My dogs are killing my chickens!! Help!!!

[olijo123]

I'm glad you're willing to put in the time and effort to try to make it work out. Just to clarify, when I said " keep them separated" in my earlier post, I meant the dogs from the chickens, not the dogs from each other... Good luck to you - I hope it all goes well.

Thank you! And I will keep the dogs separated from the chickens so nothing else goes wrong!

 

[olijo123]

Keep dogs together except when actually training. If goal is complete trustworthiness around chickens, then you will likely be in a training phase for better than a year or at least will require direct oversight until dogs are 18 to 24 months old. By that time they go through maturity related change where motivation to play with chickens as chew toys slows down greatly. Both of my dogs are German Pointers. They are very high energy and very smart. It is the smart that actually makes training difficult. When boredom strikes they test limits. Once mature and trained you may enjoy exceptional flexibility in what you can do with dogs around the poultry. I still take my dogs hunting (squirrels and rabbits) and they will point non-poultry birds just fine. They chase hawks and even a bald eagle very well.

I use my dogs as poultry guardians very effectively against anything from coyotes on down. Having outside foes also helps divert attention from chickens.

Thanks for your advice! I want to try and get my dogs to be protection for my chickens, not predators. So I think I will try to use the short leash method to train them.

 

[centrarchid]

Thanks for your advice! I want to try and get my dogs to be protection for my chickens, not predators. So I think I will try to use the short leash method to train them.

I would not call it a method by a long shot. It simply one of the tools that can be used to gain control. Getting the dog chicken friendly takes a lot of time and effort. Getting it to be a guardian involves training it to go after threats in a measured way that is contrary to its breeding and interested in communicating with you through sound. I had done all this many times in the past but did not really know what I was doing. With current dogs I decided to document process, in part so I can do better in the future. My second dog is a work in progress as she is just know approaching two years of age. German Pointers are among the slow maturing breeds. See thread below which lacks structure since a rough draft of process.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426408/planned-poultry-guarding-dog

 

[Earl-Ray]

hey olijo123,
it is very rewarding long term. one of them things words wont describe. anywho, lemme know how it goes. i got love for a good dog story.

 

[FrozenFeathers]

Good luck. I had a malamute that was "pretty good" around the chickens after very intense training, but she was never 100% broke. Every once in a while she would take one. She was a highly trained dog (professionally trained SAR dog) so her base training was higher than most dogs and it was still impossible to break.

 

[lilithbunny]

An e-collar used correctly worked perfectly at teaching my dog when he was 5 months old not to chase the chickens (though he gratefully never had any interest in actually catching one). Friends of ours wired a dead chicken to their electric fence after their german shepherd killed and ate one. Strong, well-timed aversives do wonders at breaking dogs off prey. Also, best of luck to you. With two puppies growing up together, you've got a heck of a training challenge ahead.

 

[Cbell1536]

I have a black lab and bassett hound mix who tried to kill my chickens when we first got them,We fixed him by shooting him in the butt with a BBgun whenever he would go near the coop.Now he protects them.

 

[olijo123]

I have a black lab and bassett hound mix who tried to kill my chickens when we first got them,We fixed him by shooting him in the butt with a BBgun whenever he would go near the coop.Now he protects them.

A lot of people have told me many ways they have broken their dogs from killing their chickens! I guess it just depends on what clicks with your dogs.

 

[olijo123]

An e-collar used correctly worked perfectly at teaching my dog when he was 5 months old not to chase the chickens (though he gratefully never had any interest in actually catching one). Friends of ours wired a dead chicken to their electric fence after their german shepherd killed and ate one. Strong, well-timed aversives do wonders at breaking dogs off prey. Also, best of luck to you. With two puppies growing up together, you've got a heck of a training challenge ahead.

Thanks for the advice! We do have quite a challenge, but with time and effort our dogs might learn!

 

[olijo123]

Good luck. I had a malamute that was "pretty good" around the chickens after very intense training, but she was never 100% broke. Every once in a while she would take one. She was a highly trained dog (professionally trained SAR dog) so her base training was higher than most dogs and it was still impossible to break.

Thanks! I guess every now and then you come across a dog that is impossible to break!