My dog is killing my CHICKENS!

[Things Yet to Be]

Hi, my cattle dog/shepherd/blue heeler has repeatedly killed a total of seven of my good layer hens and I am at wits end with what to do!
I punished her by locking her up (she is a free ranged inside pet) in the barn with my dead chicken. She was very sad all day, and never touched the bird and she didn't want to look at "it" (The hen's name was Willa). So, I let her out, thinking her learned her lesson, but she started chasing the chickens again!

Any advice please?

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Either keep the chickens in their own run or don’t let your dog run around with the chickens out. She chases the birds because it moves and it is like a squeaky toy, when it stops moving it doesn’t interest her.

 

[TexasBlues]

Punishing the dog after it has already chased and killed the chickens is not going to help. They don’t think like that.
You need to prevent the behavior before it happens. It’s going to be hard since the dog has been able to successfully rehearse the bad behaviors.
How did you initially train your dog to be around chickens?
Maybe read thru this and see if you can find something you can put to good use.
https://mindyourdirt.com/2015/01/09/how-to-train-your-dog-to-not-kill-your-chickens/

 

[fluffycrow]

A lot of people will fight me on this, but I'm a big believer in genetics. And your's a Heeler mix. On top of that, you have not trained her to be somewhat tolerant of them. Locking her up with the dead chicken does absolutely nothing, not sure where you picked that training advice

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

A lot of people will fight me on this, but I'm a big believer in genetics. And your's a Heeler mix. On top of that, you have not trained her to be somewhat tolerant of them. Locking her up with the dead chicken does absolutely nothing, not sure where you picked that training advice

2x.

 

[lagrange chicks]

This is an old wise tale, but it is said to tie the chicken to the dogs neck so it hangs bellow its head. I am not sure it works but have heard this a few times in my 64 years.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

This is an old wise tale, but it is said to tie the chicken to the dogs neck so it hangs bellow its head. I am not sure it works but have heard this a few times in my 64 years.

I can't say that that is an old wive's tale, because I have seen chicken-keepers discussing on BackYard Chickens that they tried that with their dog and it worked. Then again, I don't know much about dog behavior.

 

[fluffycrow]

This is an old wise tale, but it is said to tie the chicken to the dogs neck so it hangs bellow its head. I am not sure it works but have heard this a few times in my 64 years.

This simply does not sound ethical

 

[LaurenRitz]

I can't say that that is an old wive's tale, because I have seen chicken-keepers discussing on BackYard Chickens that they tried that with their dog and it worked. Then again, I don't know much about dog behavior.

It might work, depending on the dog. It connects the presence of the dead chicken directly to a punishment or discomfort.

Whether it will connect that discomfort to a live chicken is anyone's guess.

What it does not do is connect the chicken to the dog's behavior, unless the dog is very intelligent and you literally took that chicken out of its mouth.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

I think you have four options in this situation:

1. You could keep the chickens in a chicken run and your dog could still go out to run around in the yard but not be bothering your chickens.

2. You could make the dog a fence to play in when he goes outside.

3. You could just get rid of the dog or get rid of the chickens but I don't think anyone wants to do that.

4. You could try your very best to train the dog not be killing/bothering the chickens. Teach him that they are not something that he can just chase around and kill.