Labrador Retriever with chicks....

[TN_BIRD]

"No bird" command.

 

[Peep Talk]

I have been an avid hunter with my labs for years. I have hunted quail, pheasant, dove, ducks and geese.

My almost 5 year old Chocolate female, loves the chickens and will lay down and let them cuddle up with her or they will even go over and sit on her. I can let her outside with my free ranging birds and I never have a problem. If my ducks get in the pond and don't want to come back to the coop at night, I just send her into the water after them and she will retrieve them for me without even hurting a feather on their head. It's kinda funny to watch, and the ducks now just allow her to carry them, they have gotten so used to it.

Now, my yellow male was a different story. He had the same training as my chocolate and never hurt a bird while I was out hunting, however, one day I had both labs outside in their fenced in yard (my chickens couldn't get into the yard, 5ft fence and their wings had been clipped to avoid problems if any existed) and I went off to the local community college for my classes. Well, when I got home, it looked like a million feather pillows exploded on a murder scene.

My male lab had jumped the fence and slaughtered 22 of my chickens. Ripping them to shreds. There were feathers everywhere, pieces of chickens everywhere and the amount of blood was unreal. I came home to him mauling another chicken as I drove up the driveway. Needless to say, he got rehomed because I couldn't risk him doing this again. And now he couldn't be trusted not to tear apart a game bird and keep it for himself instead of bringing it to me. It was a very sad day

but I was also so mad

I guess my whole point to the story is that it will vary between dog to dog regardless of training. Your best bet is to take him out on a lead once the chicks are bigger or allow him near their pen to get used to them. You don't want to let him have free will. Be there with a lead to control him should anything go wrong. I also like the approach of putting them in a down position. It makes it less threatening to the chicks and also makes it harder for him to lunge at the babies. I hope this helps and good luck!

 

[MeowCluckBark]

after my lab chased down and caught my friend's rooster I have been socializing her around my baby chicks. She sees them, hears them, and will sit on command without me holding her now, next to them. I don't know what she would do if they went running around in the yard. My guess is chase them. I'm working with her on "leave it" and "mine". She's doing well so far but I don't trust her instincts to not kick in. Until I know that she could care less about those birds she's not going near them without a fence in between

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

A have a Golden with a very high prey drive. She almost killed my neighbor's chicken who wandered into the yard. When I got my own chickens I was worried.

The most important thing I taught my dog was to not stare at the peeps. It made them nervous and they acted like prey. Once my dog learned to not make eye contact with them they starting acting like they were the boss of her. And that was a good thing!

 

[CowgirlMama]

Quote:
Thanks! Its nice to hear another hunters ideas...

I LOVE that your Chocolate Lab will bring your ducks in for you!! That's awesome!! I'm more worried about Toby chasing the chickens than anything... he LOVES to chase our cats (they literally chase each other and play...) and the cotton tails that live behind our house... :S He's been really good so far... I only let him in the garage when I'm there to watch him. Luckily, he hasn't really shown himself to be an intense bird watcher... he watches them in the brooder, but will follow DH around and comes when I call... so far, so good!