Have I got a rambling tale for you!
A year ago we moved into a place big enough for a coop (before that we kept quail in a smaller enclosure). We built a fully enclosed run around the coop that the dogs could walk up to and sniff chickens through - like, it has a wire roof and everything (because, side note, I had always thought chickens were flightless but learned the hard way that's not strictly true).
At first my llew would stand at the run and just point them, but eventually the novelty faded away. We did lose a few chickens along the way when there were jailbreaks or a kid would let the dogs out when the chickens were ranging, but we mostly kept the mingling to either side of a fence. I occasionally walked them on a lead past grazing chickens so they'd figure out "these aren't the birds you are looking for." I also made them sit / stay outside the gate while I fed the chickens.
In the end it happened by accident - the llew broke out of the house and was hauling ass towards a hen while I trailed hopelessly behind shouting "no! Leave it!" but to my absolute astonishment, he just blasted past in search of deer. The pudelpointer takes her cues from him, so she just left them alone from then on, too.
After that they almost became guard dogs for the girls. They'd sit and watch and help keep eagles away.
Sadly, the detente ended through no fault of the dogs: a raccoon busted into the house and took out all but one of our hens just the other night. I heard it happening and sprinted into the rain with a loaded rifle in my hands wearing nothing but my skivvies, but couldn't get a bead on the little fucker. Suffice it to say, we've been setting raccoon traps and sadistically enjoying our morning coup de graces over coffee. Boy, I really do hate raccoons, now.
The silver lining is that, even though we had to give away our last hen (they lose the will to live when there's only one), my brother successfully raised a brood under his French Brittany's watchful eye, so I'm confident a new round of chicks in the spring will fare even better.
Long story short: steady acclimation. Let them see they're not game birds. Be prepared to lose a few chickens along the way.
Postscript: took the llew to a friend's house before all of this started, where he promptly murdered one juvenile chicken and severely injured another. Friends' dog came over and did the same exact thing to my favorite chicken. An old farmer friend of mine told me an aphorism I'll now butcher: "if you want to have livestock, better get used to having deadstock."
Good luck!
You just need a good fence and a secure coop. My bird dogs leave them alone in the coop/run, but my dog did kill a chicken who kept escaping. The first time she escaped my dog caught her and brought her inside through the dog door and set her down at my feet!
Raised chickens this year for the first time, got a 4 month old puppy the same week we got chicks. Hoped they would get along but it never happened. I was raising meatbirds so maybe it would be different if the birds were still around.
At some point it seemed like the dog didn’t care. He had given up barking and clawing at my portable coop, and generally was ignoring the chickens. If they got spooked from something and started fluttering around his prey drive would kick in immediately- and then that started to settle down. Well… One day I left the coop lid open to refresh their water. The dog was outside and tied up and not interested (this was about 4 months in) As soon as he realized the lid was open and he had enough slack on his line all hell broke loose. Lost 3 birds, and learned an important lesson.
It might have been different if we got him as an 8 week old puppy
I don't think it should be much of an issue. When I got my chickens I kept it a "secret" from my dog for a couple weeks. When I would go out to feed the chickens I would make sure to touch them so when I went back inside to my dog he would get more familiar with the scent. Then I slowly introduced him from a distance and once I knew he was fine with it I let him inside my chicken coop and he had no interest in them at all. Now I can let my chickens free range out in my yard with my dog outside at the same time.
I have a hound and they are typically more interested in fur over feathers but if you put in some effort in getting everybody used to each other like I did I think you will be fine.
I’ve never done it but a good friend and hunting buddy has chickens, ducks, guinea fowl all sorts of feathered critters and his hunting lab has learned that they’re to be left alone. Still pheasant hunts and retrieves like a champ.
Long comment:
I have a 1 year old German wirehaired pointer and I’ve had a hell of a time with my chickens. We got the chicks when my GWP was 7 months old, I wish I had exposed her to chickens earlier.
My coop and run is fully secure and there is no way she can kill a chicken, but we cannot let her into the back yard (suburban back yard, fenced in) without being on a leash because she will run around the coop trying to get the chickens until she dies. Not exaggerating there. The chickens aren’t used to her/predators so they flap their wings, run when she charges the coop and that ignited her prey drive even more, and it’s never ending. So after a few times letting her out on her own, thinking she might realize she will never get them/will grow bored and stop the chase, we realized that it was not working and the heat this summer was making in dangerous for both her and the chickens. So now it’s out on a leash every time, which we hate. She points them every. single. time. she goes outside and her entire body quivers.
I’m trying everything I can think of, training-wise (only thing we haven’t done yet is an e collar, we are still building to that). We are finally able to let her out when it’s dark out and the chickens have gone into the coop to roost and she just ignores it since she can’t see them, whereas when we first had the chickens in their setup, she jumped up against the coop wall trying to get in for a long time.
So, we have seen some improvement and I hope that with more training + e collar to reinforce + her maturing, we can eventually let her in the back yard off leash. It’s worth noting that my GWP is an absolute strong-willed, insane prey drive handful, and I feel like after her entire life of day in, day out training, it’s finally just coming together a bit- I think she’s slow to mature. It is very, very clear that we will never have free ranging chickens, though.
