Obviously not a chicken...what is it?! (Warning..photo)

[mmoreau]

Thank you everyone, it seems to be the bobwhite quail. I am up in canada, the hunt club right across the road releases pheasants and these quail, who INSIST on coming into the dog run and usually hiding in the trees. Fair game when the birds have 100s of acres to venture, but insist on being in a fenced 1/2 acre right behind the house
The dog has high prey drive, but is very gentle with her findings. She has caught 2 others and brought them to the deck, but they were unharmed and flew off. Maybe it's time to try some bird training with her

 

[mmoreau]

Yeah, looks like a quail, poor thing. IMO, bury it somewhere or toss it in the compost, don't throw it in the trash. I prefer to put dead animals back into nature instead of them winding up in landfills.

The bird was taken out to the bush quite a distance from the house, something else will deal with it...without coming to my yard!

 

[Fishkeeper]

You might be able to train her out of having too much interest in birds, if you can get some live birds to use as examples. If she has a high prey drive, you could hopefully train her to at least bring them to you alive.
My guess is they wind up in the dog run because the poor things are used to a pen, and don't know what to do with a wild space. They aren't really wild birds, after all, they were raised in captivity. The pen probably looks familiar and safe. To keep them out, maybe hang some old CDs (if anybody even has any at this point!) or other shiny objects around, so they'll flash in the sun and make the area less inviting to birds in general.

 

[Gray Farms]

Bobwhite Quail, female