My Dog broke into Henhouse to sleep with the Chicks... need advice!

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
No, they're programmed to RETRIEVE dogs, hence the name. If they maimed and did what it took to kill a bird they wouldn't be fit for human consumption, so, they have very soft mouths that hardly disturb a feather when brought back.

To answer the question, she seems quite trainable, go at it slow and see how she progresses

We had a chocolate labrador RETRIEVER several years ago. One day when I was working outside, he showed up from our little pond area carrying a very confused blue-winged teal. The bird was alive, just looking around. Not a mark on it. Locked it up to call our neighbor who is our local waterfowl expert. Before the neighbor got there, the dog came back from the pond. He was holding his mouth funny, and grass was hanging out of it. So, held my hand under his mouth and told him to "drop it". He deposited two INTACT duck eggs into my hand! Wish I could say that we incubated them, but didn't have any equipment or broody hens to do so at the time...

Exactly!!

What a good dog!

 

[flgardengirl]

We have a pomeranian who thinks he is a chicken herder. Sometimes I let the chickens free range when I can watch them. Our pom will herd them if I tell him to and sometimes when I don't, if he thinks they have went out too far or are where they aren't supposed to be. He loves baby chicks and stands on his hind legs and watches them hatch out in the incubator and likes to see them in the brooder when they are little. He also loves baby kittens or any other kind of babies lol. Our bigger dog is a lab/rhodesian ridgeback mix. She couldn't care less about the chickens and will even let them eat her food and drink her water. She does chase off other dogs, coons, etc.

 

[matthewschickens]

Our Border Collie thinks the chicks are her babies!!!

 

[JustOneMore]

When we built our coop and installed our fenced yards for the chickens one thing I insisted on was NO POULTRY NETTING (chicken wire). While hardware cloth and welded wire is more expensive, in my opinion it is also harder for a preditor to penetrate. I'm not saying there's no way anything can get through, but it will be a lot harder for them to!

I also wanted to avoid chicken wire because, while I love our chickens, the dogs are the ones that sleep on the bed. I wanted to keep them as safe as possible around the birds. A friend had one of her dogs get caught in chicken wire and in the dog trying to free herself she cut through the bone on one side of her mandible. After cutting her dog free, my friend was forced to make a choice ... either remove the lower jaw of her dog or put her dog down. It's not a situation I want to chance repeating with my dogs! I also worry about eye injuries with chicken wire.

We put 5' welded wire on the outer perimeter of the chicken area and we have a 4' covered pen of welded wire that the chick-lets exercise in. Since we had invisible fence already installed we ran another loop around the chicken area to further reinforce that we don't want the dogs in there!

We have German Shorthaired Pointers (some who have been trained to hunt) and Whippets. The shorthairs WANT the birds. For the most part the whippets ignore them. We have one whippet that the hens really like (they snuggle near the fence when he's nearby) and he is the only dog I have allowed to accompany me into their area, always supervised.

I have seen a lot of photos online of dogs walking among chickens or napping in the sun with them. When supervised I am sure that a good dog/bird relationship would be an absolute joy to spend your evenings watching.

 

[noodleroo]

I'm not really sure, but I think yours are introduced.

My rough coat collie went with me every time to the brooder and stuck her head in before I stuck my hand in. I think she does think they are her babies to look out for. They are 2 1/2 weeks old now and I let them out of the coop, supervised, with her every day for an hour or two. She walks around checking them out for a few minutes then usually lays down and they play on and all around her. She tolerates snuggling but doesn't like it when they start 'chicken scratching' on her. She just gets up, they jump off, and she lays back down. She understands what is 'mine' and has a healthy respect for it. Even though all is well, I think supervision with other animals is really important at least until the chicks are 'full chicken' size.

