Love my dog, hate that she killed 18 of our birds!

[Pickled Egg]

Saturday morning was the first day we were letting our 22 9wk old chickens (10 Barred Rock and 12 Chanticler) free roam our property. I was busy prepping the house for a family reunion and put our dog outside without thinking about all the chickens running around outside their enclosure. Such a foolish mistake!!

Our dog has been in the coop with me and did not harm the chickens, she has been inside their outdoor run with me and did not harm the chickens. She has been unsupervised around a friend's free roaming flock and did not harm any. She killed 18 of our birds in less than half an hour. My husband found them all over our yard, in the barn, in their coop. All with broken necks.

Heartbreaking does not begin to describe how we feel. I personally feel responsible for this happening. I can't blame the dog, as much as I would like to, because she acted according to her nature. Apparently without me there she was not as well behaved as she was when I was with her and the chickens. So obvious now.

We would still like to free roam the remaining birds and the new chicks once they are old enough (we managed to find one last hatch for the season) and would like our dog to remain off leash. Does anyone know if having a muzzle will help? Or are there examples of dogs killing birds without their mouths, for example stomping them to death??

Also, is it possible older birds would have managed better against a dog? Our friends chickens are all 1-2 years old and I wonder if they were able to our run/out smart our dog in the past. Perhaps my other mistake was letting the flock free roam too early.

Thanks for listening!!

 

[EweSheep]

on a tether would be much better so she wont go near the chickens. That would be the best thing you can do for her.

Muzzle, no, she is fully capable of running the chickens into a wall and break their necks. They have a strong herd instinct to stay together.

 

[saddina]

Sounds like they'll have to take turns, the chickens can be out when the dog is confined and switch them off. The mussle can stop the dog from biting, but not from pouncing.

 

[wombat]

Sorry for your loss.

A muzzle is probably not an option; they're rather cruel for hot weather, in particular, and uncomfortable for the dog. Also, a dog's still able to pounce, and they do use their feet and claws to bring down prey.

You're probably better off tethering the dog and/or building a fenced dog run and fenced chicken run, and not letting both run free at the same time if you are not there to supervise.

 

[eggchel]

Im sorry about your chickens. It is a hard way to learn the lesson that 99.9% of dogs, other than LGDs (Livestock Guardian Dogs), cannot be trusted unsupervised around poultry. No matter how nice they are. No matter how well behaved they are when they are with you. It is their instinct to chase and kill.

 

[lamelde]

I know exactly how you feel - my female husky got 7 of our 11 within a few short minutes.

Tethering is not a safe option either - I thought it was then my male shepard got 2 - the hens do not know enough to stay far enough away!

Now I ONLY let them out when my dogs are locked down - inside the house/garage or on the deck!

Feeling your pain

 

[Pickled Egg]

Thanks. I realize it was overly ambitious to think I could have free roaming chickens and a dog lose on my property. I think they will have to take turns running lose! A heard lesson to learn : (

 

[Egg_newton]

I know how you feel. I was in the coop with my 8 week old pullets when one of our dogs pushes right past me and kills one and maimes another before I could even blink. We replaced them with two laying hens. She Houdini'ed her way out of the house and into the backyard where the two older ones were free ranging; (we were mowing the frontyard) and killed one of the hens and de-feathered the other. Luckily our Americauna was quick enough to get away and find a good hiding place. It took us until the next day to find her tucked in a corner of the breezeway. Now we just take turns with the chickens in the yard for a while and then the dogs. You can train them not to kill but it takes lots of time and patients. We just haven't gotten to that point yet. We have a little Boston who has no interest in them at all but the greyhound mix and ABDT is another story all together.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Many of us have been in this spot. Please do not beat yourself up too much, we all live and learn. It is unfortunate and I hope your family can work this out.

We have two cats that we are trying to train to stay away from chickens...con't say we've had much luck.

 

[citrusdreams]

Quote:
I'm so so sorry for your loss. I think the key is supervised training. FOR ME, all my dogs are very well behaved around the chickens. Now, when I start free ranging babies like yours, everyone is more interested in them (though no one chases or kills them). I think it's because they're freaky and buzz around faster than the chickens, who are more laid back?

Also, when I train new puppies to behave around the chickens, they always are more intested in the chicks.

IMOHO, a muzzle will not work and it leaves the dog vunerable to other predators as well. You need to train them and expose them to the chickens as much as possible - and do so supervising them. Besides, yes to answer your question, they can be run over by the dogs and stomped to death. They can also be run into bigger objects while being chased and break their necks.

I wouldn't resort to different times outside unless you truly find you cannot train the dog to be out with the chickens.