Will my hens still lay if my dogs won't stop harassing them?

[laurasusan71]

I have a great dane and bull mastiff. Both think they are these great hunters. Mostly squirrels and citrus rats. My hens will be in an enclosure but I am sure the dogs will harass them. Will this make the hens stop laying their eggs? How do I make the dogs understand that the new animals in the yard are not to be "hunted"?

 

[teach1rusl]

Well...hopefully you'll be working with your dogs on the "leave it" commands. And of course after your dogs get use the chickens they'll begin to lose appeal. So I doubt your dogs will stand there by the run fencing and bark at them day after day. The chickens will get use to the dogs as well. My dogs pay very little attention to my birds, and I generally free range. Now, I don't trust my dane with my little chicks, so I'll make him lay down and keep a hand on his collar when I have them out. Their peeping and quick movements are just a bit too much for his self-control at this point. But he's fine with my big girls.
But yes, if dogs are harrassing the pullets/hens non-stop, it would probably affect their egg laying, since stress definitely affects egg laying.

 

[ginormous chicken]

You know... you'd be surprise how quickly dogs get the message of leaving the chickens. I have 2 bird dogs... and yes I have had issues ( mainly only one issue, the labs. have prey drive once it is on it doesn't shut off. So..I am careful not to let them out unless they are calm. If they look excited and manic that means I know they are thinking of chasing.) the chicken free range and the dogs know... no mean no... you just gotta really stick it to them and never waiver from the message. And like stated before, enough harrassment mean 0 to fewer eggs.

 

[sourland]

Training and electric fence. Stressed hens will not lay and dogs of that size and strength will need a Fort Knox type coop/enclosure to keep them away from your chickens.

 

[laurasusan71]

I definitely plan on training the dogs. The great dane will be the easy one. The bull mastiff is hard headed but I think I can get him trained too. Thanks for the input, everybody.

 

[WineChicks]

I have a great Dane mix who has not gotten over the chickens. My pullets are 6 months old and my dog stares at them through the fence whenever he has the chance. Last week one of my birds fle over the fence and my dog ate it. I came home to find only the wings and some feathers. I am sure the other two girls saw this happen & I was worried they'd never lay. Four days after the incident, I received my first egg and I have had one each day since. So in my opinion, while my dog has not stopped the harassment, the egg laying has continued.

 

[chicmom]

My dogs are in the fenced part of the yard when they go outside....(they're house dogs), and the chickens barn is on the outside of the fence.....Cosmo, my pomeranian and the oldest dog could care less about the chickens. However, Fionna, the Irish Terrier, will run at them if they're too close to the fence. Neither one of them bark at the chickens anymore because they're used to them....I have six acres of woods that surround the back of my property, so the hens are always free ranging....

My gals lay just fine, but I don't trust my dogs to be loose around them.....I think your chickens will be OK as long as the dogs don't constantly bark at them.....

 

[mtngrl812]

Two of my schnauzers don't bother with my rooster (at the time that is all I have) but my third schnauzer Linus wont quit. He barks at the rooster and the rooster jumps at the chicken wire back at Linus and they will go back and forth all day! I final found that if I lay a piece of tin siding down flat on the ground in front of my roosters pen, Linus won't walk over it to harass the rooster, so the barking and fighting through the fence has quit. If I let my roo out I have to keep a close eye on Linus, he'll get him a soon as he can. My roo is a bantam cochin, so he is just a little guy with lots of attitude. I have had Linus around full size chickens and he will leave them alone, for the most part.
With Linus I have found that an electric shock collar that I control works best. I taught him that he must mind or I can get him from a ways away, but he is smart enough to know when I put it on and when he is not wearing it. So I must stay on my toes when old Linus is around.
Linus is getting into his last year with me most likely, age is catching up to him, so at this time Linny gets most of the attention and freedom. Next year I don't think I will have Linus to worry about, so all my chickens (I have 20+ eggs in the bator) my little roo and my 2 schnauzers will all be able to enjoy the outdoor together.
I also found that simply putting some short solid fence (I used old wood fencing) around my roo's pen helped to keep Linus away, but your dogs being much bigger, you'll need taller fence. I would say get a shock collar that you can control and teach them "NO" and if they don't obey you can start with a small beep, then a small zap and build up. I spent the money for the one they had at Petco and it still works 6+ years later, it is beat up (me and my dogs used to work at a ranch and Linus wore it everyday to keep him from chasing horses and stuff) it has been covered in mud, wet, dropped...and everything else. But is has been a wonderful tool for teaching, Linus just had to wear it so he thought I would get him if he didn't mind. It also uses batteries you can buy any where, not the companies "special" expensive batteries.
Good luck,

with dogs of that size you're going to have a challenge explaining to them that those neat little squeaky toys that run around are not really toys.

 

[laurasusan71]

Thanks for the tips. I am sure my dogs will get bored with them pretty quickly. I will sit in the yard with a water hose for the 1st couple of days and "protect" the hens. But the shock collar sounds like a good idea too.

 

[mtngrl812]

If a spray bottle would work, even better. Linus it tenacious in his attempts once he sets his mind to it and I would end up with a flooded yard, wet chickens and a wet dog. I suppose I used the collar because of it's mobility and if I had to I can get very aggressive with it. On more than one occasion giving Linus a good jolt saved him from being stomped to death. Small schnauzers should not chase frisky, playing horses in a field!!

Dumb dog..... gotta love him though!