Pet dogs and chicks

[Sc00ter4900]

Hello i'm new to this but was hoping to get some info on introducing dogs and chicks. I have 3 Labs 1 mix breed and a rat terrior. There gentle around my parrot. The problem is the chicks seem skidish around them and me. I have 3 RI reds and 3 rocks.If any one could give me some feed back on this it would be apreciated Thanks Scotty

: weee

 

[Judy]

There are many discussions on here about mixing dogs and chickens. Breed can make it likely or unlikely that they can be trained to live together. A lot of chickens are killed by the family's pet dog, yet some use dogs to guard the chickens, and the dogs live with the chickens. I don't think labs and rat terriers are the best choices of breeds to mix with chickens, though I have a pure lab and a mixed lab that do fine with mine -- after training them to leave the chickens alone.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
First off,

So glad you found us!

While some folks will swear by a certain breed as being "the great protector"... (Great Pyrenees?)
I think it just takes, love, patience and training.

Once the dog knows that they are off limits and that they are to be protected, you are on your way, but we here many stories of the family pet turning unexpectedly on their chickens... and then they blame it on instinct. If you want to be completely safe, you don't let them "free range" together.

 

[CMV]

I think it's always safest to assume that dogs and chickens don't mix and always keep them separated preferably by a fence. After some time, introduce your dogs one at a time to the chickens while the dogs are leashed. Let the dogs know that chickens are not chew toys or their next meal. You will probably see right off if any dogs are going to be problematic with the birds. I strongly discourage letting 4 dogs run around with unattended chickens. Even if most of the dogs are fine with the birds, all it takes is one ringleader to turn on the "pack mentality" and you've got a bunch of dead or wounded chickens. I used the introduction method for my 2 dogs with some occasional verbal reinforcement as needed, and my dogs leave the chickens alone, but I also don't leave them unattended together. I only trust them so far.
Welcome and good luck.