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

[5penny5]

My german shepherd gets too excited around chickens

Good Day Buckingham, You should try some of these solutions if you plan to have YOUR GIRLS for a long time. They WORK!!!

 

[5penny5]

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.

Not Necessarily PGHELP! What I did with my pug and first 30 hens, is, I brought her into my baby flocks new home with me. I made her sit beside me and watch while I held her collar firmly. We stayed with them for a couple hours. About 45 min in...she was much calmer, less nippy, so I eased up on the collar while she observed them roosting...at least 10 chicks per leg, while I talked softly and played with them. After about three days, she wandered in and around the chicks, sniffing their buts and slurping up bits of their poo. We had such fun and still practice the same way now almost 9 yrs late only if she feels. in the mood.

 

[Coops Dad]

My wife's beagle is really good with the chickens and views them as mobile treat dispensers.

My dog, the infamous Luna aka MurderDog, would happily shred every chicken, rabbit, bird, snake, lizard, cat, possum, raccoon or other dog and then joyfully roll about in the viscera and gore. She is as untrustworthy as a politician.

 

[dreamofwinter]

My dog was keenly interested in the chickens when they were smaller, and did lunge at them once or twice. He's very sensitive to criticism though, and was really upset at being yelled at to Leave It. Now when I let him out with them (always supervised) he follows the flock around moving very slowly (not stalking) and keeping a low profile, hoping they'll let him join their gang. His lifelong dream is to sniff a duck

 

[MixedFlock23]

My Gracie passed away last year at age 15, but she loved all other animals (& people). She was a dachshund, so a badger hunter by breeding... but I don’t think she ever killed anything—oh, except for flies and once a small sparrow fledgling that flew by her face (she ate all of those things).
She would often follow me into the chicken run as I did chores and a couple of times I accidentally locked her in there. After an hour or so I would go to call her inside the house, but found she was locked in with the hens! (The yard was fenced and the chicken run access was inside that fence; that’s why I just assumed she was in the fenced in yard.) The chickens didn’t bother her and she didn’t bother them. I miss our Gracie girl.

 

[DParker75089]

We've only been in our new home with our inherited chickens for 4 days now, but so far our dog (small female golden lab/who-knows mix) refuses to even acknowledge their existence.

 

[Aquira]

We've got three dogs here, two huskies and a cattle dog. The huskies have definitely gone after the quail (and have killed a few), but I knew they were high prey drive dogs to begin with so I don't let them interact with the chickens (the quail happened to get out into the main yard while the huskies were out, normally they were contained in a fenced off side yard inside their own cages).
My cattle dog I trust slightly more but I'd never leave her unsupervised with them. Granted, the bigger chickens will peck her if she's too focused on them, which she hates lol.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I have GSDs. They look fierce and everyone is afraid of them, so they have their own yard for their own protection from the folks who are afraid of them (even tho we live in the boonies). I also have a 290 sq ft run for my chickens, so the dogs and the chickens never have occasion to interact. Plus I have a barn full of horses and several large pastures. I don't let the horses and the dogs interact either. I really prefer it that way. To my mind mixing horses, dogs, and/or chickens is inviting heartbreak.

Rusty

 

[Erba]

My dog is a Shetland Sheepdog and he loves my chickens, perhaps more than me! As a working dog, he likes to round everything up, likes people and chickens to stay in groups and will herd them all together. He goes loopy over chicks, and can sit hours making sure they are all ok. If one escapes he will fetch me, so I can put them back in the cage. I really hit the jackpot with him, as a chicken dog.

 

[centrarchid]

Over last 10 years I have worked with 2 German Pointers and 4 English Shepherds where all were started as pups. Currently I have 1 German Pointer and 3 English Shepherds with a male English Shepherd pup to be outsourced next spring. German Pointers have been the inside backup component that sometimes require more supervision. I like smart dogs that can read chickens and cover a lot of ground.

Relationship is complex and changes with experience of the dog. Very young pups often ignore chickens while older pups chase them and will kill and eat them as well. Dogs more than a year are are much more capable of catching the chickens but also show more restraint, especially when I use verbal restraint. My dogs generally cannot be trusted fully / alone with chickens until dogs are two years of age. By that point they are expected to perform a poultry protectors. It takes a great deal of effort to get dogs into working form I desire. If I were to train dogs for other people, I would have to charge a lot more than what people typically expect to pay for even the fanciest working dogs with papers.