Introducing dogs to chickens

[Rileysixchix]

My Poodle, Riley has been with the chickens since day one. being allowed to sniff and be near them whenever he wants. Now that they are full grown he loves to go out with them and he knows that he gets bread when they get bread. When I noticed him getting a little frisky with the girls when they would flap their wings or run around, I used commands and treats to get his mind off of it, but then i just resorted to a leash for a little bit, just to remind him that chickens are friends, not food! Now he is perfectly fine with them, and knows that his job is to protecvt them. Sometimes he even helps me herd them back to their coop!

How do you post pictures? i dont know how and if i do i can post many pictures and videos of him and the chickens

Please help! thanks!

 

[masonsdad]

I had NO problems whatsoever with my dogs and my chickens. The dogs tried to catch them at first, but quickly gave up when they realized it was a losing proposition.

 

[TrystInn]

We have a Border Collie who herds our ducks and chickens.They don't run, they don't flap their wings in agitation and they don't scatter. Its a bit more like sulky kids leaving a playground. In my earlier picture, that's her big black head checking on the little black chick.

If we need to head out a bit earlier than dusk and want to put the free ranging ducks and chickens in early for the night, we send Gracie out and let her put everyone back in their coops and pens. Its not exactly like working sheep, its a bit more subtle. The predator stare doesn't do much for poultry, she generally has to work a bit harder than her sheep herding fellows, but she's agile and has figured it out by now. She's particularly good at finding the strays and sneaky broodies, who may have decided to roost on top of a hutch or broody pen or under a bush. Over the years, I figure she's saved a dozen or so birds from night predators that way.

Chickens are stubborn and the really reluctant ones need a bit more goosing, if you'll pardon the phrase. Worse case scenario, Gracie does a bit of a head scoop and pushes the least cooperative of the hens into the coop entry - but its not a fear response from the hen you see, just pure old stubborn hen. I'll pick her up, pet her a few times and tuck her up on a roost without any concern. In the bantam pen, Gracie is the first to notice if someone is hiding in the pen and hasn't gone in to the coop at night - she alerts me with a pointer-type maneuver. Thankfully so, because she's able to find bantams in the damndest little hidey holes where I couldn't. And shes bright enough to ignore me when I've told her to go sit when she knows there's still one in there.

At this point, our flock sees her working towards them in circles and barely need any active herding. They just head into the coop quietly and slowly. Since she's out with them in the yard all day, its not her appearance specifically they are reacting to - she's napped with them in their coop during rain storms, babysat the incubator (she knows before I do when hatch is imminent) and brooder, and been a constant presence in their lives from Day One around here.

Frankly, I can't imagine running a poultry hobby farm without a herding dog. Fwiw, she's a rescue - we found her at the local shelter when she was a year old. We put her through basic obedience with a professional trainer who recommended we get her a duck flock. She's now 9 years old and just beginning to slow down, I don't think she'd trade her life for anything.

 

[Eddy Chicken]

Remember Madagascar when Alex the Lion hadn't eaten in awhile and he started seeing his best friend Marty the Zebra in a different light?

I keep my chickens penned up when I'm not around and let them range when I'm out in the yard.