Is my 12 pound dog safe around chickens

[Marlys A]

I’ve noticed that one of my larger chicks will peck at my dog when she tries to sniff her
Do I have to worry about the chicken pecking my dogs eyes?

 

[Sunshine Coop]

Yes. Chickens are extremely interested in shiny things. So the glare off of your dog's eyes will be very enticing to them.

 

[Molly Mojo]

Yes. Chickens are extremely interested in shiny things. So the glare off of your dog's eyes will be very enticing to them.

Why don’t they peck each other’s eyes out? Just curious.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Why don’t they peck each other’s eyes out? Just curious.

Probably too small to be interesting

 

[Sunshine Coop]

Why don’t they peck each other’s eyes out? Just curious.

To be honest I'm not exactly sure. I'm guessing it's because you can see pretty much a chickens entire eye and it's not black or brown. I'm guessing your dog has dark colored eyes because most do. You also can't see the white of a dogs eye so there is more space for a glare to occur. I do remember when my chickens were still chicks they used to peck each other in the eyes every so often so maybe they just learn not to do that.

 

[aart]

I’ve noticed that one of my larger chicks will peck at my dog when she tries to sniff her
Do I have to worry about the chicken pecking my dogs eyes?

Hopefully your dog learns to duck when a chicken pecks at her face.

Why don’t they peck each other’s eyes out? Just curious.

Sometimes they do, especially when young chicks.
They learn that it's not something they can eat so they stop.

 

[RojoMarz]

Maybe once the dog no longer sniffs the chicks, the chicks won't try to peck her. Sounds like the chick is trying to tell the dog to stop...I've had "stand-off" between the BO and my dog (about 15 lbs). They stood face to face and staring at each other for about 3 minutes. The BO won, as the dog dropped her head and walked around the pullet.

Here they are enjoying some lettuce.

 

[Marlys A]

Why don’t they peck each other’s eyes out? Just curious.

I was afraid of that