Official BYC Poll: What Kind Of Relationship Do Your Dogs & Chickens Have?

[AgnesGray]

We had an Anatolian who loved her ducks. She was the best old girl ever. I miss her so much.

Aww, what a good and beautiful girl! So hard when they go.

I had never considered Anatolians and it was quite a shock that our girl had Anatolian in her, but since we found that out and have seen how great she is with the birds, we will definitely consider it for our next guardians.

 

[PioneerChicks]

My puppy got her first chicken the other day. She must have flown out of the pen. I'll read through this thread later for advice.

 

[MClean417]

I have 3 dogs. My teacup Yorkie is terrified by them. My biggest dog shepherd/ husky mix will sniff them and then ignore them like ask our other pets. My Boston usually just is wary of them but yesterday when he ball went over the fence and we went out to get it one of our silver lace polish was startled by her and went running. The Boston thought she was going for something and ran along side of her "where we going George?" Style. Stopped when I called her and came back to find her ball. Why she thought a chicken would have her ball I don't know. My son has a Britney spaniel because why wouldn't he get a bird dog to live in an apartment. We've stopped her in the process of grabbing every bird she could get too. No deaths ruffled feathers. Nature. She goes on point when they're outside our slatted wood fence. No training. And my daughter's long hair chihuahua just ignored them and walks next to us.

 

[Suzz]

My westie who will be 16 soon shows no interest in the chickens when she was younger she chased them a little but the chicken were never in danger its like she was running with them not after them then there is my sisters shitzu maltese yorkie mix he is a holy terror he would love noting better then to sink his teeth into a chicken but he’s so little it’s kind of cute heres good girl Maggie and bad boy Indy

 

[old biddy]

My son-in-law brought home 2 black mouth cur puppies (Raj and Marcello) that were abandoned in the woods down at a dock somewhere in central Florida. We have a hard time turning down rescues. When the puppies were a bit older we put them in a pen with a dog house next to our peacock pen where they stayed for awhile. They never showed any interest in the peafowl but one day a few of our chicken chicks flew into their pen and that was the end of them. I was so upset since I thought they were doing fine around all the birds (we raised peafowl, chickens and guineas all free ranging - except the peafowl - at that particular time.) My daughter thought it was just because the young pullets that got into the dog pen started squawking and going crazy and the puppies (about 3 months old at that time) just went after them.

But that was not the only event...later when the puppies were a bit older they went after a group of chicks that were just standing around with their momma hen and killed two of them before I could stop them.

The puppies are now grown (about 3 years old) and now I have no more free ranging of my birds and have had to build several aviaries for them. We have tried to train the dogs not to chase the birds but they seem to have an obsession for birds, ie., buzzards flying overhead causes Raj to go crazy running up and down the field barking chasing their shadows and looking up at the sky...and even went after some egrets that landed in the field just after mowing (which they often do). They ALMOST caught one egrets that was a bit late to fly away...just missed it. This is a bad situation for us since we have a bird farm. Ugh.

I am now doing research on learning how to train my dogs. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[InterestingChickens]

My dog sometimes gets exited around them especially if she needs a walk. Otherwise she is fine with them. Think there is a bit of a love - hate relationship going on there though. She gets jealous if we're giving them grass.

 

[Laura Anne]

My lab-hound, Jace, was always good with them because he looked to us for guidance, and knew we took care of them. My much more impulsive, younger Jack Russell mix, Bailey, put a dent in the chicken wire the first time I introduced them, trying to attack. I spent several sessions outside the chicken run with her, praising her when she was calm, and grabbing her by the scruff of the neck with a sharp No! when she growled or acted aggressive. It worked. She mixes very well with them now, although she really likes sniffing their butts, which they do not appreciate.

 

[BaaKaaawk]

It's all in how you train your dog. Having them in the coop / near the chicks as a puppy will almost guarantee you a good long-term protector. Mine actively patrols the coop area (as part of his regular patrol the whole property the fence-line regimen).

If you have a dog and expect them to just be friends with your new chickens... you may be in for some disappointment.

 

[Pghelp]

We have two dogs at opposite ends of the spectrum. Our retriever mix will happily lie down with the chickens and used to rest under the brooder cage so she could listen to them peeping. Trust her completely. Our terrier mix is another story. He won't hurt the chickens mostly because he's a wee bit afraid of them, but he cannot be trusted around the younger ones even though they're five months old now. He likes to chase squirrels and other targets and he sees the smaller pullets as something worth chasing, maybe eating if one had the chance! Every dog is different. Can they be trained to guard chickens, possibly, but I think it's part of the personality of the dog that is the greater influence.

 

[Viergacht]

We've got a collie, a sheltie, two pugs (mother and daughter) and a puggle. The hens run around free in the backyard. We've never had a problem with any of the dogs, thank goodness.

The puggle is very elderly, she was my sister's dog and we took her in after my sister passed. She has about 3 teeth left and mostly shuffles around, I don't think she could hurt the chickens if she wanted to, which she doesn't: she tries to get back inside as fast as possible.

The sheltie likes to occasionally herd the chickens. He's quite small, about half the size of a regular sheltie, so the chickens are a bit intimidating to him.

Mom pug pretty much ignores them, unless I'm giving them treats she likes. One time she stole the tomato slices I threw out there for them and barfed up the evidence inside!

Daughter pug is only 3 months old and occasionally runs at the hens to make them run, but if they turn back towards her she gets spooked and runs. I'm usually out in the back yard when she goes out so I don't anticipate much trouble. In fact, if we feed her in the back yard I have to stand there and shoo the birds away from her food . . . they LOVE dog food.

In fact, they'll mob the collie, who will sit there and make faces and occasionally bark at them, but has never taken a snap. If they really bother her, she'll pick up her bowl and carry it away, which the chickens are thrilled about because she spills a trail of dog food.