Will my dog attack my chickens?

[Sarah McInally]

I'm getting ready to get chicks some time in the next few months, and I'm wondering how likely it is that my medium-sized dog will attack them if I let them roam out in the back yard when they're grown. Thank you.

 

[Elyrian1]

Highly likely. Depends on the dog and how you go about training it, but dogs see chickens and their prey drives have a tendency to go into overdrive. As one person on youtube said it, a chicken is basically a giant squeaky toy. I would say if the chicken's are roaming, have a temporary holding pen for the dog. Chickens in pen, dog free. Chickens free, dog in pen. That kind of mentality, unless you want to go through the trouble of getting your dog chicken friendly. Lots of resources available to help you do that, but it's usually not easy.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Train your dog not to attack the chickens.
control any interaction between the dog and chicks - no excitement around the chicks. Excitement = leave the area.

what kind of dog? what is the dogs personality?
My setter gets really excited to see the chickens, then walks away once he "finds" them.

 

[sourland]

A lot depends upon the nature of the dog and how well trained it is. Hopefully you have taught the 'leave it' command. Introduce the dog under full control and judge his/her reaction. If any aggression is apparent a quick 'leave it' and snap of the leash will indicate that you do not approve of the dog's behavior. Generally, it is never a good idea to leave dogs unsupervised with birds. Good luck.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

My Granddaddy's stock dog never offered to harm a chicken (it wouldn't end well if he did) but he would go out of his way to suck an egg. I must agree with the above poster.