Man's best friend, Chickens worst nightmare!

[nzpouter]

Quote:
Up to you what you think... all I know my dogs does not touch any of my other animals and that spans over 30+ years and all different breeds.... and yet they are allowed to hunt anything that don't belong here...

The thing is I teach my dogs at home not to chase/ kill what's in it... not running around jumping through hoops... maybe that makes all the difference...

 

[Lorije1]

Maybe. Except my dogs have never been on an agility course, and if they had they would be among an elite group of extremely obedient and well trained, well socialized dogs.

 

[sonew123]

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wow your photos are priceless and you are very lucky your dogs are so well behaved-congrats
to the OP Im so svery sorry my dog killed my favorite polish hen last year-Im not over that still but he is leashed at all times now:-(

 

[KimberlyJ]

From the moment my chicks arrived in the mail I have shown them to my dogs with a leave it command. Now the chicks are 7 weeks old and the dogs go out to the chicken coop with me every morning and evening to check on the girls. They both act very interested and they both have never made an attempt to eat a chicken or whatever I am feeding them. And I am confident that they never will............as long as I am looking!!! I'm also confident that the minute I turn my back for one brief, regretable split-second they will do something doggy and whatever it is, it'll make me cry

I think it's a very individual thing.... some dogs never would even without training, some dogs just might despite years of excellent training. Same with people....I've got years of professional training and I still put my foot in my mouth!

 

[spottedtail]

Only trust a dog that is physically unable to harm poultry.

When instinct kicks in, training doesn't matter, especially when humans are not in the area.
You never know when it'll happen, maybe frequently, maybe once in the dogs life, or maybe never in that dogs life!
Who knows???......No one knows!

You can never be 100% positive, beyond all doubt, that a dog vs poultry attack will never happen.

A person who guarantees their dog harmless with poultry is similiar to the investment broker who guarantees profits. Danger! Raise the red flags!

spot

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

I've heard that if you tie the chicken the dog killed around its neck, it won't ever hurt them again.

My uncle tried it with a shoe that the dog chewed up. It worked- she hasn't touched the shoes ever again.

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

SOmething some people are not realizing is Some dogs are bred for this exact thing. and one of the worst things you can ever do in my opinion is. rough house with your dog. I do not use toys that require a game of tug of war I dont let my dog win. I am the winner here. My dogs breed is well known around poultry farms there not only used in calf and cowing and herding there used world wide to work turkeys and geese. Some dogs have a naturalprey drive for example alot of Labs are reported to have chewed the heads off or chewed on the neck like a toy. This is a genetic instinct bred into them for the purpose of hunting.
When I did breed APBT's it was believed that any breed that ever showed agression to a human was not a good dog or a good bred dog. It all falls back to genetics here. How do you think people are able to give a money back guarentee on working dogs? do you know your dogs tree? whats his parents like. was he just a adopted dog whos parents were hunters or vicious how bout the grandparents and there trades and qualitys. My aussie shepard comes from a long line of working dogs and rescue dogs. I have a full pedigree on him. This goes back to our moms telling us you get what you pay for.
Knowing your dogs family tree is important. knowing your breed as a whole is important. I would defend any man or woman on this forum that has Pitbulls guarding there flock. These dogs are not bred to Bight others these dogs are not bred to be vicious. they were originally bred for bull baiting. If you get the right dog, from the right bloodline. And you take the appropriete steps to train your dog. I guarentee you a better success rate. But if you go buy a 50 dollar Pit from the pound and think you will recieve the same output. chances are you should lock the dog up or your family.
My whole Point to this rant is. Research the dog and bred as a whole first before mingling chickens. Learn your dog know your dog and his background.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[TrystInn]

Choosing appropriate breeds is incredibly important, but so is choosing the individual dog within the breed. Look for breeds that are gentle with smaller animals, then look for individual dogs who have very little predator instincts. All our dogs are rescues, so we began training them as we got them.

You sometimes have to do this with your barncat, too. Here's Libby with the brooder chicks:

Gracie, learning Leave It:

We have two Basset Hounds and a Border Collie. While Border Collies have been used for centuries to control sheep, Bassets are known to be problematic with smaller livestock and are notoriously difficult to train (they are very stupid dogs, comparably speaking, but we adore them anyway). We began with the concept of Leave it, then began de-sensitizing them while the chickens and ducklings were small.

I'd sit with a chick on my lap and rub it on their face and head, let it perch on them, etc. to teach the dogs that the chickens can do whatever they want and the dogs cannot react. At the slightest reaction from the dog, I'd give them the Leave It command and begin again.

Flash really loves it when the chicks play on him now, he's incredibly proud of his birdies:

Gracie, gossiping with one of the pullets:

After a few days, we were in a good position with the dogs ignoring the chickens entirely while under strict supervision for the first few weeks. We can also rely on the Border Collie, which are sort of the hall monitors of the farm, anyway to get involved should there be an issue. Now they all hang out in the backyard together.

Gracie, guarding her baby feathered sheep:

One of the big things to do is to feed the chickens first. Then after they are fed and cared for, I feed the dogs. That's part of the pack hierarchy and a very important step. First the humans eat, then the poultry, then the dogs. Nowadays, we don't even bother supervising the dogs and poultry but we know they can be trusted - it's literally been years. They all politely ignore each other. Unless the chickens want to eat the dog food, in which case, the dogs wait until the chickens are done, then they eat.

Gracie, begging for dinner, while the chickens eat theirs first:

Scarlett, having had her share of Flash's food, wanders off to sample someone else's:

Ruby and Scarlett sharing Flash's food, while he waits:

Both Bassets waiting for their turn to eat:

Hope this helps!

 

[fancy]

YIKES!!! I didn't mean for this to get anybody riled up. The dogs did not get out of the pen, the chicks flew out, the rest is history. All remaining birds will have their wings clipped regularly. Problem solved.
After a lot of thought about the situation, I've decided that the reason we don't have problems with hawks or eagles is because of the dogs. We have plenty of them, but the dogs always chase them off.
I guess they were doing the right thing with the wrong birds.

Thanks for letting me share

 

[Lorije1]

Quote:
If a hunt / retrieving Lab chewed any part of a fowl it would be shot, sent to the pound or sold as a pet. Labs and Golden's are specifically bred for the soft mouths - proper delivery of a fowl by a master retrieve dog will leave feathers pretty much unruffled. Chewing on the head and necks bred into them? Not even close. My 14yr old Lab is great with any animal (pics from 2 years ago), my younger Lab is great unless he decides to play with the flappy squawky toys.

Buford with a young purple martin I raised