Golden Retrievers and Chickens

[AtlantaSue]

An odd question, I know - but do any of you have any experience w/ a golden retriever living peaceably w/ chickens? We have a great dog, and several acres of land, and are now thinking of raising chickens. I'm hoping we can train him not to chase the chickens, but I know that might not work.

Any thoughts?

 

[Lisa L from MI]

No advice but I know chickens wouldn't survive a minute with my Mabel!!

Now, when we had Babe, our bullmastiff, we went to this party and they had some chickens...Babe was scared to death of them!!

 

[StanH]

You're trying to defeat your dogs' natural instinct....The only "nice" advice I have, is to expose your dog (lot's of exposure..Lot's...Seriously, I mean A LOT) to the chicks, under supervision. Let the chicks grow up, with your dog being their companion....But, don't be mad if your dog brings you a stray chicken here and there....Just thank him for dinner!

 

[horseshowmom]

I'm thinking you're facing an uphill battle here...

 

[tevagirl]

We had a dog and a duck that lived together (platonically). Dusty the dog and Waddles the duck got along fabulously. Of course, Dusty was no golden retriever either.

 

[jann1033]

my daughter has 2 Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and a bunch of chickens and while one of the dogs eats the eggs when she can, they have never bothered the chickens or the ducks...however they have had chickens most of the one dog's life and the other one( the egg thief) they just yelled a few times if she looked "longingly "at the birds when they first got them and she never bothered with them after that. they are pretty laid back dogs in general though( except with other dogs and weird strangers )

you could also keep the chickens in a run till you see how they will be rather than letting them run loose( they make a mess of your flower beds anyway, way worse than ducks)

if you have coyotes in your area make sure you keep them well secured and put them in a good coop at night. they have lost a number of chicken an ducks to coyotes

 

[OK!]

No experience with a Golden Retriever, but my family's had 2 Labs and a very stubborn Shih Tzu who all get along fine with myriad chickens (babies included) and one turkey. Max (the Shih Tzu) used to try to herd them, but he doesn't anymore. He also tried to investigate Clyde (the turkey) on more than one occasion, but all it took was one bout with Clyde flapping his wings and gobbling at him to break him of that habit.

The 2 Labs have always ignored all of the birds. I've never even seen them so much as look at them, let alone attack them.

 

[AtlantaSue]

Thanks for the responses - from all I've heard, it sounds like it could really go either way, huh?

We are going to hope for the best - and definitely supervise alot initially. We will also keep the chickens protected at night - there are owls and hawks around here.

 

[RNMOM]

I've had two goldens and I never had them go after birds at all. Squirrels, now, different matter.

I now have an Irish Setter and he points and flushes all the pretty birdies he can. We also get bird nests, dead birds, etc all the time in his mouth as he goes on walks.

Goldens are used to retreive birds that have been killed. Setters are used to find and flush as well as retreive at times. They have different instincts. Goldens are not as smart or cagey as setters but I have to say for family love factor, golden's can't be beat. You can easily train them to live along with the chickens but they are like toddlers and might forget a time or two.

 

[PrincessJasmine1972]

No expereince with Goldens, but when I was a child we had a little wire haired terrier named Teddy Bear that was wonderful with chickens. Why, do you ask? becuase occasionally they would fly out fo the coop and when they did, all we'd have to do is call Teddy Bear and he would catch the chicken and make her lay down and put his foot on her back until we got there to put her back in the coop. Never harmed a feather on any of them.

 

[Beca]

I think it could be doable, depending on the personality of your dog. We have a part aussie, part golden dog who is definitely NOT an alpha dog. She is SOOO smart, but really just wants to know what the rules are so she can be "good".

We have been able to train her to do (or not do) most anything from chewing to digging, to chasing our cats with little more than a reprimand...she has been the easiest dog we have ever had!! (Which is really good, 'cause man, is she a horse!!)

Think about how alpha-crazed your dog is, and go from there.