Your own dogs: Good or Bad

[lebentier]

my chickens are bigger than the dog so no problem. haha

 

[ailurophile23]

My older dog (red heeler/beagle cross) was initially quite jealous of the chickens being anywhere near me. He has moved past thhowling/whining/pacing whenever I go in the chicken run and now hangs out while I do chicken chores - he shows no interest in them other than knowing they are part of the family. The young dog (pit bull/dalmation/spring spaniel/hound/?????) has taken her cues from the older dog and in generally not interested in the chickens (other than their droppings- blech!) and knows they are part of the family. The presence of the two dogs (and our very nosy horses) seems to keep most predators away. So I'd say I have two very good dogs - though I still tend to keep either the dogs or the chickens penned when they are outside. One day I may try supervised free-ranging with dogs on leashes.

 

[GoChick]

I have three rough collies. One is absolutely perfect around chickens and chicks, he barks at any hawks and crows flying overhead and scares them away. The other two are great around full grown chickens, but one ate 11 eggs that were under my broody 4 days before hatching day, and the other one killed a chick. I think all the flying and running around that chicks do was too much of a temptation for him...

 

[NurseDr]

Ours Australian Shepard is great with all animals. She lets me know when one of the girls is not where they belong, eating my hostas. Then she will help me get them back. We have a cockatiel that has run of the house and other small animals in the past and I have no concern. She use to cuddle with the guinea pigs.

 

[grendel]

Both of my dogs are fine with the chickens to a point,but their calmness worries me.This is my reasoning,the chickens tend not to be afraid of the neighbors dogs which are killers.

 

[mamabahre]

our pooch is in the "bad" dog category. She's a lab/german shepherd/pointer mix and her prey drive for the birds is through the roof. I'm not ever even going to risk it.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

It can go either way. I own a standard poodle. I've had four. This poodle couldn't care less about the birds, except when we go out in the yard after being in the house for a few hours. He feels the need to playfully scatter the flock and claim the yard. After that nothing. Sometimes, when I feed the birds, he feels obligated to let them know he gets the first bite of the pellets. Whatever. Stupid dog. Eat bird food.

Aside from his antics, the poodle serves to protect the flock. One of the most notable inadvertent benefits is that whenever the poodle is in the yard, the eagles stay out.

He also barks and alerts to predators in the yard. Between him, the geese, the guineas, and the peafowl, I know when something is going on that needs to be addressed.

This poodle's brother, was a chicken killer. His prey drive was obvious immediately, thus I knew he needed to be with another family. (He went to two professors who had previously raised standards. They had no children, not pets. A win-win.)


Bottom line: pick the right dog. Get help if you need to.

 

[dsqard]

All three of my dogs (two shelties and a cocker cross) would eat every chicken I have if 1 - they could catch them and 2 - I let them out of the back yard. It is not that they are bad dogs, they just have a high reaction to anything that moves. I just keep a fence between the chickens and the dogs at all times.

 

[EweSheep]

Had rough collies and most of them don't even care about chickens. One was scardy cat about them flapping around and very respectful around roosters. Those were good dogs.

My Borzois, forget it, they would RUN and kill them. No questions asked. They are very prey driven, hard core to chase rabbits particuarly.

No dogs right now nor having one in near future.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I have one of each!
Lab/husky x is GOOD braving his fear of scary noises in the dark to charge out valliantly at 3 AM on several occasions to chase a raccoon off our hen who used to hide in the bushes at night. He WILL steal scraps of food from them, but he'd never hurt one. We used to have a gimpy chick...barred rock roo with something wrong with his legs so he couldn't really walk and we found Loki one day laying down with him, just licking the poor thing's back. From the level of wet he was, I would guess Lki had him for about half an hour. He was trying to make him feel better! We also had a house chicken for a bit (the lone hatchling from our incubator who was allowed to roam the house with cat and dog from the time he was 1 1/2 weeks old) and Loki actually let him eat some of the tablescraps.
Lab/golden retrieverx is BAD killed 2 hens, 1 chick, and 4 pullets (two of which he ATE) as well as wounding 6 more chickens (at least one of them twice, my poor roo!) all of whom fortunately recovered, though one of my hens has a visible disfigurement- her neck feathers grow in funny on one side giving her the appearence of having a jagged line of feathers plucked out from her wattles to her breast.
You better believe my birds can tell the dogs apart, too. My Loki comes up and they make the same noise they do for the kids or the room mate who doesn't usually feed them. Sort of a 'Oh, someone's coming but no need to follow them/run from them' sound. Apollo so much as LOOKS at the fence and they screech this 'EVIL MURDEROUS HELLHOUND! We SEE you! Don't think you can get away with anything!' sound.
My friends also visit with a doxy who chases them and pulls out feathers but has failed to do real damage (he now gets tied up if he goes out since he can dig under our fences which were designed for much bigger dogs) They make wary sounds and keep an eye on him too. Any new dog that shows up is treated as a potential threat. Loki's the only one they trust. Smart little featherbrains!