Topic of the Week - Dogs and Chickens

[JJN]

We have a greyhound Pitbull mix. She is about 6 years old and I can say that being gentle with / ignoring our chickens just came naturally to her. We had a pop-up puppy playpen that we used as our containment when they were very young. We had it in our family room / TV room so she was just used to their smells and sounds. When we finally let them outside she always wanted to lay out in the yard and keep an eye on them. Lucky enough, she even tries to chase away cats and squirrels that try to venture into the yard. Like I said, we were sincerely blessed that there was no training necessary. The chickens don't seem to mind her at all. Whether she's napping in the grass or walking around, they could kind of care less. And when our neighbors dogs get loud and riled up they actually run to her as kind of a sense of security.

 

[Karel]

I have a Labrador mastiff mix, probably some more breeds mixed in. He likes to run after the chicken. I think he likes to chase when they behave as prey animals. Especially when they start to run and squeek. I am lucky because the rooster does not use his spurs (he is a big guy!) And stays in between him and the hens. My dog just chases a second and stops when I tell him no. I mostly keep them separated. The funny thing is that they found a way to co-exists, if i stand at a specific spot and both have a safe place to cross the hens just wait till he passes, and as long as they don't talk or run, he leaves them alone too even though he sees them. The hens are smart. You can see them prepare for him passing when they hear his gait on the gravel.

 

[HenHunny]

my german shorthair just killed all 3 of my chickens and I am going to keep her on a tie out when my new ones arrive. Sad. my other gsp ignores the chickens.

 

[JJN]

my german shorthair just killed all 3 of my chickens and I am going to keep her on a tie out when my new ones arrive. Sad. my other gsp ignores the chickens.

Sorry to hear that

 

[CITYS84]

We have two bulldogs who egg each other on to chase/catch the chickens. So we built an ‘inner garden’ for the chickens to separate them and keep them safe. My husband says I can’t have anymore of the garden for the chickens (but I think he said that last time and the time before that, as well!)

 

[tviss711]

My dog is a mutt but she has been a complete angel with both batches of chickens. She doesn’t often chase anything, and ignores cats and such but we still weren’t sure how she’d react to birds in the yard. She was very intrigued by the chicks when we brought them home, we even caught her sneaking out of our bedroom at night to go sit and gaze at them in the brooder. We would take the chicks out and let them walk around the room with her in there and she would just sit and watch. I think straight from the start she realized the birds were important to us and not toys or prey. She has never once gone after or snapped at any of my hens, even if they peck or jump on her out of curiosity in the yard. She’s such a great dog! Our newest batch of chicks, she would just go and lay in the brooder area and listen to them peep. We have called them her “babies.” She’s almost maternal towards them.

 

[WaterfowlsPoultry]

Before I moved in with my uncle he had two dogs, Gigi and Bosco (I call him Rascal because that's what I thought his name was at first) But he got them from a friend when they were both one year old, Surprisingly they never attacked his chickens, He found them outside gazing at the chickens and walking around the coop, They sorta just watched them and did not know what to do with them, they were sorta like "What are these things??" They were just puzzled, so he trained them to not only tolerate chickens but to guard them, He started by letting them outside without them running off, by letting them out but if they tried going down the forest or to the neighborhood he would yell "NO!" and they would retreat and come back, Eventually they would only stay around the backyard, Next he taught them to deter things, He got a decoy coyote made from a friend and placed it, he would hit the coyote and make fake growl sounds at it, Eventually the dogs followed by barking at it and when he left the decoy with them for some time, they eventually had started attacking it when he would move it closer each time, He did this with other decoys, like an Owl, Hawk, and other predators like raccoons and such, Which were not so effective but it was enough, The final amounts of training was to get comfortable with the chickens and not attack any of them when they pecked them, He put a chicken on top of them while they laid down and it was pecking them, every time they would growl he would shout "NO" at them, which took a long time but eventually they stopped and sorta just looked at the chicken weird when it was pecking at them, like a "can you stop" look, But we ended up getting another dog, a husky from a shelter which we named Fabrryzia (I don't know how to pronounce it nor write it lol ), a high chase drive type dog, Of course it got out when the door was left open and attacked our poor chicken Butterscotch who did not die was actually running away well, Which she was then growled at by our dogs and they were real mean when they catch her chasing the birds, We did the training process again for a long LONG time, I mean it took a while, almost a year until she tolerated the chickens, we had to teach her "No" and "yes" and it took A LOT of treats to get her to like chickens, Even then she chased chickens around, never bite though, as she caught up to one and sorta sniffed it and ran off, which we still work on that and she is not so chase like, plus our dogs growl at her every time she gets chase-like with the chickens. But we are not necessarily training her to guard them, just to tolerate them and not attack them so she can play with Gigi and Rascal, Sometimes she catches them guarding the birds and she just stands there with them, before getting bored and heading to go eat flowers that just bloom,

 

[Ponypoor]

Having had animals in the family all my life I know 2 things to be true.
1) never trust any animal no matter how much you think it is a perfect angel. Esp predator animals (dog, cats) around children and livestock.

I cannot count the amt of times I have heard people say ‘I can’t believe Old Roy bit that child, he has never done that before’.

Even prey animals are capable of killing, a horse or cattle can be a serious danger, so can a chicken - just ask my eye dr, who although laughed with glee when I told him how my eye got pecked, did inform me the scratches on my cornea were very bad.

2) an animal has its own agenda (same as you or I), yep you may think you have them ‘trained’ but it only takes one time for that training to fall apart. Dog, cat, horse, chicken, cow, etc. they are living creatures and they have good and bad days just like we do, if they are having a crappy day you can bet your sweet petunias they will take it out on something. And even if the chicken is not the intended victim they can and do get caught in the cross fire of other animals disagreements.

Trust me - been there and have the scars from being ‘accidentally’ caught between 2 scrapping horses, goats, chickens, cats, dogs, and yep people!

Remember - living creatures need to be respected, which means keeping an eye on.

 

[Nikj50]

Our dog is an English Springer Spaniel. We got her as puppy from a well known good breeder. We have always taken the time and effort to obedience train our dogs. We lived in the city till 6 years ago when we moved to our acreage and started our chicken adventures. Our first birds were 7 hens and a rooster about 1 yr old. Springers are bred as upland game bird dogs which concerned me. The first time the birds free ranged I had the dog on a lead, and spent the time training here that the birds were part of our " pack" or family and they were not toys or food. Once I was confident she would listen to me and not let her instincts take over it was off leash training. Now I can leave her out there with the birds and not worry at all. The birds are part of the family. I believe the time it takes to train your dog is well worth it. It pays off many times over.

 

[Nikj50]

I have a spaniel I leave him out in the garden when the chickens are in but he loves lying by there coop trying to lick them iv open the coop he's stuck his head in but not gone for them, I won't leave him out with them off leas but have done on a lead he's been OK but has barked at them lol.