Obsessed With Chooks

[mixeduppup]

Even with the fence I think that would still be terrifying for the chickens and when they get bigger their cage will have to get bigger and where will they go then? Plus I doubt your dog will be able to relax.

Bonza's reaction to the electric fence was to ignore the chooks completely and go back to chasing squirrels, or lying at my side.

When the chooks are bigger the yard and coop will be expanded . . .

Why do people on this forum so often assume that the OP is an idiot who doesn't care for animals.

Of course, if I can't work out a solution that's comfortable for both the dogs and the chooks, the chooks will be rehomed . . . or eaten . .. they are a dual purpose breed.

Personally, I don't apply the concept of forever home to chooks. I'm sure mine will live happier lives than factory chooks.

I didn't assume you were an idiot. I've just seen this happen a lot and from my experience it rarely works out well. If you are intent on keeping the chickens it will require time and building supplies. I hope you work it out and everyone can live happily.

[Roova]

I too didn't presume you were an idiot, but when someone says they're new to a situation its hard to tell how much information to impart.

In your OP you said

Bought a nifty little chicken coop that will keep them protected, confined, and out of the garden

...it didn't seem like a temporary situation worded that way which is why I said it was going to end up being too small. Unless you've kept chooks before you may not be aware how much room they need?

I think its good that most people on this forum are on the animals side when it comes to care, they can't care for themselves so we have to have their backs :D

I too hope you can work it out. Keeping chickens is heaps of fun and watching them scratch around in the back yard is a huuuge time waster. :laugh:

Edited February 6, 2014 by Roova

[Dame Aussie]

Even with the fence I think that would still be terrifying for the chickens and when they get bigger their cage will have to get bigger and where will they go then? Plus I doubt your dog will be able to relax.

I agree. Id love to have chooks but not with my current dog, I know she would be obsessed with them.

[Kirislin]

I dont know if you can train them out of it. I can tell you what I did but I dont know if it will work for you.

I have 5 whippets with a very strong urge to chase anything that moves. When I first got the chooks I kept them locked up and whenever the whippets would look at them I'd just say in a flat disinterested voice. No, we dont chase the chickens.

Puck was the keenest and I also think he was jealous because he'd see me feeding them, and he wanted their food. Sometimes he'd rush at the wire and again I'd just tell him no, we dont chase the chickens. I'd also use the command Leave, which they understand.

I kept the chooks locked up for about 6 months then put them in an enclosure in the yard where they could scratch around and stand on grass for the first time in their lives. I sat out there with them watching the dogs and if they looked keen I'd remind them that we dont chase the chickens.

I then let the chooks out and I cant remember but I might have had the 2 boys, my keenest ones on leash at first but fairly quickly they got used to the chooks scratching around. I wouldn't leave them unsupervised though, I'd just let the chooks out for a couple of hours and then lock them up and never left them out if I had to go out and leave the dogs at home.

As time went on though the whippets started to completely ignore them and now if I go out I do leave the whippets and chook (I only have one now, not because of the dogs though) out together.

and now they sunbake together! :laugh:

Now the Italian greyhound puppy is another matter entirely! I'm still working with her and although she doesn't actually hurt the chicken when she jumps on her I wouldn't trust her unsupervised because she might get too rough and eventually hurt Blondie or even get the whippets interested and undo all my good work. So her training is ongoing.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Kirislin

[Roova]

Absolutely love that photo! Being able to relax when chooks and dogs are out together is such a relief. My Frenchie Maggie and one of my ducks used to hang out together, very cute to see :D

[Thunder]

My Springer Spaniel never bothered with the chooks we used to have- they roamed around the backyard freely during the day and so did he- however, he was taught from a puppy to leave them alone, got a bite from my territorial drake for his curiosity as a puppy and ignored them completely afterwards.

He was then much more interested in stealing all the eggs, carrying them carefully out of the pen and into a nice unbroken pile on the lawn, and then settling down to have a lovely snack :laugh:

the Cockers we had though- would NEVER trust with the chickens because they just never learnt that they had to be left alone (they would leave them alone until our backs were turned)- chickens a bird, therefore they must be chased they were kept inside or in a different yard while the chickens were out (although they ignored the chickens once they were in their pen).

It seems to depend on their temperament, trainability and prey drive.

Goodluck with your new chooks I loved having them

[Henrietta]

When I got my first 3 bantam girls, I had fenced off the back garden which has lots of trees, dirt, weeds etc from the rest of the yard and had intended to never let my dogs mingle with them. At all. I figured that they were not bought up with chooks (and even if they had, they still had the potential to kill, chase, injure, play with them and otherwise scare the crap out of them.)

