Chickens and Border Collies

[waffles]

In the last two weeks we have taken on 4 hens and a rooster. We have had them free ranging in the front/side part of our property away from where the dog normally goes. We have been walking him near them on leash and he has just sniffed a little and not shown much interest. Today, a hen flew out of the coop squawking and flapping her wings which set Levi off to our surprise (or not?). He ran up to her, grabbed her lightly and sniffed her. This short chase caused another hen to run/panic which caused Levi to chase her. He didn't grab her. Of course all of this took place in 2 seconds, by the time I yelled and grabbed him it seemed like forever though.

 

I have searched previous threads and have found information pretty much in line with what I was already thinking but was looking for anything else people can offer who have experience with this. He does not appear to want to harm them, he could have easily grabbed the second chicken but stayed back. I figure it is either teach the dog how to behave around chickens or we'll have to make a fenced area for them. For everyone's safety I have no problem penning the chickens if that is what needs to be done but would love to teach our dog how to calm down when the chickens get 'dramatic' and make commotion. I plan to take him out on his long line and correct him for unwanted chasing or harassing but he only does it when the chickens freak out (don't really want to entice the chickens to freak out just to train him). He is not allowed to chase any other small animals but those damn chickens draw so much exciting attention to themselves I feel this may be harder to teach.

 

What else can I do to slow him down so we don't have an all out 100mph chase? Ultimately we would love for the dog and chickens to be out at the same time with no issues. Any advice? Should I not even bother and just pen the chickens up?

[bcnewe2]

I take it Levi is not a working dog (yet)? No biggie, but just figured since my working dogs can be commanded just like they're working sheep so I have better control over them. But I can say Dew my main working dog would rather work chickens than sheep. And She LOVES the turkeys! I could be a bit disappointed in her liking the chickens better than sheep but I am not that worried. I figure she works chickens without a lot of input from me and when we work sheep she is always working for me or being trained! Which is how I'd like her to be with the chickens but at the moment that's not the way it is.

 

She knows she can't touch them (severe correction log ago when I caught her with one in her mouth) so it's a matter of management. If I go out with her she only does what she's allowed but if I let her out alone for any length of time she's going to get herself into trouble be working them without me. Not hurting them but working without permission is BAD!

 

Faye the pup is a serious chicken dog! She was corrected the first time she grabbed one with her mouth and she is a sensitive dog so has never put her mouth on them again. Wish all my dogs were this easy! But like her sis, she is all about the chickens so she can't be let out without supervision.

 

My chickens have free range so do the turkeys. Only place they're not supposed to be is on the deck. if that happens dew or Faye get to work them off.

 

If you never want Levi to work chickens then you need is a correction when he even looks at them.

I have Mick, when he was about 4 months old a mean old hen with a bunch of chicks ran him out of the barn connected to his back. To this day he doesn't look at chickens. That was a big enough natural correction for him that he remembers and isn't going to go there EVER again so he can be out with chickens parading around in front of him with nothing to worry about. But the girls do get to work them so they are learning when it's ok and when it's not. If you want Levi like Mick then you have to match your correction to his energy level and you should be good to go after a few corrections. If he's like the girls then it's going to be more management.

 

SO...after that long story my advise is to teach a "that'll do" command or a "leave it" and use it for chickens. If you want him to work them then you can only correct what you don't want him to do, not for working the chickens. So if you say that'll do and he doesn't come off the chickens he gets a correction, a tug or jerk on his long line. If he puts one in his mouth don't get all upset and yell, that adds to the excitement but correct him with his long line or leash. But if he's working them with you and if he's moving them nice and quiet then let him go.

 

Biggest rule is no one can work anything without permission, but again if you want him to ever work them then you can't correct him for doing it, only for doing it without you. Hope that makes since.

 

Example:

 

Faye my young pup that's not old enough for training yet can reach my sheep if she tries really hard. If she does, I can't correct her if she's on them. I can correct her if I catch her going under a gate or over a fence but not for working the sheep once she's gotten to them. She's a baby, I will confuse her if I tell her not to work the sheep then turn around and tell her it's ok to work them.

It's my fault if I let her get to them without proper training. But since it's never ok to go under a fence (well someday I will teach her to go under but that's way down the line so for now it's never ok) I can correct her for that without confusing her.

 

Sure hope I helped instead of confusing you totally!

 

I love chickens! Good luck!

[waffles]

Your reply was perfect! Thank you.

 

We were taken off guard and I froze but when I did finally yell "lie down", he dropped and the chicken ran under the barn. I have done quite a bit of training/proofing so I know next time if I can be prepared and actually get words out, I think I can teach him what I want.

 

He already knows 'that'll do' in the context of play. When it is time to stop playing (ball, frisbee, whatever) we use that'll do and he drops the toy and comes over to be leashed up or if we are out hiking and he keeps wanting us to throw a stick we use it to get him to just walk. I will incorporate that command with the chickens. I would love for him to help work the chickens as we plan to get more and would like him to help put them up at night when they don't do go in on their own. I don't ever want him to grab one again or wildly chase.

 

Levi is a sensitive dog as well so I am sure it will only take one or two good corrections if he ever mouths one again. It didn't take long to break him of chasing squirrels and chipmunks on our walks/hikes so I hope the chickens are similar.

 

I agree completely that it is my fault if I ever let him do this again. I always look at myself first and try to see what I can do differently.

If he gets into a chase/prey mode vs a slower working mode, should I just give a correction? Is there anything more I can do to slow him down? Should I just call him off and then start again?

[bcnewe2]

Oh don't blame yourself, stuff happens, my example was meant to show you not to blame the dog. First times and new things are hard.

Faye had a baby chick in her mouth so quick she didn't even know what happened. But she was young, my sister barreled out a huge NOOOOO! Faye was already nervous of my sister (for some reason she still is) and Faye spit that baby out so quick it almost made me laugh, not to sound cruel, but it was like it had gone electric! I'm happy Faye didn't equate that to the chickens and understood it was the part about in her mouth that was the problem.

 

Just incorporate your that'll do or leave it. I prefer that'll do, as Leave it means don't, that'll do means quit for now or we're done.

 

I think he'll relax if you can get in a routine with him on a line leaving them alone and just watching. Like when you're out together. Try it for a bit and see what you get. If he can leave them alone totally then I think he's got enough self control to move slower.

 

Thinking about it, it'd be hard to teach a young dog how to work Chickens before it worked anything else. I don't work Faye, I let her work the chickens a bit on her own. she's not hurting them and I'm there so I let her move them about. But that's cause she's not hurting them, not cause i'm teaching her on chickens, I only put a tiny wee bit of pressure on her at times. she's not ready for pressure yet.

Geesh...I wonder if you could start a dog on chickens? I suppose, but they don't flock well at all. Dew has to go back several times to gather chickens that ran the other way and she's got quite a bit of sheep training on her.

I would think it'd have to be a more natural farm dog type thing, they just understand what helping is over time. Not the same as trial training at all. hmmmmm

[Gideon's girl]

Both of mine work the goats and now the chickens. Having a good down was also helpful as it allowed the chickens to calm down and the younger dog to slow down.