My Husky is killing my chickens and ducks, I need help!

[Anime2lover]

I'm inclined to agree with lafleche. I have a bird attacking dog with a similar prey drive to that of the husky. He is not allowed at all with our free ranging bird unless I'm walking with him on a leash. You can try the choke leads and collars but some dogs are incredibly stubborn and have to much of a prey dog. My own personal dog will keep on choking and pulling as long as a chicken or duck is nearby, so we no longer keep him on one.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

If you can't make a predator proof run, (your dog being the predator), I'd decide whether I want that dog or chickens. I know that a lot of people will have a problem with that statement. Its reality.

 

[JoePa]

Once the dog started killing chickens he had too much fun and you'll never stop it from doing it again - you always got to keep them apart - you are basically fighting against nature - I wouldn't let he chickens out to roam the yard anymore _ keep them in the coop

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Here we had the same situation, a dog who would blow through anything if it meant killing the birds!
We built 'Ft. Knox' fencing for the back yard, so unless a bird flew into the yard, our dog couldn't get out. Here we continued to have him on the IF collar, set on high, and set 3' inside a 4.5" woven wire fence, with electric tape on the top, so 5' tall overall. With 6' chain link gates.
He couldn't get to the real fence to dig under or jump over it, without being continuously zapped by the IF collar. Problem solved!
Since then, the only time another of our rescue dogs got out of the yard, our IF system malfunctioned. A very bad day for the chickens, but fixed when the IF people replaced the defective (old) equipment.
Your dog will never be safe with these birds!!! Set up safe bird housing, and a safe yard for your dog, and every future dog, and give up on 'trusting' this dog to change.
Mary

 

[JNC]

I agree, the dog should stay inside if the ducks are out and be out of your supervising. once a dog eat a chicken/duck that’s all it’s thinking about.

Sorry for your losses hopefully you can fix this problem.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I agree, the dog should stay inside if the ducks are out and be out of your supervising.

Same, agree with the others. With a husky especially, their prey drive is so high and they're so independent that they seem more likely than most other breeds to go after prey animals.

Rule in my house is if the dog is outside, the birds are fenced in their run. If the birds are out, the dogs are inside the house. I've also worked on training my most prey driven dog on "Leave It" just so she doesn't throw herself at the fence, but I don't trust her to obey that if she were off leash and the chickens were out.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

I don't have a dog, so I can't weigh in, However! Welcome from New Orleans, I really hope you have luck with your dog/chicken problem. Lots of educated, good people here, who will help if they can. Please feel free to jump into a thread that interests you and start getting to know people and having fun.

 

[hysop]

I have a 9 month old puppy who killed one of my favorite hens. I learned then I couldn’t free range them anymore.

The puppy is very obedient, but if I’m not around she loves to chase.

The only birds I free range now are my guineas and that’s because they can fly 20+ feet into a tree. I think my puppy has learned she can’t catch them but will still chase them just for fun.

I’ll hear the guineas making a ruckus and I’ll go outside and tell the pup to leave it and she does.

But chickens can’t fly that high or maybe my puppy is just too fast. So now if I ever wanna let em free range it will have to be supervised.

I have an old dog who was the perfect dog and wouldn’t chase them or mess with anything while they free ranged even without supervision. Then I got a puppy

 

[ShrekDawg]

I have a 9 month old puppy who killed one of my favorite hens. I learned then I couldn’t free range them anymore.

The puppy is very obedient, but if I’m not around she loves to chase.

The only birds I free range now are my guineas and that’s because they can fly 20+ feet into a tree. I think my puppy has learned she can’t catch them but will still chase them just for fun.

I’ll hear the guineas making a ruckus and I’ll go outside and tell the pup to leave it and she does.

But chickens can’t fly that high or maybe my puppy is just too fast. So now if I ever wanna let em free range it will have to be supervised.

I have an old dog who was the perfect dog and wouldn’t chase them or mess with anything while they free ranged even without supervision. Then I got a puppy

I’m sure the puppy will learn eventually!! She’s young still!

 

[cmom]

Hey all,

This is my first post for this site. I am in DESPERATE NEED of help with my 4 year old husky killing my chickens and ducks.

We began letting out our ducks and chickens to freely roam and forage our property this year. Knowing she may attack them like she did as a puppy one time, we got a shock collar and tried training her not to mess with them. It seemed to work for a few months as she showed no interest in them until one day she killed 7 out of 10 chickens in one day. She ran through the invisible fence straight to their coop while we were gone. The shock collar appears to no longer work as she now just blows through it. We also had it on the highest setting. We did scold her when she came running up to the house with a dead one in mouth. Last week, she killed two Pekins and today killed one call duck.

I am at my wits end and need any help / advice. We also tried putting her on a 15ft leash close to the house while the chickens & ducks are out(she has access to food, water, and shelter), but that does no good as she still manages to get a hold of them(probably them getting too close). She won’t attack them while we’re present, but if we go in the house for a few seconds, bam, she kills. I hate scolding her and hate keeping my chickens/ ducks up, but I can’t have her eating them anymore. Please let me know if you have ANY advice!

**EDIT: Thank you all so much for the advice! **

So sorry for your losses. Sad to say but when you free range you will loose birds sooner or later to a pet or predators. Many dogs have the prey instinct and it's hard to break them especially some. I don't free range anymore due to losses from predators in the past. Now my birds have nice large safe pens. I have electric wires around my coops and pens, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering the pens, all due to losses from predators. You have been given some good options. Nothing here gets past the electric wires and once they get zapped they don't try it again. Here it's coyotes, bobcats and fox primarily. I do believe that the adult predators teach the young not to mess with the electric wires and that a chicken isn't worth getting zapped for. Whatever you decide to do, good luck...