their most faces in the brooder.
Baby steps.

I'm so grateful for you all, and your willingness to help!

Neither of my guys has ever shown any prey drive, except when they tree neighbour's cats in our yard. Even then, I'm almost positive they want to play.
They are dog and people-selective but the fact that they leave the ducks alone is definitely a good sign.

If you have any more questions just let us know. We are all here to help