to protect the flock. Chickens and dogs may not seem to be the most compatible of species, but with an early start, some good training, and a watchful eye, certain dogs (of any size) can find a very harmonious existence with a flock of backyard chickens. You may find that keeping one of these compatible canines nearby can ward off a number of unpleasant predators all while fulfilling your pup’s need for a job.
Dogs and Chickens: Know Your Pooch
Can dogs really be trusted around chickens? You’ve likely heard a few disaster stories: traumatic events that ended in a bloodbath with dead chickens and Fido to blame. Others swear by their pooch’s loyalty, and you’ve no doubt seen the social media photos of placid, sleeping canines with fluffy chicks happily perched all over them. But when it comes to chickens and dogs coexisting in reality, there are no hard and fast rules. The real answer is that every dog is different.
Chicken breeds, while they vary widely in color, shape, and sometimes personality, are relatively uniform when it comes to temperament. They are creatures of prey, and they don’t want to be eaten, so they’ll do everything they can to avoid that fate. This makes them pretty predictable in terms of how they will react around most “predator” animals (dogs and cats are included in this category). On the other hand, the personality and temperament (not to mention size) of many dog breeds, in combination with a dog’s individual personality, can vary so dramatically that only you will be able to determine if your pup can be trusted around chickens. Here are some of the different factors that contribute to your dog’s trustworthiness around prey animals.
Working with Breed
Before you can move toward any conclusions about your dog’s behavior (or potential behavior), know his breed. If he is a mix from a shelter, then make your best guess. If you’re completely stumped, consult a canine trainer or dog expert for his or her advice. Knowing your dog’s dominant breed and the general traits of that breed is important because it will tell you a lot about what to expect of your dog around smaller animals. Read about the breed and what purposes or tasks it was developed for. Was your dog’s breed cultivated for herding? Hunting? Companionship? These offer very important clues to your dog’s underlying temperament and will help inform whether he or she will get along with chickens.
The reason this is important is that some breeds have a relatively high prey drive. Prey drive is the tendency or inclination to attack or pursue, and sometimes kill, smaller animals that are perceived as prey. Prey drive is not the same thing as aggression. Some breeds have a lower or higher prey drive depending on what they were bred to do. It is possible to train a dog around its naturally inclined prey drive, but this takes time, commitment, and, above all, consistency from the dog’s owner.
Working with Personality
Even a dog of a passive, unassuming breed can still pose a threat to your chickens if its personality is aggressive or overly playful. My 90 lb. (40 kg) retriever mix would never intentionally harm one of our birds, but she is playful, very large, and doesn’t know her own strength. While playing, she could easily pounce on a chicken and inflict a fatal wound, even without harmful intentions. On the other end of the spectrum, one of our Chihuahuas (we have two) seems to believe that everything, and everyone, exists to play with her. She likes to chase the chickens around in fun, but they find it rather annoying. They sometimes chase her back but simply aren’t fast enough to catch her. The dog doesn’t pose a threat to the chickens (if you don’t count sheer annoyance), but this behavior under other circumstances could stress out certain birds, separate chicks from hens, or make them feel generally unsafe. In this example, a breed developed for companionship (the Chihuahua) is overshadowed by the dog’s personality (high energy, very playful, and occasionally focused on the chickens). Sometimes, individual dogs simply defy their breed; their personalities just don’t match what their breed says they should be like. This is where it’s up to you to know your dog and watch his or her signs around perceived prey. Again, it all depends.
Birds of a Feather: Making Introductions
So you’ve determined your dog’s breed, know his personality, and think he’s ready to coexist with chickens. Where do you start?
First, timing matters. If you’ve recently added a puppy to your household and already own chickens, introduce them right away (as in, while your dog is still a puppy). If you already have a dog and are considering getting chickens, you may want to test your dog’s prey drive and general reactions by introducing him to other birds before getting chickens, with the supervision of a professional, of course. The following method is roughly the same for both scenarios.
The safest option is to start with the least amount of exposure and work up to direct contact. Keeping a distance, walk your dog or puppy on a leash around a chicken yard, coop, run, or enclosure. Watch to see how your dog reacts when he spots the birds. Do his ears perk up? Do his eyes lock onto the birds and become fixated? Or, does he glance their way, sniff the air, and then move on to other smells? Read your dog’s body language as you walk around.
If the dog shows signs of wanting to chase the birds (barking, growling, tugging at the leash, all while keeping eyes on the birds), you may want to call it quits for the day and try again another time. A dog that is aggressively interested in chickens may warrant some professional training to become acquainted with and trustworthy around a flock. If the dog is interested but not aggressively so (watching, sniffing the air, but generally moving about) or completely ignores the birds, you can move closer to where the flock is. Let your dog or puppy sniff the chickens and the ground around the enclosure. The nose is the information gatherer of the dog’s senses so let your pup sniff for as long as he wants.
Continue to introduce the dogs and chickens in this manner—with your supervision at all times—as you gradually eliminate barriers between the two species. This process may take days or weeks (or more). Be patient and take your time; continue to read your dog’s body language and follow his cues.
Can’t We All Just Get Along?
There may be some dogs that you feel will never be trustworthy around chickens. This can be an unfortunate reality that you will have to reconcile as a dog owner and/or chicken owner. If you have a dog that continually shows aggression, extreme herding behavior, or relentless chasing, it is likely that this dog’s prey drive is very high and may not be trusted loose around a flock of chickens. While not ideal for you, do remember that this is not the dog’s fault—it is his instinct and simply in his nature. In a case such as this, it is your responsibility to keep both species safe. First and foremost, train your dog to listen to your basic commands; keep him on leash at all times around the flock. House your flock in a predator-safe coop and lock them up each night. Watch diligently if your dog and chickens are ever in the same area together; and if you can’t be there to monitor interactions, keep them separate. If you are unable to take these steps, it would be wise not to keep dogs and chickens together at all.
Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
There are some that believe with enough time, effort, and diligent training, any dog of any breed can learn to live peacefully with chickens. Whether your dog requires daily obedience training or naturally has a nonchalant attitude around fowl, take the time to learn some basic commands and practice these with your dog regularly. Though it may be entertaining to watch, don’t encourage play between your dogs and birds; play may be a precursor to more aggressive behavior. Look on the Internet or contact your dog’s breed club for qualified trainers in your area that specialize in that breed.
Above all, use good judgment. Read your dog’s body language and know the animal well enough to determine which precautionary steps you need to take to keep both dog and chickens safe.
The Guardians
Dogs have guarded livestock for centuries. In my flock, we’ve tried
