Bird Dogs and Chickens

[Secret Squirrel]

I am getting a black lab puppy in the next month or two and want to know if anyone has a bird dog and chickens?
I have a few chickens now and plan on fencing them in once I get the dog. Will a hunting dog be able to coexist with chickens in the backyard?  Does anyone have chickens and a pointing/flushing/retriever?  Do I need to put the chickens in the front yard in order to avoid any conflict and ultimately dead birds.  I can’t go and punish the dog for something I want him to do and I don’t want to train him to coexist with birds.  I plan on doing some light upland bird hunting and some hard corps duck/goose hunting!  Any advice?

[lokidog]

You will never need to worry about your dog and the chickens... if - you teach the dog/puppy from the start that the chickens are not playthings.  Our chickens free range during the day and walk all around the dog (golden retriever), they ignore her and she ignores them.  The only problem is she does like to eat chicken poo if given the chance.  It would not be a bad idea to get maybe three chicks after you get the puppie's basic training down, this way the chicks won't be all freaky when they are near the dog and she will learn that they are just another part of the family.  Our chicks used to walk all over the dog when she was a pup.  It falls into the same category as any kind of obedience training like no jumping, no tackling the kids, no eating off the table, etc.

It is much easier to get a dog already having chickens than chickens already having a dog, see the following post.   

[bobcat]

I had a girlfriend once who had chickens and I had my golden retriever over there, took my eyes off her for a minute and next thing I know here she comes with a dead chicken in her mouth proud as could be, tail wagging like crazy! I couldn't punish her, she was just doing her job. Her main specialty was pheasant hunting, to her it just made sense to catch one of these slow "pheasants". 

[bigdave]

I've had 2 labs..... My first lab never learned to not grab and shake something that was still moving, she would chase, catch and shake, and then retreive. My second lab, does not shake, he will chase and retreive them with no damage to the chicken. Once they get grabbed they stop squirming and he will bring them to the house. They are usually in the coop but occasionally one will escape and get grabbed by the dog. I don't scold him. Its what he does...he's a bird dog.

I never bothered to do any training as the chickens are usually penned.   I'm sure you could train a young pup.

[Turner89]

You will never need to worry about your dog and the chickens... if - you teach the dog/puppy from the start that the chickens are not playthings.  Our chickens free range during the day and walk all around the dog (golden retriever), they ignore her and she ignores them.  The only problem is she does like to eat chicken poo if given the chance.  It would not be a bad idea to get maybe three chicks after you get the puppie's basic training down, this way the chicks won't be all freaky when they are near the dog and she will learn that they are just another part of the family.  Our chicks used to walk all over the dog when she was a pup.  It falls into the same category as any kind of obedience training like no jumping, no tackling the kids, no eating off the table, etc.

It is much easier to get a dog already having chickens than chickens already having a dog, see the following post.   

   
I had two labs pups that were good duck dogs. Both really birdie. They were trained that the chickens were off limits.
 The female had to try it once though.  She had one in the front yard when I came home from work. She knew she was in truoble.
 I beat her butt with the chicken, and then tied it around her neck. I made her sit in the front yard for about an hour. Every so often I would go out and scold her. That was the last fatality we had.

[lokidog]

Yep, my golden will nail down any bird you tell her to go after, but I bet she would defend the chickens from some predator if the need arose.  For sure  she hates racoons....   

[Stilly bay]

My old springer never gave chickens a second look. we had a family of canada geese that would nest at our pond every year and she ignored them as well.  once while out duck hunting I wounded a canada goose and my springer was at a total loss. she ran up to the goose, sat down within ten feet of it and began to bark at me until I came over and dispatched it, only then did she tentatively pick it up. to this day I think she was asking for advice, or moral support when she was barking at me during that situation.

[BIGINNER]

MY DOG LEAVES THE CHIKENS ALONE, BUT IF I DON'T KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON HIM HE WILL GO AFTER THEM,  LAST WEEK HE CAUGHT ONE CHICKEN, AND GAVE IT TO ME, BUT THE CHICKEN WAS NOT INJURED. MY FENALE WEIM I HAD WAS AN AWESOME HUNTER, AND SHE LEFT THE CHICKENS ALONE. SHE WOULDN'T EVEN POINT AT THE CHICKENS LIKE MY MALE DOES.  LOL

[andersonjk4]

One of my roomates would take my Shorthair with him while he was doing some construction work at his Aunt and Uncles house so he could play with their dog.  His Aunt had a bunch of free range chickens.  My shorthair totally ignored the chickens while they were out in the open, but one day one made the mistake of going into the bushes.  Evidentially he thought that meant fair game.  We ended up having fried chicken for dinner that night.