My husband has informed me that he can get a great deal on several laying hens and a rooster,but with no specifics as to price, breed, age, etc. We have discussed on a few occasions the benefits of having our own poultry flock(we currently are raising 4 hogs for the meat, and have done so for the last 2 seasons, also, we have a decent size garden every year that we put up vegetables from). Alas, we also have a 120 lb. Rottweiler who, although he is used to hogs, doesn't take kindly to unfamiliar critters around our property. Does anyone have an idea as to how to familiarize him with these creatures, so he doesn't go ballistic and tear down the chicken coop? He is VERY strong, but overall has a good disposition. Any help would be appreciated.

-- Teresa Frye (www.joeandteresafrye@conninc.com), February 01, 2000

Answers

There isn't an easy answer for this one Teresa. Your Rotty might not be particularly interested in the chickens, accepting that you brought them home to join the family. You might be able to keep the chickens confined and teach him/show him that they belong on your property. You might be able to keep him in a run or on a chain and let him get used to the idea of seeing the chickens and seeing you with them.

but then again, there might not be any way to get him used to them. I've got some friends who have dogs who hate cats. No problem if the cats come around the run, no problem if the dogs are on the leashes. They'll even let the cats rub around under their legs. But as soon as a dog can get loose, no more cat. I brought an abandoned dog home once. She cringed out of my car, saw a lamb, and they both took off at a dead run. They were out of sight before I could even react. Fortunately, while the lamb couldn't out run the dog, the dog couldn't gain any ground. It took me a lot of screaming and running to end that little incident. We had a few more problems with the dog, although she never did any major damage to a lamb. Now she runs through the sheep pens and even into the sheep barn with no problem.

There won't be any one possible solution, and none of them are guarenteed to work. If you can't free range the chickens, perhaps a nice big run for them will be the answer. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), February 01, 2000.

Dogs are set into motion with there natural chase instinct .My shepard who I never thought would kill a chicken ,killed 3 when we were away for a few days and they flew into her pen".I think they were depressed and it was suicide." O.K. I'm not nuts its only a joke.The point is you may never be able to fully trust her .Pen the chickens well .Worst comes to worst they dont need to go out side even know it would be better for them .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), February 01, 2000.

HMMMMMMMMM, dogs and chickens....I had a Black Lab once in Texas who would watch our neighbors free-ranging chickens with great interest.Two years of watching and one day the dog decided that enough was enough and brought one home for us.The neighbors were not pleased. WE tied him up..he chewed through the rope and brought us more chickens. We chained him up and he howled all day...They put up a fence and as the saying goes "good fences make good neighbors".I checked with our local chicken folks and they all said that if a dog is brought up around chickens...no problem..he considers them "property", if chickens are introduced to an adult dog, the dog considers them "lunch".I don't know if this is a hard and fast rule, but it sounds reasonable to me.Good luck !

-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), February 01, 2000.

Hate to say it, but Rottweilers are about one of the worst dogs you can have around livestock, besides a wolf-hybrid. I should know, our neighbors have three of them. Some things just don't mix.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), February 02, 2000.

We had a choice of getting chickens or keeping our Lab. Since the Lab was getting pretty old, and we had neighbors who kept us supplied with eggs at a reasonable price, we opted for letting the Lab live out her days in peace. She repaid us by keeping the younger dogs in line, protecting the cats against cat-hating dogs and guarding the house.

Now, she's been dead a few years, and we have a flock of chickens. For us, it was worth the wait, to keep the peace! However, I recently inherited an old, old beagle who thinks chickens are almost as good as deer to chase... She hasn't killed any, yet, but I spend a great deal of time refereeing. Unless you have lots of spare time, or VERY strong fence, I wouldn't think the chickens would be worth the trouble, at this point. Good luck!

-- Sylvia (slydy@intrstar.net), February 02, 2000.

Lots of breeds have a bad rep.Its not the breed thats bad its the breeders and owners .You don't take an aggresive dog and breed it ,being protective is some thing differant.Police dogs are not mean if so you would not be able to control them ,through training they are taught to do there job .Its a game to them , they are happy because they are pleasing there trainer .I'm not pulling this out of my hat ,I am a trainer and have done protection training .I just dont like in general statemants ,i've seen nasty Golden Retrivers too.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), February 02, 2000.

Hi, we've always had chickens and dogs. But the dogs have to be raised to get along with the chickens, and taught as soon as the dog gets big enough to chase them. NO NO No We had a black lab for years, that could tell the difference between a duck or goose(he was a retrever) and a chicken. Now we have an old chesapeke and a 3 month old lab that already has learned not to chase chickens. I free range all my chickens and turkeys. If you were to get a half grown dog it probably wouldn't work. They have to be puppies . Linda

-- Linda Hess (hesscat@cot.net), February 02, 2000.

