My golden retriever is killing my chickens!

[thiebert]

One evening I came home to a hole at the bottom of the chicken run and feathers all over the yard. I couldn't blame my retriever because I want there but I had a hunch it was her though she showed no interest in my birds. My husband did a quick fix of the fence before we went away for the weekend. Once again we came home this time to an empty coop/run! There was a hole dug under the fence! As I was checking inside the fence, she actually slide herself underneath the fence coming into the run, thus proving it was her! Don't know what to do! I've heard once a dog has eaten a chicken they will try there damdness to continue!

 

[MichaelZ13]

Try a dog repellent. If that does not work you could get a dog shock collar kit with a wire buried near the perimeter - this worked to train our dog to stop chasing bikers, and once trained we did not have to use the shock collar again. The shock is not that bad, but enough to train them.

You can also bury in some fence under ground around the perimeter, but that is a whole lot of work.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

I can say i agree with it being a one time done deal mine show not interest in our birds but they are responsible for ten dead hens. Bury you fencing and you can even put a electric fence at the base if you dont have younger kids. (I have a two year old so thats a no go for now) we have reinforced our fence and clipped wings we hoping the killing stops. But i do know when i am not outside they will kill one if given the chance. Mine go for any bird inculding doves that fly to low.

 

[pdirt]

All good advice. Either add a section of hardware cloth to the sides that you bury into the ground (most folks say 8") with it curved out a bit. That way when they dig, they eventually encounter the wire mesh and can't dig through that. Or add an electric fence. Either option will not only secure against your dog, but other dogs or predators as well.

Every dog is different. We have been lucky in which we have been able to train our Lab to leave the chickens alone. It took 4-6 weeks of daily training, but it worked. She is a bird dog by breed, but has never been trained before this to work with birds, so we had a clean slate with her. Now we can leave her completely alone with them, we trust her completely. Only for grown chickens, so far though, as baby chicks sound too much like her squeaky toys (that she like to chew out the squeaker device)...not sure she would actually do them harm, but not willing to take that chance!

 

[Blooie]

Pdirt is right - every dog is different. Our birdy-as-all-get-out English Setter. Molly, taught herself to leave the chickens alone. She was fine when they were chicks in the brooder in the house - even shared the same room with them. But the top of the brooder was covered in hardware cloth just to be sure.



But when we got their run finished it was a totally different story. Suddenly they were OUTSIDE, in HER play-yard, and if they were out there they must be fair game, right? She ran up and down that run, trying to figure out how to get in....finally she tried digging under it. But we had wired hardware cloth up the sides of the run about 2 feet high, and at the ground level we folded it outward and formed an apron that extended out about 2 feet from the edge of the run. She snagged her toenails, broke one and got a bloody paw. She gave up, shot the chickens a dirty look for hurting her, and we've never had another issue with her. Of course, she was closely supervised when the chickens were running around in the yard, but a couple of firm "NOs" if she got too curious took care of that too. Now she's content to be out there with them, drinking from the same water pan and waiting patiently in the run for me to finish my chores.


Molly with of our young Light Brahmas.


Laying down in the run. Notice all of the chicks behind her.



Greeting one of the chicks.

 

[Cindy in PA]

You leave your dog outside when you go away for the weekend? Dog has to be supervised. That's the only solution.