Questions on our chicken run & a hunting dog

[ThoughtsofTHATmom]

I have a lab puppy...who is trained to hunt birds. I'm sure she'll think we've brought home and caged in lunch when we get chickens. So what do you recommend to help keep her out? Our tentative plans are for a home-built coop with a dog-kennel for the run. (We'll pull off one side of the kennel & attach the coop there. A friend did it & we like their design.) The kennel we're looking at getting is 6 ft tall & 7 1/2 x 13 feet wide. Here is a link to it on Amazon for reference: http

/amzn.to/dTOBHc

I've been told we should put something on the bottom to prevent digging. It's been recommended that I wrap chicken wire around the bottom to help ensure our lab can't get in. It has also been recommended that we do something to prevent digging. We haven't decided what to do yet for that. We're in Vegas and have rock-hard ground (literally in some cases) that can't be easily dug into, but it would still be possible to do enough digging for her to get in (or pull a chicken out). We're also figuring we'll need to stabilize it somehow, but aren't yet sure how we'll do that.

Most importantly, though, is this enough to keep our lab out? Are we on the right track?

If not, do you have a suggestion for something that would be better but would still be under $400 for the run including cover, dig-protection, etc.? We're looking for long-term but portable solutions. (I don't mind putting up fencing with portable concrete posts if that would be better.) Labs jump, though, so 6 feet is a minimum height. Also the area we have is in our back yard on the side of our house. If we were to fence in that entire section, it would be bordered by our house on 1 1/2 sides and a brick wall on the other 1 1/2 sides. The benefit we found to the kennel is the readily-available cover which is a necessity in the summer here.

 

[calgal98]

We have hunting dogs as well. It can be a problem...not just a hunting dog problem though. One of our brits thought it would be fun to chase the chickens. Not everyone will approve of our method of cure, but it sure worked with THIS dog. We used a shock collar and under close supervision allowed dog to chase . It only took one strong shock or two to let T-Bone know it wasnt an acceptable bird. He continued hunting pheasand with no problems, but would give wide berth to those chickens. Our current dog would probably just run right through the shock collar to get the chickens....did I say I'm not fond of this dog?? Hard headed is too kind. LOL

The best way to protect your chicks is to fence well. I like hardware cloth better than chicken wire as its more durable. It is pricier, however. Labs are known diggers so yes, protection on the bottom is advisable. You might use fencing panels to lay on the bottom of the coop. Just cut to size.

 

[smoothmule]

My son brought an adult male (intact) chocolate lab home 2 yrs ago. First thing he did was bring me a rooster, unharmed. We did the humane thing, shock collar. It too 2 attempts of him following a chicken and getting zapped to break him. He's still an excellent duck hunting dog and retrieves great but he doesn't touch anything here and that includes chickens, guineas, turkeys (who eat his food) my swan and the wild Canada geese who nest on the pond in the yard.

I swear by them, they are humane (kept him from getting killed) and worked excellent.

 

[wildorchid053]

we have a yellow lab and she was with the chicks till they were grown.. she was allowed to sniff and lick and if got too excited we removed her.. the only time we had any problem was when one would fly .. the noise of the wings flapping had her chasing.. last year was the second year and we had no problems at all...i would never ever leave her outside alone with them though. you just never know..

 

[Arielle]

I have dogs too. The best thing I ever did was get me and the dogs trained. "LEave it" has worked well. I do like the method that shock collar provides: it's a training tool, not a punishment technique. GOod luck.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

We train guide dogs (labs) and have a golden and boston/jack russell. The lab is by far the easiest to train. We've actually been using the chickens (safely) to teach him to ignore distraction. The lab is pretty easy going about the chickens.

 

[Rebecky54]

We have a Jack Russell that loves to chase the cats that run -- he never hurts them. He's death on coons and skunks, but he's terrified of the chickens -- gives them a wide berth. Not sure why. He loves eggs though -- he's an egg sucker for sure. I have to watch him because he loves to look around for concealed eggs.

I'm just glad he's afraid of the birds.

Becky

 

[HLAC]

My black lab is a bird dog. She'll flush and retrieve pheasants and she's also is great around my chickens. My free-range hens can walk in and out of the dog's fenced in area. The dog doesn't chase them or otherwise bother them. I've seen them cuddled up together in the cold weather. I don't supervise their together time at all.

The leave-it command is one of the most important in my opinion. Don't ever allow your dog chase the chickens.

 

[wowmanacat]

I have two dogs that had never seen a chicken till we go some back in Feb. My oldest is a black lab mix and we just don't let her out of the house when the chickens running, unless she is on her chain. My pom mix likes to run around the pen and has only chased once then our roo got her now I can take her with me to get eggs and to check on the chickens when they are out of there pen. when I have chicks I will let the dogs check them out to let the get more use to them.

IDEA:lay the fence on the ground on the outside of the run to where if the dog tries to dig the fence or be in the way. That is what I was going to do if I was building a coop to keep out skunks and all that.

 

[ThoughtsofTHATmom]

Thanks for your input, everyone!