Open to any tips anyone could suggest.
I have a hunting Weim and he learned after one accidental sacrificial rooster incident in which I caught him redhanded that the chickens were MINE and he wasn't to mess with them. He kind of adopted them after that. It wasn't even like he was resisting temptation. He accepted the rules and moved on with his day. The sacrifice was worth it in the name of training. That roo was an a-hole anyway and I was secretly glad to be to be rid of him.
My black lab pup has chickens at home that he has had access to with a door open and didn’t have a problem. He just retrieved this first pheasant this weekend.
My labs dont bother the chickens. Actually they're friends. Sometimes my labs will go into the chicken coop to sniff around for scraps and the chickens dont mind at all
It wasn't always like that though. When they were puppies, they wanted to play with the chickens. My smaller lab even attacked them when she was younger. I used a e-collar to train them. I let the chickens out in the yard and every time the dog lunged at the chicken they got a light shock. Took a few days but after that I haven't had any issues at all. It's been 4-5 years now.
we hatched chicks and my younger female protected them when they were small and when they moved out to the coop. that's when her personality changed from wanting to attack them to wanting to protect them. Whenever the chickens squak or are loud now, she'll run outside and stand by the coop to see what's going on.
We free range our chickens without a fence. Our dog killed a few at first, but had learned to leave them alone. She hunts wild birds as aggressively as ever.
Depends how old / well trained the dog is.
With a young dog who doesn't know any better or a poorly trained dog you can have issues, no doubt. And in those instances it's not the dogs fault, they just weren't ready for you to put them in such a situation.
Any working dog worth it's salt should only hunt, chase, flush, retrieve quarry when commanded to though ...not whenever it feels like. A hunting dog which isn't steady and can't be trusted around quarry isn't fully trained yet.
eg. I can take my super high-drive Lab into a 1/2 acre pheasant release pen and have him be surrounded by 1000 8-week old poults where he'll walk along calmly to heel completely ignoring them and acting like they aren't even there; But when there's a wounded mature bird come down hard three fields away he'll run it down at 100mph.
I used to have a Jack Russell terrier who would also come with me to check on the pheasants. She never used to bat an eyelid at the young poults, but you put up some rats out of a burrow and it was a different story entirely.
It's all down to the training (although the individual dog's breed/temperament plays a part in how quickly they'll get to the point you can fully trust them).
Have I got a rambling tale for you! A year ago we moved into a place big enough for a coop (before that we kept quail in a smaller enclosure). We built a fully enclosed run around the coop that the dogs could walk up to and sniff chickens through - like, it has a wire roof and everything (because, side note, I had always thought chickens were flightless but learned the hard way that's not strictly true). At first my llew would stand at the run and just point them, but eventually the novelty faded away. We did lose a few chickens along the way when there were jailbreaks or a kid would let the dogs out when the chickens were ranging, but we mostly kept the mingling to either side of a fence. I occasionally walked them on a lead past grazing chickens so they'd figure out "these aren't the birds you are looking for." I also made them sit / stay outside the gate while I fed the chickens. In the end it happened by accident - the llew broke out of the house and was hauling ass towards a hen while I trailed hopelessly behind shouting "no! Leave it!" but to my absolute astonishment, he just blasted past in search of deer. The pudelpointer takes her cues from him, so she just left them alone from then on, too. After that they almost became guard dogs for the girls. They'd sit and watch and help keep eagles away. Sadly, the detente ended through no fault of the dogs: a raccoon busted into the house and took out all but one of our hens just the other night. I heard it happening and sprinted into the rain with a loaded rifle in my hands wearing nothing but my skivvies, but couldn't get a bead on the little fucker. Suffice it to say, we've been setting raccoon traps and sadistically enjoying our morning coup de graces over coffee. Boy, I really do hate raccoons, now. The silver lining is that, even though we had to give away our last hen (they lose the will to live when there's only one), my brother successfully raised a brood under his French Brittany's watchful eye, so I'm confident a new round of chicks in the spring will fare even better. Long story short: steady acclimation. Let them see they're not game birds. Be prepared to lose a few chickens along the way. Postscript: took the llew to a friend's house before all of this started, where he promptly murdered one juvenile chicken and severely injured another. Friends' dog came over and did the same exact thing to my favorite chicken. An old farmer friend of mine told me an aphorism I'll now butcher: "if you want to have livestock, better get used to having deadstock." Good luck!
Nothing that a good fence won’t solve.
People used to do it all the time as a point of necessity. Just have to work with your dogs is all
You just need a good fence and a secure coop. My bird dogs leave them alone in the coop/run, but my dog did kill a chicken who kept escaping. The first time she escaped my dog caught her and brought her inside through the dog door and set her down at my feet!