Once the girls were settled in, I let the dogs see them - I was curious as to what their reaction would be. It was mild curiosity. They could quite peacefully co-exist with a fence between them. Excellent. But I still had no intention of letting them free range together. I'd have the dogs inside when I let the chooks out on the lawn.

One day, I accidentally left the door open when the chooks had free range of the whole yard. The dogs were outside with them! I ran out there, fully expecting a blood bath (or at the very least some frightened chooks!) but to my surprise, they were just all out on the lawn together. Eating grass. It was so bizarre and unexpected. After that, I had the dogs on-lead for a few more outings together, just to see what their reaction was to chooks running and sqwarking and doing whatever else chooks do. And eventually I just let them roam together - with the understanding that if anything ever did happen, I'd only have myself to blame. I would never blame my dogs and I would feel devastated if I was wrong and a chook was killed. But it has worked out fine. I added three more chooks down the track and after allowing them to settle in without the dogs and then with the dogs behind the fence etc, things were back to normal.

I would never have thought that my stafford and chi x would not at least chase the chooks. Especially the stafford, seeing as she is quite keen to chase lizards (I distract when I can), possums and stray cats. They surprise you sometimes, that's for sure. Now, my nan's whippet is another story entirely and they do not mingle when he visits.

Sorry it's OT, just my own musings about my experience with my dogs and chooks. Best of luck with it Sandgrubber, I hope they can all live peacefully and happily together.

[Henrietta]

Absolutely love that photo! Being able to relax when chooks and dogs are out together is such a relief. My Frenchie Maggie and one of my ducks used to hang out together, very cute to see :D

Agreed. One both counts - the photos are great Krislin! And, as unexpected as it was, it was a relief that I could have dogs and chooks roaming together!

[Henrietta]

And to continue on with my silly musings...

Come to think of it, they haven't always lived in complete harmony. One of the girls, Philippa, is completely insane when she is clucky. Scary. I'll admit that I am petrified of her. One day she decided to nest on the back patio. I gently moved her off with the broom. Yes, the broom. As I said, I'm petrified of her when she is in that mood. Poor Grace (old stafford) was just standing there minding her own business.

Instead of coming after me, which is what I deserved, she attacked Grace. Not once, but twice. The first time, Grace just wagged her tail gently and looked confused. It happened so quickly, yet I'll never forget that look. The second time, she had started to back away and thankfully her mother (me) had grown a brain by this time and intervened quickly enough to stop any further attacks. But Philippa was really angry. Poor Grace. Since then, I've just made sure that the dogs are not anywhere near her when she has a reason to wreak retribution.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Henrietta

[Kirislin]

Henrietta your experience sounds similar to mine. I never expected my dogs to be so good with them either, it's worked out better than I'd anticipated.

I suppose if anyone's thinking of getting chooks with an existing dog/s they need to first have a dog proof chook enclosure big enough for the chooks to live their lives in there if necessary. Then if they find their dog is more tolerant than they expected, great, the chooks can be free range.

[PossumCorner]

I've averted disaster so far, and give all the credit to Croydon Dog Obedience Club. In the years my dogs were pretty consistently bottom of their classes, they still scraped through to pass their certificates and retained a fair recall and an understanding of "leave it".

Piper the RottieX is a foody, she understands swap from basic flyball, and will leave anything she is contemplating killing if there might be a treat. Frodo the little black something-oodle still thinks the world revolves around him, so accepts the chooks as part of his adoring fan club. Rheneas the Shetland SD-cross, well he pretty much still has cotton-wool for brains, but responds happily to the no word.

Oh credit also to the guinea fowl. They were meant to be correctly locked up for at least six weeks before releasing to head for the horizon, but they escaped the coop on the first day and chose to stay. So next morning, not knowing the guineas were loose, I let the dogs out. Oh wow they said, look, lunch, big fresh lunches not piddly little lunches like the untouchable chooks. And the guinea fowl said oh look, dogs, how fun, let's beat the sh++ out of them. So they did. That was two years ago, and the dogs still walk respectful wide circles around the guineas. And never look interested in the chooks now: Piper is very good at the Rottweiler stare, but if a chicken sees her with a bone and says my bone now, tick off dog - she just defers with a sigh, no tension.

Started with just four, and 2 years later have around 20 hens, 4 good roosters, 20 young growers free range, and enough eggs to sell for incubating and/or at farmers markets (yes all registrations done as producer/seller). If the dogs had not had sound basic obedience training I don't think I would have had the same toolbox of a high value reward-based system to draw on. Bit of luck involved.

