Okay, I have a 15 year old catahoula dog. She has always been such a great dog, but lately has been killing pigeons and squirrels more and more! I'm scared that when I build my chicks coop and finally move them out that she will get them! Who has dogs they were unsure of? How did you introduce them to your flock? What was the outcome? Any losses? I want them to free range my backyard during the day (yes, I'm a city girl). Any tips? Ideas? Thanks!
You'll get a lot of mixed answers on this. Some say you can never trust them, and some say you may. Within doubt, keep them apart.
Quote:I'll give you both in one reply! I have an Aussie with a very high prey drive. I trust here totally with my "big girls" BUT not with my month olds. She has no interest what so ever with the "big girls" but all those little ones just a flapping, peeping, and jumping all over, she just drools all over herself. Catahoula dogs have a very high prey drive as well. They are mostly bred for hunting, it's in their blood. Play if safe, keep them apart.
My dachshunds have snapped at my "girls" who are almost 11 months old and HUGE. The girls will bristle up at the dogs and I'm certain there is an intimidation factor and the pups want to defend their territory. One of the girls had to have surgery after an "argument" . I don't trust them together. Dogs are dogs.
I have a jack russell that got one of my favorite girls. Now when I let the girls out he gets put up. My yard is chainlinked so I don't worry about other dogs coming in. If your worried then you probably have a reason to be concerned, I would keep them apart just to be on the safe side. P.S. I thought that my dog wouldn't bother the chickens either (he had been left alone with them many times) but I was wrong. Save yourself the heartache, keep them apart.
I wouldn't trust our border collie further than I can throw him. I don't even trust him around our goat. My wolfhound mix on the other hand is very gentle with other creatures. She even raised our formerly feral kitten from 3 weeks old. I'm not going to trust her right off the bat with the chicks however. In fact, I probably won't trust her until the chicks are completely grown and then only after long periods of observation. To me, chickens are just too easy to kill.