turkey (hen) picking fight with dog

[3ChickensNADuck]

hi, has anyone else had this problem? ok, so I let my flock 2 chicks, 1 chicken hen, 1 baton rooster and a 7 month turkey hen free range in the backyard w/ out ever locking them (there's no real predator problem). but my dog who goes in the backyard sometimes gets picked on by the turkey. he's a medium/ large breed chow/ great pyrenees so he's still a little bigger than the turkey.

sometimes he'll be chilling on the grass and the turkey will walkup and peck him. or he'll go in the bird house (more like a multi story dog house) to get out of the sun and the turkey will corner and peck him. I found him grawling and barking at the turkey a couple of times when he was cornered but he won't bite only defend himself. but the turkey will be pecking at him with a red face screaming a little.

I think this is a little weird because I know the turkey is a hen. she makes all the hen sounds and never gobbles but makes the click sound. All the chickens tend to stay away from the dog, but sometimes the chicks follow him around. the turkey was raised around the dog and free ranged since she was a chick.

 

[LovedMyAlydar]

I have a Great Pyrenees, a Sheltie, a Jack Russell mix and 3 Dachshunds. I also have 2 toms and 3 hen turkeys, and a mixture of chickens both standard and bantam. The turkeys harass my dogs all the time, especially the hens, they are evil Jezebels when it comes to the dogs, who run from them in fear. The Pyrenees basically ignores them or moves, the Sheltie snaps at them and the other 4 run whining.

I sometimes go out there with a fiberglass stick I have that I put some pink flagging tape on and it gets their attention so they leave the dogs alone to do their business. Other times the turkeys ignore the dogs, it just depends on what kind of mood they are in I suppose.

 

[jentralala]

My chicken hens will peck my Maltese (they like to target his little black nose), and fluff their feathers at him if he annoys them. He usually tries to avoid them, but there is one hen he plays with. If he's running around playing, she'll chase him around the yard flapping her wings at him. If he stops she pecks him until he runs. If she doesn't chase him he goes up to her and paws and darts until she will. It's super cute.

Mine have never drawn blood on the dog (altho they have on me a few times - ouch!) but I'm sure a turkey peck is a lot more painful! Poor baby. I don't know that there's anything you can do besides penning them, or making a separate area for the dogs.

My chickens will also go after my neighbors dog, the yard cat (she runs in fear), and any squirrels that come to close.

 

[neverbdone]

I've had my feisty Bourbon Red "interact" with my most vocal dog who would very much enjoy eating her if he were not trained not to ever go after chickens or turkeys. Both of them have personalities larger than life, so I think they were just challenging each other. Still I keep an eye on them and make sure they both know there will be no physical contact. P.S. birds can be trained too. They know they are never allowed on the deck, but challenge that every chance they get.