We had a wonderful black lab that used to bring us baby cotton tail bunnies - very alive and in tact; just wet with dog slobber. She would kill a rat in a heart beat, though.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I agree with Noodleroo, they have been introduced. Chiks probably think the dog is Momma hen. My Schnowzer is like that. Nothing better mess with his chicks. He'll chase hawks, kill rats or anything that gets near his chicks. He lets me know where a chick or hen is that gets out of the pened area. I wouldn't think about going out to the houses without him. He lets me know real fast if anything is out there that shouldn't be and where it is. He and the larger Terrior Mix is with them alone frequently because of Hawks. They let me know by the ruckus there's something flying to close for their comfort.

Start slow with supervised visits. At some point you'll feel safe leaving them together. But really, the dog has already proved itself, trustworthy. I'd put up stronger wire and let the dog sleep by them. Oh, has she been fixed, she might be wanting her own litter.

 

[DerbyChook]

My Border collie mix ended up IN the brooder with the chicks. My 7 year old DS left the door between the garage (where we keep our brooder) and the house open as we went out one day, and I didn't notice. When I came home 2 hours later, the dog was in the brooder with the chicks, and the heat lamp had fallen into the bedding which was smoking. Lucky I came home when I did! I got the dog out of the box, turned the lamp off, pulled the chicks out of the brooder and every single one was fine. A few were damp. I guess the dumb dog was in there licking them. But they were all fine! The dog clearly does not intend to harm the chickens, but still needs a lot of supervision. Now that the chicks are outside all day in their very sturdy run, he has an opportunity to examine them a little. Hopefully he will learn to be calmer around them in the future.

 

[wyo-helpmeet]

Quote:
We have a Saint/Border Collie mix & he's almost 7 months old. He herds my flock. We can't let him out when the chooks are out SOLELY because he thinks they need to be herded. He doesn't bark, growl or open his mouth, just puts his head down & chases them into the run. As soon as they're in the run in the back, he sits between them & the gate & watches them almost "grinning."

 

[matthewschickens]

Quote:
We have a Saint/Border Collie mix & he's almost 7 months old. He herds my flock. We can't let him out when the chooks are out SOLELY because he thinks they need to be herded. He doesn't bark, growl or open his mouth, just puts his head down & chases them into the run. As soon as they're in the run in the back, he sits between them & the gate & watches them almost "grinning."

Our Boy does that but our girl watches them like a Hawk! She is AWSOME!!

 

[LeftAtAlbuquerque]

Thank you all for the advice and stories........ I love to read them.

I learned a very important lesson .......... do not trust poultry wire! The tractor was a temporary measure while we were building the coop. We have 5-6 ft concrete block walls surrounding our house (1/3 acre), and have reinforced the 1 gate into the back yard. I'm still concerned about coyotes and hawks, but it never crossed my mind that my own dog might try to break in. For anyone who is thinking that poultry wire is sufficient protection for your chicks - - - don't even go there. I was very lucky, and it could have been a disaster.

The coop will be done tomorrow. We've worked nonstop the last couple of days to get it finished. The windows are covered with 1/2" hardware cloth. Under the floor is 1/2" hardware cloth. The pop door is a guillotine type sliding door. We'll finish the details later, like glass for windows and a pulley system and the run, but we just want to make sure the girls will be safe at night. Today I painted the inside of the coop yellow

, and tomorrow the vinyl floor and pine shavings go down. Hopefully they'll be in their new home tomorrow night!

The tractor has been reinforced, although Sophie is still checking on the girls every morning, and trying to sleep next to them at night. We've worked with her a lot (she passed obedience training with flying colors, although sometimes I wonder how

), but the 'wild' animal instinct is always there. DH found her with 7 one day old puppies under a trailer at the rifle range and brought her home, knowing that I couldn't say 'no'. We raised the pups and found homes for them, but kept Sophie, and she is just the best dog ever. But I don't think they ever forget those days when they were forced to survive by their instincts. I need to think more about this and do it right when I introduce the dogs and chicks......... right now I'm too dang tired trying to get this done!