Rough day at our house

[Tancy]

We have a cage full of 17 day old chicks. Today, while working in the garden we were letting out the chicks two at a time with me (and the kids) to play.

At some point someone left the door open on our cage - which is on a dresser in our family room right now. One of my turken chicks must have hopped out of the cage, and was killed my one of our two family dogs.

Our dog is a very sweet girl who is wonderful with everyone, except mice, chipmunks, and an occasional bird or squirrel she chases. She is actually a better mouser than any cat could be.

So it raises several questions in my mind. Should I expect sweet Gizmo dog to get sick or anything? She already vomited bones and feathers - SORRY for the graphics - and discarded a lot of the body before this.

Anybody with dogs and chickens... how do you get your dogs to leave you chickens alone? I know it can and is done all the time. We have a 3 year old Border Collie/Austrailian Shepherd mix and the mouser "Gizmo" who is a West HIghland Terrier/White Scottie.

I am planning out enclosure, but i m still worried out the chicks, the dogs, and my poor 8 year old who had declared her adherence to a vegetarian way of life after the incident today.

Any thoughts or ideas would be much appreciated!

 

[Joe.G]

My two dog's are great with my chickens, it all comes down to training, if your dog has basic training go out there with them and play with the chickens with your dog and correct them if they are doing anything wrong.

 

[maizey]

I had to chuckle at the vegetarian proclamation...that ought to do it for anybody..That was definitely a rough day. We have a terrier breed as well, a schnauzer who is a terror to the local chipmunk population, catches and eats various chipmunk parts fairly regularly . He absolutely cannot be trusted around the baby chicks. He knows not to bother them because he knows his
" leave it" command and we use it any time he even glances toward them so he actually avoids them and scoots away when he realizes he has gotten to close, but I've watched his eyes glaze over and heard his teeth clacking together with his desire to get his paws on them, so I know that one scooting across the floor in front of him would be a goner. It's just too much to ask that he resist that temptation. He mostly leaves the big girls alone though. He can't understand why they won't play with him though, and gives it a try once in a while. He mostly just gets pecked in the nose for his efforts, they are not at all impressed. We generally make sure he doesn't have unguarded access as a precaution, but we also understand that a dog isn't a human and especially a terrier, could make trouble for chickens. That would be our fault and not his.

 

[Tancy]

I can't believe the pictures of your dogs! I can only hope mine will be that well behaved.

I am fairly confident that I won't ever be able to trust Gizmo with chicks. It just isn't really an option. We are working on constant verbal clues around the chicks with her. I I think our big dog will be much easier to trust.

Thanks for your input. I will have to report when the 8 year old has decided to become a carnivore again. Since the incident she has only had cereal and fruits and veggies

 

[1muttsfan]

Terriers in general are notoriously unreliable around chickens, usually regardless of training - their instinct tells them to hunt and kill. Build a good sturdy pen. Good luck.

 

[emrys]

I have a Welsh Terrier who just knows in her heart of hearts that chickens are vermin and need to be killed. We've had a few very close calls. Strong fencing is the only training that works for me. Her prey drive is so high I don't think I could ever train her to leave the chickens alone especially little chicks. Your experience was an accident. Now you and your children know how very attentive everyone must be to keep the chickens safe from your dogs. Don't be too hard on yourself, the kids or Gizmo.