Is there ANY way to introduce dogs to chickens?

[AccidentalFarm]

Not to hijack this thread, but PurpleChicken, I do understand what you're saying. It is a risk with possibly horrifying consequences. I take comfort in knowing that as instinctual as it is for dogs to 'hunt'- I believe they are smart enough to resist 'hunting' a human- even a small one- only on the basis that they realize their chances of succeeding with such large prey are slim to none.
Now, maybe a pack of dogs would be different...

Going back to the original topic- many dogs are fine around small animals. Then there are those that even though they are usually fine around small animals, will go bonkers, lose their mind, and give chase when a small animal spooks and runs away, or in the case of a chicken, just starts flapping wings and squaking for no real reason. Mine are of the latter sort. It is something I found out the hard way.

 

[PurpleChicken]

AccidentalFarm,

Forums are so hard to communicate on. If you and I were sitting at the
same table speaking face to face I would have made that statement
kinda like a cross between a thought and a question. I believe you would
have answered the same way you just did. We would then both shake our
heads "Yes" and smile. You and I seem to agree on 99% of the of this subject and
I value your opinion. I am a strong believer in training yet have not had a dog
kill a chicken. That may change my mind.

You also brought up a great point about a pack. Dogs change when they
are in packs and are more capable and more inclined to do horrific damage.

I hope my ranting makes sense.

Don

 

[AccidentalFarm]

HaHa PurpleChicken, I agree that we agree..LOL.

I also second the firm belief in training being of utmost importance and will actually go a little further (and probably venture into deep water with this opinion), but IMO, nobody has any business owning a dog if they do not train it properly. That is for the safety of the dog as well as the people that it will come into contact with.

As far as the pack behavior-you are absolutely right about a dog changing it's behavior while in 'pack mode'. Sadly, what people don't give enough respect to is that it only takes 2 dogs to create a pack thus changing lovable Spot into an uncontrollable beast.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Whew, oh good. This subject really gets us all going.

I'm glad, no, I'm thrilled, you didn't take my comments as a flame.
I don't want to go to bed with anyone mad at me. My wife is
already sleeping so she doesn't count.

Sorry for the Hijack Allig8r. We all love our chickens and a lot of us have
dogs. There is no easy answer.

 

[DesertDawg]

I don't trust my Papa Bear at all. He sits by the fence watching them and when they are close he quivers. The other day dh and I were both by the gate and I had some treats for the chickens. He always said they would not squeeze through the gap at the gate but one started to and Papa Bear tried to snap at her.

Well that made a believer out of dh and he nailed up a piece of wood to cover the gap. I don't think I could kill my Bears if they did get a chicken cause I keep telling dh to take precautions that they don't get out or the chicken get into where the dogs are, so it would not be the Bear's fault, just following their instincts.

Little Bear is not as interested. He tried to chase them before at another house when the neighbors chickens came in our yard and he could not catch them. I was hysterical watching him try.

The chicken was in a pipe and Little Bear could not reach her, just kept running from one end of the pipe to the other. His sister was another story though. She took after her mother. I had given her to the guy across the street and she would get loose and "come home". One day she killed 9 of the neighbors chickens. I found 4 in my yard and she had 5 in her yard. I felt bad but all I could tell her was she was not my dog any more. I was so gald when he gave her to someone with a ranch - far away.

 

[allig8r]

Thanks for the link to that thread.

See, with kids there are ways to introduce the dog to the child/baby that minimize the impact of the change to the environment. And really, I don't think dogs are programmed for the hunt with a child that they are with other animals that are smaller than them (but that's JMO--nothing scientific). Every story I've ever heard about a dog attacking a child has been about jealousy, not the hunt.

I have a place where I can put my chicks so that they can be in their run and not in sight of the dogs... it just means putting them where they're not "with" us in the yard--which bums me out. I'll just have to go visit!!

 

[cheepchicks]

I think most of you are correct if only because you know your animal. But is it not true if a dog does not have a pack we as his owners become so? I use my dog to help round up my chickens and herd them back inside their coop when they get out. He has had plenty of chances to get hold of the Guineas and stands down if I ask him. I think it basically all boils down to respect. You must respect each individual animal and its personality. Just as your animal must respect you. That being said there are I am sure some dogs who just can't get past the need to eat chicken.

Kim

 

[tink]

Hey...We have a Jack Russell, Weiner dog and a Pit. When we moved to our new house we inherited 2 goats and 1 chicken. We wanted to add to the chickens so we purchased 6 babies. We had them in the house for 4 weeks and let the dogs put their heads in the box with them. The only dog we had to watch was the Jack Russell. Now that the chickens are a year old, they are bigger than the Jack Russell so she doesn't bother them and the pit thinks they are his babies! (When the chickens were little we kept telling the dogs the chickens were their babies.) The other day I was coming up the road from the garden with 3 dogs and 6 chickens all following me!! The animals all thought it was normal and I was the one laughing!! We now have added 4 more chickens and we also have 2 cats....One big happy family in SC
Tink

 

[Jsto]

Quote:
My Jack is who I'm worried about as well...not because of aggression, because I can just see what's going through his mind when he sees the chicks. "WOW!!! A toy that squeaks AND moves?!?!" But, he's been doing the best out of the bunch. He has such a small attention span that he loses interest in about 5 minutes.

 

[chickbea]

My last three dogs have been sweet as pie with all the chickens - never a problem. They also loved and cuddled my house bunny, who weighs less than two pounds. Dogs are dogs, just like people are people.
I fostered a GSD, howwever, who happily tried to go through the electric fence to kill the chickens, jumped off a 15 foot landing to get my cat, and tried to chew through 1/8 " sheet metal to get to the bunny!