We have a border collie mix and a boxer mix that decided when they were young, not puppies but teens, that they wanted to "play" with our chickens. They liked the silkies the best. Anyways, we borrowed a shock collar from a friend and put it on the lowest setting and whenever the dogs would even look at the chickens, I would push the button. Now, the chickens can lay down with the dogs and there is peace in the valley. I don't condone suffering of any kind - dog or chicken, but the collar, used on very low, did the trick. Patrice

-- Patrice Bertke (herbalgroup@skybest.com), February 02, 2000.

Here's my $.02. I have a grown black lab mutt and a half grown Springer mutt. The lab was over a year old when we got our birds. He ate six guineas, four young turkeys, and many young chickens last Spring. Trust me when I say that I punished him sternly after EACH incident. He hid the carcasses from me well, had me blaming a mink or raccoon, etc. But one day I left for an hour and came back to a mess of rain, mud, feathers, and a guilty lab with a mouthful in the barn.

Obviously yelling and hitting the dog wasn't working. What did work for a month was to strongly tie one of his kills to the back of his collar and leave it on. In the sun, with flies buzzing around a mangled chicken, not to mention the four pounds of dead weight, he exhibited some remorse. But after a month, he killed another one.

I tie the lab up from sun-up to sun-down on a 75 ft. runner cable. He is a hunter. A bird dog. He can't help himself, I'm afraid.

Now, the Springer was a puppy. He gorged himself on a chicken one day, and I tied in on him, and he has only taken ONE other chicken. She (the hen) almost deserved it, since she slept the night in my garden, rather than roosting in the barn where I could lock her in.

That Springer runs free all day, barn open; no worries.

The last time the lab got loose he charged to the barn, scared the goats over the fence, stirred up all the birds.

Start with a puppy, save your hand and the dog's rear, and tie the first dead bird onto his collar. If it takes two or three days for the dog to get it off, fine. That stench and that weight will teach him better than your yelling and hitting. Trust me.

-- Rachel K. (rldk@hotmail.com), February 05, 2000.

The "tie it around the dog's neck" bit worked for me to break a dog of ripping stuff off the clothesline. After he shredded one of my favorite flannel shirts, I made him wear it around his neck and shamed him for it every time I saw him--no more problem. It also worked for a length of garden hose that a puppy chewed up. As for chickens, our 11-year old yellow lab knows that those are MINE, and she leaves them alone and gets praised for it. She also knows that it's ok to catch and kill ground squirrels and rabbits, and gets praised for that too. I'd still build a pen for the chickens, and bury the edge of the fencing down and out in an "L" shape to prevent digging.

-- Jean (j_bondiett@hotmail.com), February 07, 2000.

Broke mine by catching him red handed and beating the snot out of him with the dead chicken then tying it around his collar for a couple weeks. Only once since has he put his mouth on one and when i caught him he left the property for several hours. I leave the hen house open a lot but try not to tempt him much.

-- brian r (brian3006@msn.com), February 07, 2000.

I am sorry but from a trainers stand point beating and tying a dead chicken on the dog doesn't cut it .Yes it may have worked but I would go about it differantly.Put the dog on a good choke chain and a leather leash "this saves your hands".Walk him to the hens,if the dog goes for them a sharp yank on the leash and a stern no!Then give the sit command.Good dog!Repeat this day after day .then when this is working and the dog isn't going after them ,put him on a check cord"a check cord is a small lite weight leash only a couple of inches in length "This way you still have controll over him .Continue doing this for 1-2 more weeks .I would wait some time before leaving him alone with the chickens .Beating an animal only breaks there spirit! as with a child , take the time to teach the results will be much better .You will build a love and trusting relationship with that animal not one of fear .Any questions please e-mail me .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), February 08, 2000.

Yes, well, I never, ever saw my Lab go after a bird while I was outside or anywhere near him. He clearly knew that he wasn't supposed to eat those birds. If I was in the barn, he would have been sitting by my feet.

True, I am not a dog trainer. I would venture a guess that it isn't uncommon to hit and yell at your dog when he eats your flock, however. Because I don't want to beat and yell at my Lab anymore, I cable him. I tried to teach him for months, and I can not trust him around the birds.

My other dog runs free, as I have mentioned. I used the same barbaric methods to train him.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), February 09, 2000.

I was not trying to be a know it all or say your method was wrong .There are a lot of ways to train an animal,I just dont agree with the ones stated .We as people usually hit out of anger not to teach a lesson.After not only training for home obed. but also for police work very seldom was the hand used as punishment .These dogs will lay there lives down for there handlers , I dont think that could be done if not trained correctly .I've taken in dogs who are so fearful of human hands it can make you cry .It takes months to get them to trust .And even after that I would never 100% trust them .I'm not saying anyone here went to that extent ,I just want everyone to know there are differant ways of training that work!If you are having a problem seek out help from trainers ,local breed clubs or obed clubs

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), February 10, 2000.