my 1 yr/old german shepherd killed 10 of my 14 chicks this last week. it was my fault i left a gate open. i then bought some chicks from a lady. she had several pit bulls, little rat terriers & some mutts (about 8 dogs). they are left loose with loose chickens, ducks, geese walking around honking while she is not home. (she had just drove up to her driveway as we got there) i asked her how she did it.
she said she specifically introduced the chickens to her dogs (individually). the dogs (individually) would go into the feeding pens w/her. she would have her husband hold the dog on a leash, she would sit down holding a chicken. she would stroke the chicken talking to it. she would stroke the dogs face with the chicken, making sure hubby had a good hold. the instant the dog reacted in a way she didn't want she would sharply say "no-no" & slap her hands together. she would sometimes hold the chicken upside down so that it was flapping it's wings. the instant a dog would react she would again slap her hands together & say no no in a sharp voice.
she said that seemed to communicate to the dogs that the chickens were important to her and part of the "pack". she accomplished this with rescue dogs in a matter of a couple of days. she always put the chickens up at night.
i don't know if she had a secret ability or if this works. i'm going to be doing this when my chicks get a bit older. i sealed that one gate shut & i won't make that mistake again, but i don't want to worry that my dogs are going to kill my birds first chance they get.
