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You know, this is a method recommended by a Turkish man I know that grew up with working Kangal/Anatolians in a small village in Turkey (I will say any guardian dog that kills one of it's charges is usually killed on the spot in Turkey, so this method isn't as bad as it may sound compared to death). I know another American breeder of working Anatolians that has used a very similar method in cases where he couldn't break a dog of poultry killing any other way (this guy is a bit "out there" to begin with though). Both claim it works very well in breaking the dog of killing chickens, but we're also talking about working LGD breeds, which have been bred for centuries to have a very low prey drive and ability to bond with whatever they are raised to protect. My Anatolians have never killed a bird, though early in their training they did try to play with them. The Skye Terriers have been a different story, they have a strong prey drive and are naturally hard wired to kill any smaller animal. It's an ongoing training process to keep them "chicken safe," but I've never resorted to the "dead chicken method" and don't know whether I could, TBQH.
I agree with the other posters here that the OP made a very bad choice of breed(s) in selecting this dog as a guardian. I'm not sure it can ever be trained to be completely trustworthy around the chickens. Mastiffs and Danes, sure, if you know what you're doing those breeds could be trained to ignore poultry, but that's not the same as guarding them. Throwing Akita into the mix is a recipe for trouble, you've got a very strong willed, independent primitive breed with a very high prey drive. As I said before, with my terriers, it's an ongoing, repetitive training process to keep them from going after the birds. I have seen the Anatolians intervene a couple times when one of the Skyes was menacing the birds, but they have been taught from puppyhood that the Skyes are part of their "flock" as well and they must remain submissive to them and guard them too, so the most they will do is put themselves between the birds and the problem terrier and alert me to come help. On one occasion, Sinsi, the younger of the 2 Anatolians and the one with the strongest working instincts body slammed one of the terriers, knocking her across the yard, but not hurting her and definitely got the message across (Sinsi got a treat and praise for that).
The first thing I do with the terriers is use a shock collar, some may object, but in the right hands it is an effective training aid. When we put our first guineas in their outside run, every terrier in the house thought the dinner bell had just sounded. One by one, I brought each out, put the collar on them, opened the run, and as soon as they charged in after the birds, I zapped the crap out of them until they refused to even look at the birds. I then repeated the exercise, encouraging them to "get" the birds, and zapped them again if they did. The next step was turning them loose with the birds where they thought they were unsupervised and zapping them if they went for the birds (at that point only a couple of really hard headed ones still showed any interest). Using that method, I would say that 4 of the 6 Skyes I usually keep at home are "bird safe". The other 2 are still puppies and still think chasing the birds is great fun. I'm not sure what they'd do if they actually caught one, but I don't consider them safe and supervise when they are out.
If I were the OP, I would definitely give the shock collar a try. You don't want the dog to know the punishment is coming from you, all that is going to teach it is not to mess with the birds while you're there. You want the dog to think that "god" is punishing it for going after the birds so it will think it's a bad idea in any circumstance to harm the birds.
Also, for anybody else out there thinking about getting a guardian dog to protect their stock, it is the best predator protection there is, but don't just go out and get some random large breed or mutt, DON'T get a Herding breed either....herding dogs HERD, they aren't a reliable livestock guardian. Do your homework and get a Livestock Guardian breed, preferably from a reputable breeder that can select the best puppy for you and help you through the training process. If you've never trained a guardian before, especially since we're talking poultry here, getting an older dog that has already been started on poultry or one from a line of successful poultry guardian dogs is the best way to go. I have not lost a bird since my Anatolians have been on duty full time, everybody around me has lost small pets and livestock to bobcats, coyote, hawks, and human thieves. We are the only ones not to have predator problems.
Livestock Guardian Dogs
