How do you introduce dogs to chooks

lisavw · **Posted:** Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:59 pm

We moved here a fortnight ago, first time rural living. I have noticed over the past few days our two 10 year old dogs have stopped barking at the neighbours steers. I was fairly confident they would as they always lose interest after a couple of weeks with any new neighbouring pets in the past.
I am about to get either some chooks or guinea fowl, not yet decided, and sincerely do not want to traumatise any birds. Any suggestions on how to introduce the dogs? I am getting a chook tractor but it seems unfair to have them trapped in a cage seeing these two dogs faces. I am struggling to come up with a gentle approach....

County Lodge · **Posted:** Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:07 pm

While your fowl are out free ranging just put your dogs on a lead and walk them out pst the fowl and back not making an issue of anything. Then after a week or 2 when the dogs don't take any notice of the fowl try letting them off and do the walk without a lead but still keep the lead in your pocket for safety reasons. If you still don't trust them try a long lead or horse lunging rein so you still have absolute control but can let the dogs have a bit more space. After a while I am sure it will work if your dogs aren't the type of dogs to rush and chase even after introducing them to the fowl over a weeks or two.

It worked for me with my 2 older dogs (now 5) and the pup just grew up knowing not to chase chooks because the other didn't. Lucky as the pup is now the size of a small horse.

fuzzfly · **Joined:** Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:42 pm **Posts:** 253

Actually this is a question that I've had too as in the next year or so I'd like to adopt a dog for agility trials and to prevent fox attacks. I've spotted several foxes in nearby bushland.

I only let my two chihuahua x terrier out when I'm at home. She's a chaser, but only the silkie hens need worry, the roosters can take care of themselves. :-D

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:32 pm

It would be best that I not reply to this post at this point as my min pin pup killed my favourite baby chick yesterday. :evil:

However.....

CL's advice is very good. Good luck with yours, lisavw!

From personal experience I would suggest that it is important that you have a successful training relationship with your dog before you do the chook thing, as without that you don't have a hope of calling the dog away if things go wrong - as we found out yesterday

.

If your dog will listen to you every time you call it, sit, stay, etc you will have a better outcome with the chicken introduction.

Good luck.

Deb :-D

County Lodge · **Posted:** Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:46 pm

Yes I agree with Deb here the dog needs to have good basic dog obedience to start with before the lead thing even happens. I had done the 4 levels of dog obedience through dog obedience, with my 2 older dogs first. They are mostly very good at doing what they are told but I still do not trust them unsupervised around the chooks.

lisavw · **Posted:** Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:36 pm

thank you all very much for your input. The dogs are obedient, and the leads are an excellent idea to have that reassurance. I expect the dogs wil bark a little at their first sight of the chooks..will that traumatise the chooks?

County Lodge · **Posted:** Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:46 am

NO the chooks will get use to them as the dog to the chooks.

cammochick · **Posted:** Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:55 pm

I own two boxer dogs. the boy is a lover , he just licks them to death, but the girl has killed several chickens over the past year, but today wiped all out but four , very devastating, ive tried everthing , next is one of those inotek collars (,mmmm i know not nice , but she kills baby goats if she gets the chance ) Training has got her no where, she is just a hunter , whether it be a chook, a rat,snakes, a possum., bees and wasps and even once a porcupine, some how she turned out to be like this.

i love her to death , but i cant keep going on like this , she has hunted down so many of our baby goats and taken them to the dam and drownd them . so inoteck is the next try,,,,,it gives a high pitch beep in there ear to back off, and then unfortunately the next is a shock or penned for life which would also devestate me , as my boxers are the world to me ( mean more to me than my chooks) but i cant handle her doing that to my special little guys. She hopefully will learn ,

lisavw · **Posted:** Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:45 pm

oh, that is so horrific those poor wee baby goats. My neighbour has one guard dog...a Mareema, that protects the chooks and ironially her other dog is a killer. Seeing all the animals are loved equally, my neighbour decided the best solution is to keep them ALL safe and stress free. In order to do this she has a very large run for the two dogs, adjacent to the chooks. This way the Mareema sits at the fence near the chooks so that satisfies her instincts, and the kelpie x gets to live in lovely accomodation and interacts frequently with humans It is fenced and lovely kennels and shade and swimming pool for them. The other animals are all safe and consequently healthy.
It sounds like you might have a fair sized property ...

fuzzfly · **Joined:** Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:42 pm **Posts:** 253

cammochick wrote:

Training has got her no where, she is just a hunter , whether it be a chook, a rat,snakes, a possum., bees and wasps and even once a porcupine

PORCUPINE!!!
Are you sure it wasn't an echidna?

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