What dog breeds can be taught NOT to hurt my chickees?

[meghan713]

thats interesting about poodles... i dont like the fluffy dogs much anyway so i wasnt likely to get one but i'd never heard that before so i'm glad you warned me.

 

[eastbaychicks]

I have a weimaraner and she is good with the birds. At first she would just stare at the baby chicks and shake and stuff, but we trained her to love them by putting the babies on her for an hour or so. I sort of wanted to trigger her mama instinct. She is very useful for chasing away cats in the yard and she doesn't bother the chickens..... well except when they come between her and the kitty. I regularly leave her in the with the chickens are free ranging while I am out for errands during the day.

Really I also have to say it depends on your relationship with the dog. The more training you have under your belt with the dog, the better chances you'll have that he/she will want to obey you and do what you expect. Even though she is a bird dog, she is more of a pointer. So in the beginning before we had a coop we'd round up the birds, she would herd them to a bush and stand and point at them.... it was so cute.

We don't do that anymore BTW.... they aren't homeless chickens.

 

[chickenlittle32]

I agree with the ppl that say you just have to train them...and it isn't always easy...I have 2 boxers that are inside dogs...but love to be in the chicken run when we are all working outside. I know that I can trust them in staying in there while we are doing other things.

Here are a few pics of them while we were outside....

 

[Lorije1]

I have 2 Labs... and like any other breed, it depends on the dog -they are all individuals. Buford, my old dog, has had photos done of birds flapping on his head, resting between his paws and cats loving on him. Rio, my young dog, killed 5 of my neighbors chickens over a period of several weeks (they would come over the fence into my yard). The best that I can tell (I don't think like a dog) he didn't maliciously decide to kill them - no open wounds or even mussed feathers - they just didn't survive the "joyful retrieve".

Train your dog... then keep it away from the chickens unsupervised. My chickens will be double fenced (in their own fenced yard within my fenced backyard) and Rio will not be allowed through either gate at anytime - supervised or not.

 

[BLaBauve]

I have 6 dogs and out of the six the Pit Bull, Pit Bull mix, Mastiff mix and Shih Tzu do well with chicks or chickens. We also have 2 Weims that DO NOT do well with the chickens. It took awhile for the dogs to get used to them. . . but they have never killed any. The chickens can now make lots of noise and run across the yard without the dogs batting an eye. The dogs do like to follow them around and eat their poop though.

I think most (calmer breeds) puppies raised with chickens would grow up to be wonderful with them. I had the dogs before the chickens so it took a little longer. I hope you're able to get a dog!

 

[bumblebeehillschickenfarm]

I have 2 cheasapeak bay retrivers, One i hunt almost every day of the season. I have ducks,geese and chickens and never had any problems with them. I think that the main problem with alot of dogs is they dont know the word no. If i say no to my dogs they stop in their tracks and look at me to see whats up. I even had rabbits that got loose and they would only smell them after telling them no. Once you have them programmed that no is bad you have alot of your problem solved.

 

[darlin_dar]

I have a brother and sister.. but different fathers.. Thors is a greater swiss and he is 145 lbs.. della we are not too sure but she is 70 lbs. both were just 6 months old when we got chickens.. We let them all run on the same piece of land and spent a lot of time yelling..NO CHICKENS.. bad dog. but after a month they left the chickens alone.. both come into the coup with us and nose the chickens in the nest.. The chicks in the house hop on their back on occasion.. If della has a bone she guards it more then thor but then again if the chicks chirp loud she drops it into their home. So I believe it takes a constant training in the beginning.. never leave them alone and watch them always in the first two months. The dogs soon figure out the chickens are part of the home... I love my dogs and my chickens..they are all my babies.

 

[Mahonri]

I have a Golden Retriever that lets chickens walk right on top of her. But she is a RARE dog.

 

[L0rraine]

My Rough Collies have been great - my Mom's Scottish Terrier was a disaster waiting to happen. I've heard mixed reviews on labs and retrievers. I worked for a vet who's golden lab hadn't touched the chickens in eight years and then one 'full moon' night he wiped out most of the flock (I still wonder if it wasn't something else and the lab got the blame - but the vet felt pretty strongly all the evidence pointed to the lab). My daughter's Golden Retriever went after ours until he got yelled at and now he just wants to be as far away from them as possible when he is here for a visit.

I'd love to try to get a decent picture of my Collie as the chickens all hover when he's laying down in the yard almost sensing they are safer when near him. Once I saw a coyote approach as the chickens were hanging out near our fence. Our collie flew out of nowhere towards the fence to try to take on the coyote, and, while most of the chickens ran for cover, a couple stood there calmly watching 'their protector'. Two of our drakes are constantly 'nibbling' on him. At first I thought they were being aggressive, but then they'll walk underneath him and just stand there.

 

[Gray Ghost]

I have two labradors so I will weigh in. In general if you have a choice of dog breeds you may wish to avoid Labradors. They are bred to chase and retrieve birds so you would have to train them against their instincts not to chase / retrieve chickens. That being said, they are very trainable and particularly if you get them as pups, you can probably train them correctly. Also, some retrievers have a "soft mouth" and some don't. The ones that don't will cripple or kill a chicken when they retrieve it. It varies from dog to dog.

My labs are 9 and 10 years old and have been encouraged to chase and fetch birds all their lives (they are working hunting dogs). I am getting chickens for the first time in about a month and the biggest challenge for sure is going to be to train those dogs to "leave it". They are not going to want to leave it.....

GG