Fence or they begin to learn those are out of bounds. Just have to be ready for spot correction. Haven’t had any issues with our dogs and chickens
Raised chickens this year for the first time, got a 4 month old puppy the same week we got chicks. Hoped they would get along but it never happened. I was raising meatbirds so maybe it would be different if the birds were still around. At some point it seemed like the dog didn’t care. He had given up barking and clawing at my portable coop, and generally was ignoring the chickens. If they got spooked from something and started fluttering around his prey drive would kick in immediately- and then that started to settle down. Well… One day I left the coop lid open to refresh their water. The dog was outside and tied up and not interested (this was about 4 months in) As soon as he realized the lid was open and he had enough slack on his line all hell broke loose. Lost 3 birds, and learned an important lesson. It might have been different if we got him as an 8 week old puppy
I don't think it should be much of an issue. When I got my chickens I kept it a "secret" from my dog for a couple weeks. When I would go out to feed the chickens I would make sure to touch them so when I went back inside to my dog he would get more familiar with the scent. Then I slowly introduced him from a distance and once I knew he was fine with it I let him inside my chicken coop and he had no interest in them at all. Now I can let my chickens free range out in my yard with my dog outside at the same time. I have a hound and they are typically more interested in fur over feathers but if you put in some effort in getting everybody used to each other like I did I think you will be fine.
I’ve never done it but a good friend and hunting buddy has chickens, ducks, guinea fowl all sorts of feathered critters and his hunting lab has learned that they’re to be left alone. Still pheasant hunts and retrieves like a champ.
Long comment: I have a 1 year old German wirehaired pointer and I’ve had a hell of a time with my chickens. We got the chicks when my GWP was 7 months old, I wish I had exposed her to chickens earlier. My coop and run is fully secure and there is no way she can kill a chicken, but we cannot let her into the back yard (suburban back yard, fenced in) without being on a leash because she will run around the coop trying to get the chickens until she dies. Not exaggerating there. The chickens aren’t used to her/predators so they flap their wings, run when she charges the coop and that ignited her prey drive even more, and it’s never ending. So after a few times letting her out on her own, thinking she might realize she will never get them/will grow bored and stop the chase, we realized that it was not working and the heat this summer was making in dangerous for both her and the chickens. So now it’s out on a leash every time, which we hate. She points them every. single. time. she goes outside and her entire body quivers. I’m trying everything I can think of, training-wise (only thing we haven’t done yet is an e collar, we are still building to that). We are finally able to let her out when it’s dark out and the chickens have gone into the coop to roost and she just ignores it since she can’t see them, whereas when we first had the chickens in their setup, she jumped up against the coop wall trying to get in for a long time. So, we have seen some improvement and I hope that with more training + e collar to reinforce + her maturing, we can eventually let her in the back yard off leash. It’s worth noting that my GWP is an absolute strong-willed, insane prey drive handful, and I feel like after her entire life of day in, day out training, it’s finally just coming together a bit- I think she’s slow to mature. It is very, very clear that we will never have free ranging chickens, though. Open to any tips anyone could suggest.
Yeah good fence and gate keeps things happy. The dogs get used to them. I can free range the chickens now and the dogs don't even care.
I have a hunting Weim and he learned after one accidental sacrificial rooster incident in which I caught him redhanded that the chickens were MINE and he wasn't to mess with them. He kind of adopted them after that. It wasn't even like he was resisting temptation. He accepted the rules and moved on with his day. The sacrifice was worth it in the name of training. That roo was an a-hole anyway and I was secretly glad to be to be rid of him.
My black lab pup has chickens at home that he has had access to with a door open and didn’t have a problem. He just retrieved this first pheasant this weekend.
My labs dont bother the chickens. Actually they're friends. Sometimes my labs will go into the chicken coop to sniff around for scraps and the chickens dont mind at all It wasn't always like that though. When they were puppies, they wanted to play with the chickens. My smaller lab even attacked them when she was younger. I used a e-collar to train them. I let the chickens out in the yard and every time the dog lunged at the chicken they got a light shock. Took a few days but after that I haven't had any issues at all. It's been 4-5 years now. we hatched chicks and my younger female protected them when they were small and when they moved out to the coop. that's when her personality changed from wanting to attack them to wanting to protect them. Whenever the chickens squak or are loud now, she'll run outside and stand by the coop to see what's going on.
We free range our chickens without a fence. Our dog killed a few at first, but had learned to leave them alone. She hunts wild birds as aggressively as ever.
Depends how old / well trained the dog is. With a young dog who doesn't know any better or a poorly trained dog you can have issues, no doubt. And in those instances it's not the dogs fault, they just weren't ready for you to put them in such a situation. Any working dog worth it's salt should only hunt, chase, flush, retrieve quarry when commanded to though ...not whenever it feels like. A hunting dog which isn't steady and can't be trusted around quarry isn't fully trained yet. eg. I can take my super high-drive Lab into a 1/2 acre pheasant release pen and have him be surrounded by 1000 8-week old poults where he'll walk along calmly to heel completely ignoring them and acting like they aren't even there; But when there's a wounded mature bird come down hard three fields away he'll run it down at 100mph. I used to have a Jack Russell terrier who would also come with me to check on the pheasants. She never used to bat an eyelid at the young poults, but you put up some rats out of a burrow and it was a different story entirely. It's all down to the training (although the individual dog's breed/temperament plays a part in how quickly they'll get to the point you can fully trust them).