Our dog has eaten our chicken!

[bwebb7]

a string of electric fence will help to safe your flock. Train the dog as stated above- the dog whisperer.
good luck

 

[Emzyyy]

Our dogs just know better because when we had them as puppies we had chicks too. We let them get used to the chicks they would sit in the grass w/ them and sniff at them and now they know better and they find no interest in chasing them, but I don't think that would work for a grown dog.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
I have a Jack Russell too and she does not bother with the chickens she is afraid of them...she is old though too...that may be the difference

 

[LoveMyPeeps]

Cetawin, your story made me sick to my stomach. That is completely barbaric.

Training is the only way to get a dog to act the way you deem appropriate for them. Teach them not to appraoch the chicken coop/runs.

 

[redhen]

..Cetawin...i just have to say..my 94 year old me'me told me a story like that also.(so youre not the only one who has this story...i believe it was used alot in the older days..

..).my grandfather and her had chickens...and when they had a dog that went after chickens....they tied the chickens around the dogs neck.(i believe alive...to freak the dog out...)..

..

..my grandma says it worked...

..(but its a personal choice...)...so..i dont know..but i wish you luck..i aslo..have dogs that are too "interested" in my chickens..and knock on wood..

..i've been lucky so far..but..it can happen to us all..sorry to hear of your loss...Wendy

 

[amazondoc]

Woops -- I started to write a message, but then I got distracted and didn't finish it -- trying again--

If your birds went under the fence, then add a skirt of fencing or cage wire at the bottom. Either bury the fence skirt, or lay it along the ground for a foot or so. If you lay it along the ground, then weigh it down with rocks.

If the birds went OVER the fence, then add a netting or wire roof to the pen.

Good luck!

 

[Mahonri]

When I was young, we had a dog that killed a chicken. We tied it around his neck tightly.

After a week or two it stunk to high heaven! I couldn't stand to be around him. We finally took it off but...

He hated it so badly that he stayed away from chickens for the rest of his life.

 

[turnerstar31]

Well I know this is going to cause a lot of people to bash me but my two cattle dogs have high prey drive and killed a few of my chickens. We took the bodies and struck them a couple of times with them. They have never touched them since. Now mind you I am not one for beating a dog so don't take it that way. I even trust them now to stay around them when I go away.

I do however think that putting the chicken around the collar thing has worked for a lot of people on here so that would be one thing that I would try.

 

[moenmitz]

Tying the chicken to their neck WAS a common method, and according to alot of old timers, it worked. Kinda icky for my taste, but to each his own. Our dog killed a chicken several weeks ago, we caught him in the act, whacked him with the dead chicken while scolding. Not in favor of hitting a dog generally either, but in this case, he saw it more as the chicken was attacking him I think. He definitely got the idea. Then we kept him on a leash for about a week or so, taking him out to do chores twice a day. Made him lie down on leash amongst the chickens and let them roost all over him. We also locked him in the barn with them at night (they were of course, protected by a hardware cloth pen) He now demands to sleep in the barn with them at night and lies in the grass amongst them all day while they range aorund him. It has been nearly a month since we quit watching him by them and he hasn't bothered them a bit, not even the babies. Making your dog see them as part of his "pack" just like humans and other animals that live there might make a difference. Granted, all dogs are different, and for some, a really high prey drive might be too much to overcome, but it is worth a shot.

 

[pixiechic]

Just wanted to say that you aren't alone - the same thing happened to me this week too. One of my silver laced wyandottes decided to fly over the 5' wire fence between the pen and the back yard...while my 2 dogs happened to be out in the yard. DH was the only one home and didn't notice the escapee until it was too late. We aren't sure which dog caught the chicken -- the "rottweagle" mutt was discovered surrounded by feathers, but our other dog is a greyhound so he certainly could have been interested in chasing a fluffy running thing. I couldn't be mad at the dogs, they were just doing what dogs do.

We're extra careful to check for escapees before letting the dogs out now, and we discourage them from going near the chicken pen just in case, but it could potentially happen again. Our chickens don't fly over the fence often (we've even clipped some of their wings), but short of building an 8' privacy fence I'm not sure what else we can do. The pen is 130' x 70' so there's no way we could cover the whole thing. The dogs are not particularly interested in the chickens otherwise, and they know they aren't allowed in the pen, but I'd love to know if there's a way to train them not to chase one if it escapes.