Really Bummed-Lost First Chicken Today- Need Advice About Dog

[Euarto Gullible]

I got my first chicks back in March. The brooder was in the house along with the dog. I hatched two more batches of chicks, so they've been in the house pretty much continuously since then. The first time I let the first batch outside, my dog tried lunging at them. I worked with her, and she quickly got used to the birds, and they aren't even afraid of her now. She ignores them. Our dog spends most of her time in the backyard, and I also let the chickens forage in the backyard frequently, especially now that the mulberry tree is dropping berries. They have spent hundreds of hours unsupervised in the same yard without a mishap. Today, however, I found my only Maran lying in the backyard. There were only a half dozen feathers in the grass with it, indicating a pretty brief struggle. It wasn't visibly chewed up. My dog was only about 30 feet away, and I've never seen my dog display such guilt in the 5 years we've had her. When I called her, she slunk toward me, low to the ground and walking slowly. She knew she had done something very bad.
I'm devastated. Has anybody else here experienced a dog getting along with the chickens and running loose with them for months and then all of the sudden...the dog just snaps and kills one? Can you ever trust a dog with chickens again, once it has killed one?

 

[Chadsky]

same kind of thing happened to me only it was my daughter not a chicken our dog and daughter got along great never any indication of violence for two years until one day he snapped and bite her in the face twice, he was toast! rehomed him as soon as we could. (i was so mad i wanted to kill him but wife stopped me) regardless if it happens once it will most likely happen again, if you can't bring yourself to rehome they will need to be seperated but rehoming would be the best answer and your decision on what species (chickens or dog).
good luck with your decision and sorry for the loss

 

[hoog]

I’ve had several dogs over the time I’ve had chickens. For me whether or not I could teach the dog not to kill the chickens depended heavily on the breed. Herding breeds (Shepherds, Giant Schnauzer, etc.) either didn't mess with the chickens or learned quickly to leave them alone. Killing breeds (Jack Russell, beagle, etc.) would get carried away with the thrill of the hunt and would kill over and over again. All but one displayed sincere remorse.

The breed of a dog is almost always strong indicator of how it will behave.

 

[RedDrgn]

While I have not had direct experience, I know it's not terribly uncommon for this to happen. It's not that the dog wanted to kill the chicken, or the chicken would have been chewed up. Probably what happened is that the chickens got to running or flapping or doing some other lively chicken thing that chickens do, which often seems to come off to dogs as "TOYTOYTOYPLAYPLAYPLAY!!!!!" You know how dogs play, though, grabbing a ball or a rope and shaking it....chickens just don't hold up to that. It may have even pounced on the chicken, likely never meaning to cause any harm, just trying to play with the noisy flapping thing. But when the toy suddenly stopped moving, the toy was broken and the dog left it be.

Unfortunately, a dog that wasn't raised/trained to guard a flock of birds is a liability to the birds, and even if they've never done it before, they always could if a chicken just happens to do something that hits the dogs as "TOY!" or even "FOOD!". I'm very sorry that this happened to you, but it definitely could happen again if you let the dog and chickens mingle, especially unsupervised. Typically, keeping the chickens or the dog (or both) in runs is the best solution over the long term.

 

[jonalisa]

God, I'm so sorry this happened to you. We love our animals as we do children and it's really hard to deal with this kind of event. What kind of dog do you have?

 

[Eggcessive]

Get a shock collar to train the dog. Sorry about your loss. We experienced the same thing a few years ago with 3 chickens at different times jumping over the fence into the yard with our golden retriever. We ordered a shock collar although I always hated them. We put the dead chicken in the yard and shocked him every time he went near it. It worked. He wouldn't even look at the chickens again. Now we have 3 yard chickens and he doesn't bother them. With certain breeds this may not control the urge to chase.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

Our dog is a German Shepherd/Blue Heeler cross maybe with a little Doberman in her. She's part of our family. The best dog ever. I don't even bother shutting my gates because she never runs out of the back yard except to come and greet us when we drive up. She doesn't dig, doesn't get into food or garbage in the house (we can leave it sitting on the floor), and only barks at strangers who come up to the house. I never bother with a leash because she always walks beside me, something that never required any training...it just kind of happened. She will start running after deer, but a single command has always stopped her. She is saintly with my rough two year old. She is the friendliest dog and loves all people but she doesn't jump on them or lick them. She has also had zero health problems in the 5 years we've had her, despite adopting her as an emaciated adult stray from the shelter. I've met more than a handful of people who have told me that Bailey is the best dog they've ever met. I would bulldoze my coop and slaughter my entire flock before dreaming of rehoming her. At the same time, losing this chicken really bothers me, because it was killed in a wasteful act of violent indulgence. I can deal with predation, because it's the whole circle of life. Predators need to eat. I can kill chickens and eat them and celebrate their lives at the table. I can deal with disease or accidents. Stuff happens. But for my trusted buddy to kill my only Maran, and leave it lying on the grass, completely uneaten, just really seems like a sad, deliberate and pointless waste of life.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

Eggcessive, I'm not sure how I would train her. She has been around the chickens for months, even in close proximity. She ignores them and they have no fear of her. I don't even know that I could make her go after them. She was lying down about 30 feet away from the dead Maran when I found it. She had no interest in it that I could see.

 

[aart]

Might just have to chalk it up as an accident. Sounds like a great dog that knew it had done wrong and hopefully it won't ever happen again.

 

[shmccarthy]

Even the best dog can snap easily. We had our 13 year old Dane bite my brother when he was little because he was climbing on her. She was the sweetest dog but she just snapped. Dogs have a very high prey drive. My lab is very well trained, but he gets excited around the chickens. He doesn't want to hurt them, he just wants to okay with them. I tell him no and he stops immediately. I would never let him outside unsupervised with the chickens because of that. The dog probably wanted to okay with the chicken and instincts took over. I'm sure she didn't intend to kill it, but it's very easy for it to happen.
Personally, I wouldn't leave the chickens unsupervised with your dog, because when it happens once, it wil more likely than not happen again, no matter how bad the dog knows it was.