Introducing the dogs to the baby chicks - bad or good idea?

[mulia24]

bad idea, i don't think you can supervise them 24 hours per day.

my dog killed 3 of 8 my chicks and i gave him a really severe punishment.

 

[Galaxiedriver]

Our Winston, a schnoodle, is the nicest doggie in the world but I would never let him have access to our chickens. Sooner or later he will find out they are good food. I agree with Mulia24, bad idea.

 

[mamaella]

Oh, please be careful. We had a very well-loved flock of seven hens and have two dogs (shepherd and shepherd mix) and I had a very lovely plan quite similar to yours. Before we got to the stage where I was planning to bring the dogs into the chicken yard with the chickens safely in their coop/run, the dog managed to dig/pull open the fence and eat every pullet.

So, we are being much, much more careful. We hatched some babies in the house and they are being held, loved, and scented like us. The dogs get corrected every time they even look at the chicks, which they now largely ignore. When it is time to go outside, the dogs and chickens will never, ever be together again. I call the new contraption the Chicken Fortress. Three layers of fence are between the dogs and the chicks now, one of which is a dog pen to keep dogs out.

My dogs are gentle and loving, and they are still predators. Apparently, some breeds are more prone to being chicken killers. I have one, and you may have, too. Just be very very careful is my advice. My friend has a lab that lets the chickens ride on her head and protects them from opossums and foxes. But don't expect it from every dog.

Best of luck!

 

[chookchick]

You have the best intentions, but.....I really don't think ANYTHING you do with the dogs and chicks is going to make much difference in how they behave around the chickens. It is really more the innate prey drive of the dog which is important, and unfortunately yours sound like they have a high prey drive. Mamaella has the right idea--build your coop and run as a fortress, and don't ever let your dogs around the chickens unsupervised. There are many, many stories on here about people who's dogs where great around the chickens, until the one day when they were not...

 

[DIMBY]

I have to agree, be very, very cautious. I have posted several threads on my three dogs and eight chickens. with pictures, and yes, they get along quite well. However, I had noticed for years that my dogs do not mind the large banded doves that walk around the back yard with confidence, getting quite close to the dogs and their food without any problems. That encouraged me to 'go for it' with the chickens. However, I had good intentions of introducing them by hand when they were only a few days old, but didn't because I was concerned that the dogs would not recognize them as they grew older. Rather, I put the coop inside the back yard, then put the chickens outside when they were about six weeks old. This way, they could get used to each other through the wire fencing. I did not release them until they were 10 weeks old and by then they all got along fine. I got two young black stars a couple of weeks later, kept them separated from both other chickens and dogs for four weeks, then released them. Curiously, my larger dog took an unhealthy interest in both of the newcomers, trying to lick them profusely. Fortunately, no injuries but I had to let her know that this was unacceptable. Five months later, no problems.

Still -- I work at home so am here much of the time. If I leave for an extended period, I put either the larger dog in the dog run, or the chickens in the coop. Just to be on the safe side!

 

[NoVA Chicks]

I have four dogs, three cats, and just last night added three chickens to the menagerie. Three of the four are retired racing Greyhounds and have very low energy levels and very little prey drive. They've never noticed birds and I've seen them ignore bunnies in the yard. A couple of them will half-heartedly chase squirrels--but the squirrels taunt them.

I kept the chickens in the house last night because it was really cold and windy and the dogs were initially very interested but got over it very quickly. Within a couple of hours they were totally ignoring them. I'm going to try bringing the chickens out later today and see how it goes. The cats are stalking them a little, but the cats never go outside so once they make their transition to their coop hopefully they'll never meet again.

 

[yorick]

So, we are now in week 3 and so far so good but I'm still very careful and watchful. I hope this will work out but understand that you can't always break a dog out of its natural instinct.

We encountered a very interesting relationship building between one of our chicks and our pitbull. Below is a link to a video we took. Fast forward about a minute and a half and watch what the chick does with the dog. Very interesting behavior...

Quote:

 

[newchickmom09]

Very cute!

It is funny how one will be so brave and the rest panic like there is no tomorrow. My Silver Laced Wyandotte was the brave one. I think when the chicks start to flap and try and fly around is when you really have to watch your dogs. To dogs that flapping is just so irresistable and that is a whole entire herdle you have to cross. My 2 yr old mutt (australian cattle dog/pit/lab) is great with the ducks and chickens. I always had him right at my side anytime I did anything with them, cleaned, fed, anything. My lab of the other hand ate our parekeet that we used to have so I never trusted her while they were chicks. Now both dogs could care less. Our poor ducks have to watch out because my mutt gets going and running around the yard and they can't get out of his way fast enough half the time.

Keep it up and watch for those ears...they tell alot, if they start perking up then your dog is getting excited about something they are doing. Expecialy since both dogs are terriers that just makes you have to be a step ahead of them. It is do able with some dogs and some it is not.

 

[Orpstralope]

That's a pretty good plan! I tried to introduce our half setter/half golden to my chickens (mature) and he went directly for their head...no bueno

 

[NoVA Chicks]

Very cute.

I hope mine do as well. I'm so afraid that while the chick is thinking, "Mommy!" the dog is thinking, "Mmm, tastes like chicken!"