Preparing my dogs for baby chicks.

[more_old_dogs]

I have a mellow gentle 7 year old golden spayed female and a energetic 1 year old dachshund neutered male. How do i start to get them used to our 6 chicks that arrive next week? The the chicks will be separated by a brooder box and a dog gate. I was hoping to leave them all together while the birds free range eventually but am now reading that might be a bad idea?

 

[nchls school]

I have eight small dogs. All good with the birds. Most of the dogs were introduced to birds as puppies. Those that weren't we introduced with a stern,"don't chase. don't hurt" repeatedly over a number of days. While my dogs have never hurt any of the flock, I would not leave them alone with the smaller poultry. My turkeys are well able to defend themselves and some of the dogs are afraid of them. I also use broody hens with puppy introductions; a couple times of that and the pups stay clear of all the birds.

I do not think it's safe to leave any dog around birds unchaperoned.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Until you see how your dogs react to the chickens, you won't know for sure if free ranging them together is a possibility. I don't risk it at all - the dogs are inside the house when chickens are out, chickens are in a run when dogs are out.

How well trained are your dogs? Do they reliably obey Leave It? If not, that's the first thing you should be working on with them.

At the start you can try letting them see the chicks to gauge their reaction but use good judgement on whether or not that's something that's safe to allow to continue (it'll be stressful to the chicks if the dogs are excited, barking, leaping). I would not trust leaving the dogs in the same room as the chicks without supervision. If the dogs respond well (disinterest would be the best reaction) then as the chicks grow up you can consider letting them meet with either a secure fence separating them, or the dogs on leash so you can react quickly if they make a move.

 

[Hanathehappyhen]

I would say wait for the chickens to get a little bit bigger, and then with your dog on leash let them check each other out. If the chicks get scared, take your dog away, and try again later. If your dog gets too pushy, distract it, and award it and pet it when it acts calm around your chickens. As they get used to each other Would let the dog off leash with you there to make sure everything turns out all right. Good luck!

 

[chickens really]

I have 5 dogs and a Cat that lives outdoors. They don't care about the Peeps or the birds.