Tips for Getting Dogs and Chickens to Exist Together?

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TheBantyCoop

TheBantyCoop

Songster
Jun 9, 2015
313
135
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The California Coast
Hi All,

I am little worried about my dog and my girls. I know that I should never leave them together unsupervised, but I don't want my dog to be worried or my girls. Does anyone have any tips on how to get them accustomed to each other? Don''t worry I will play it safe.
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-The Banty Coop
 
Does your dog show a lot of prey drive - ie with cats, other small animals, etc? Have you done any training work with the dog regarding impulse control? What breed is your dog? How much potential is there in your management plan for dog/chicken interaction? What training philosophy do you use in your other work with your dog?
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. I sorry to say that dogs and chickens do not typically mix well together. There are of course exceptions, but most dogs either view chickens as prey or chew toys. We got lots of letters from new members who are horrified because their seemingly benign dog suddenly and unexpectedly chased and killed their chickens. And once a dog has killed a chicken, it is virtually impossible to break him from doing it again. My advice is to either keep your chickens confined or your dog confined. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock and your dog.
 
Hi Grey Mare,

Thank you for your fast reply! Yogi is a Portuguese Water Dog (PWD) and he is almost two, so he acts more like a puppy than a dog. The nice thing about PWD dogs is that they are fishing dogs which gives them less if not no prey drive. I have never observed him showing any drive towards a wild animal. He has had an episode with our cockatiel though. We rolled her cage next to the stairs so that she could be with us while the dog was out and he attacked her though the railing by voraciously pawing at her cage, like digging. He is still young and thus very playful and he likes to play with stuffed animals and other dogs. My biggest concern would be that he would try to play with one of the chickens like another dog and accidentally hurt it or treat it like a toy by trying to pick it up.

He is a little stubborn, but he know lots of commands. He had to attend around 6 overnight weeks of dog training, (In 2 week sessions) partially because he is doesn't like to listen around distractions especially the dogs (He is a challenging little monster, but we love him :). He is very impulsive, which is a concern. The first type of training we tried was all positive reinforcement, then positive and negative enforcement. His negative enforcement being little things, mostly timeouts or a can of pennies (dogs don't like the sound of banging metal). Now he is well trained though and he loves to learn almost as much as he likes treats.

The overal goal would not be to have them together unsupervised, but for them to coexist while the chickens are confined. This is the only must as they need to be housed in the same yard, regardless of the bars between them. I will keep him inside when the girls are free-ranging unless he shows an astounding amount of restraint. I mean, it would be nice for him to be out there with them as a predator repellent, but I would never risk the girls safety over it.

Thanks for your questions and I hope that this helps!
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Hello again Michael,

Thank you for answering so many of my questions and thank you for your warning! Good to know that he could lull us into a false sense of security, now I will be extra careful!

-TheBantyCoop
 
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I have three Labradors and sometimes foster Labs too. My Labs go to their own fenced in part of the yard to do their business, and the chickens are never in that area.

My chickens get out to free range usually every day. I'll take my dogs out on a leash and give it a tug if they get overly curious, but I let them get close to the chickens and inspect them. I always take new dogs to the coop to make sure they know it is where the birds live and that it is "my" area, that they should not enter. My dogs also watch us feed the chickens bread from the fenced in padio daily. They hear the rooster crow and the hens clucking around. And they are curious the first few weeks, and then they ultimately get bored with them and barely notice they exist.

My older dogs have been out without a leash many times while the chickens are out and I have not had a single incident, but I waited months before slowly allowing this to happen in small doses. Every now and then they will get too close and we will yell and they will back off. The chickens move away from the dogs (they move away from people the same) but they don't panic or squack, because they are also familiar with the dogs. I sometimes take a dog out on a leash while I'm feeding bread to the birds and throw bread for the dog to eat along with them to hopefully make them feel more like peers.

So my experience is that if you have an obedient dog then they can coexist fairly well in time without much training but just through constant exposure and by eliminating their curiousity.
 

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