[sandgrubber]

Update: Six months later.

Fencing off the chooks with electric fence worked fine. The dogs completely lost interest. Due to problems with my shop, I haven't been able to build a bigger run for the chooks yet, but have learned what weeds they love and make sure they get lots of them. Now getting 3 to 4 eggs a day. The chooks are Australorpes, a gentle breed, and have shown no inclination to harm one another, despite smallness of their enclosure.

[Kirislin]

Update: Six months later.

Fencing off the chooks with electric fence worked fine. The dogs completely lost interest. Due to problems with my shop, I haven't been able to build a bigger run for the chooks yet, but have learned what weeds they love and make sure they get lots of them. Now getting 3 to 4 eggs a day. The chooks are Australorpes, a gentle breed, and have shown no inclination to harm one another, despite smallness of their enclosure.

that's pretty good. Is that enclosure portable, perhaps you can park it over weeds for a few days so they can have a fresh scratch around and then move it to a new area. If they cannot forage and you have to provide everything, dont forget they love snails (not too big) and worms and any other bug they can catch.

I've still got my chook Blondie too. Some people said my Italian Greyhound would kill her but it's not going to happen. Neko has a healthy respect for her now.

[hankdog]

You can work on it but I think some dogs are going to be chook proof and some not. Hank had a few goes at trying to "catch" the cockatiels when we first got them. Each time a stern reprimand and put outside. He slowly got used to them riding around on our shoulders and then just ignored them.

When the chooks were tiny he looked interested in them and was given pats and treats for calm looking, after that I was happy to allow everyone free range outside.

Jake is different. From day one he didn't care about ducks, he slightly cared about turkeys and was very interested in the chooks and obsessed with the cockatiels. Time and rewards for good behaviour have lessened that and our naughty cockatiel has landed on him a few times. He's done nothing but I wouldn't leave him unsupervised with the birds. He's just not a calm dog and in a bird panic situation I feel he might snap.

You can train in ignore but I think you also need to understand your dogs inherent nature.

Edited July 6, 2014 by hankdog

[persephone]

good update :) provided chooks have plenty to scratch in/search for ..they are relatively happy, I've found. Piles of autumn leaves , and ,depending how easy it is to find over there .. biscuits of lucerne/alfalfa hay ... the latter are ideal!

edit :

I had forgotten just how inadequate that coop was - and hope chooks get something a bit larger soon ....

Edited July 7, 2014 by persephone

[Guest Ams]

On second thought, never mind. Comment deleted.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Ams

[louise6616]

great update sandgrubber!

i remember when we first got chooks.. my maltese was 9years old.. she killed 5 of them in 2seconds flat.. we bought a similar coop online, we thought it would be much bigger too!

nowadays, our maltese, our kelpie, our cane corso all respect our free ranging chickens and can be unsupervised. The little staffy though.. no, she cant be trusted!

I applaude you, just do your best :)

[persephone]

great update sandgrubber!

i remember when we first got chooks.. my maltese was 9years old.. she killed 5 of them in 2seconds flat.. we bought a similar coop online, we thought it would be much bigger too!

nowadays, our maltese, our kelpie, our cane corso all respect our free ranging chickens and can be unsupervised. The little staffy though.. no, she cant be trusted!

I applaude you, just do your best :)

maltese? those cute white fluffy things?

yes- they can be very deadly ... I knew a pair who could hunt very well.

[sandgrubber]

I am glad the dogs have lost interest in the coop.

Going back to the previous post of Roova about the size of your coop though; whilst I understand you have been busy with your shop, imho that coop is not big enough to house 6 x 6+ month old Australorpes even if they are being fed a variety of foods. Apart from having access to sunlight, they are living a life not much better than battery hens. If someone posted a photo of 6 small dogs living in an enclosure of that size there would be uproar. As has previously been stated a number of times, chooks need to roam, to scratch and forage and they aren't getting any of those needs met in that small coop.

Four, not six. It's moveable and gets moved every three or four days. The chickens do scratch.

Chickens are not dogs.

If anyone decided they had too many dogs and ate a few to reduce their numbers, I think all of us would be shocked. This is routine with chooks.

[Rascalmyshadow]

I'm glad your dogs have settled down, but that enclosure is way too small to keep any number of australorps in, maybe suitable for three bantams even then they need environmental enrichment. Keeping chooks locked up in this manner is extremely cruel. They are intelligent birds that need space, dirt to dust bath in, fresh grass to eat, items to perch/climb over, trees to hide under and all types of insects to forage for.

It is no different to keeping a dog locked in a bare pen day after day, I don't understand how anyone can give preference to one species over another.