Dogs chasing hens

tipseymcT

Iv been having a lot of problems lately with my 9 month old golden retriever & 3 year old terrier chasing hens.So far they have killed one & injured 2 others. Have caught them in the act 3 times & their punishment is being locked in their run for a few hours & shouting "no" at them.They both understand "no" & "leave it".

The problem is that they will not stop doing it,even though they know they should'nt.Caught them at it again a few hours ago & they both legged it in opposite directions as soon as they saw me.

They could be fine for a week & not even look at a hen then strike again when im starting to think its safe.We have 4 other dogs that never even look at the hens.
Anyone have any ideas how to stop them? Have the hens confined to their run until i can get this sorted but hate seeing them locked in when we have so much space for them to scratch around in.

are you serious

Possibly keep them locked in a seperate times? Or make the chicken run bigger?

The dogs could be slightly bored and see it as a game which just happens to have a bad ending for the chickens....

Sigma Force

The dogs won't stop you have to keep one or the other confined while the other ones are out.

Just make a larger chicken run perhaps, or have them on a rota. There should be no reason why the dogs can get at the chickens if you keep a rota going or increase the size of the run.

I personally wouldn't leave dogs loose around hens anyway even if they don't seem to be that bothered with them at times. Yes yes I know plenty of farms probably do etc. but imo not a good idea.

tipseymcT

I suppose thats all i can do is to rotate them,its just annoying to see them locked in when they all got along without any problems for so long,
A hen even got locked in with the dogs by accident one night & came out the following morning without a feather out of place!

flutered

the hen runs the dogs chase, terriers are bred to hunt, as is the retriver, terriers are nororious for taking other dogs out hunting, have you tried a couple of hard slaps of a stick, that one is worth trying.

tipseymcT

Wouldnt even think about hitting them with a stick,Gave they retriever a tap on the nose today but not hard enough to hurt her,just to get her attention.
The terrier had a very bad life before she came to us,she was owned by travellers & is very nervous,she still wee's if you make a sudden move beside her.

Hellrazer

flutered wrote: »

the hen runs the dogs chase, terriers are bred to hunt, as is the retriver, terriers are nororious for taking other dogs out hunting, have you tried a couple of hard slaps of a stick, that one is worth trying.

I suggest you read the rules.

But just in case you passed that by here they are for you.Consider this your one and only warning.This post has been reported multiple times as "advocating animal cruelty"

Advocating animal cruelty will be harshly dealt with(however the discussion of pest control by humane methods is allowed)*
-Suggesting any method of killing any pet will be dealt with by way of a permanent ban from the forum.The ban will be issued without any warning given

flutered

well if giving a dog that chases fowl a clip of a stick is animal cruelty, then lifes just got funny, i am rescuing animals for the last 50 years, i feed them, i get them to the vets, i pay out of my own pocket, am i guilty of cruelty, well if you folks find me guilty then i am, so i guess if i leave this thread/ fourm.

Hellrazer

flutered wrote: »

well if giving a dog that chases fowl a clip of a stick is animal cruelty, then lifes just got funny, i am rescuing animals for the last 50 years, i feed them, i get them to the vets, i pay out of my own pocket, am i guilty of cruelty, well if you folks find me guilty then i am, so i guess if i leave this thread/ fourm.

Other users percieve it as cruelty and as such reported the post.Thats what I have to act on.