FYI: If you make a purchase via a link on this site, I may receive a commission from various affiliate programs, and as an Amazon Associate and Chewy affiliate I also earn commissions from qualifying purchases—at NO extra cost to you. See the Disclosure page for more information. Thank you!

Guide To Australian Shepherd Training & Care

Home

Aussies And Chickens?

by Adam
(Stanley, North Dakota, USA)

I'm getting my first Aussie this weekend, it's a female that is 8 wks old. I also have 5 chickens, and I will be getting more soon. My question is, can I teach an Aussie to guard the chickens? I'll let her see the chickens very often. Will she kill one when she gets bigger? I don't really want to risk it because I lost a chicken to a Brittney Spaniel, but Brittney's are hunting dogs.

Comments for Aussies And Chickens?

Click here to add your own comments

Chickens
by: Anonymous

No, she'll be fine, if you teach her patiently what it is you want her to do. remember, Aussies, are herding dogs, so she will love the job! And they aim to please us, so you 'll be fine.

?
by: Debbie

I have an aussie who is a female and is 7 mo old now. There are 2 cats in my house and no matter what she chases them. They hate her but they are quicker then her so far. I tell her no and then she stares holes in them. Good luck with the chickens. I am guessing because they are so smart that if you train it with the chickens it will be ok. They are herders after all. I love mine. Good luck.

Here chicky-chicky
by: Mike Dean

I imagine she'll heard them regardless to some point. Don't see a problem, especially if they're introduced when still a pup. We have 4 cats, none of which are "normal" breeds and all with different levels of attitudes. We brought our Aussie (Zoey) into the house and never looked back. I can tell her to go get whichever cat I want and she'll look the house over for that cat. She is best friends with our Siamese (Sully) and constantly herds him around the house, poor cat can't lay still but he puts up with it for some reason. They are partners in crime, Sully will literally jump onto our counters and knock food onto the floor for Zoey to eat. The other 3 are not as tolerable and Zoey knows it and will bother them as much, but if she's herding any of them I can just tell her "no" and she'll stop, at least for a little while.

can't be to sure
by: Anonymous

Today our 2 year old Aussie dug under the chicken coop and killed 3 chicks. The older chickens got away and went inside the coop. He has been very good with them until today. I would be very careful they are still dogs no matter how smart they are.

aussie and chickens
by: Anonymous

My shepard Jake, is 12 weeks and got one of my chickens this morning, he has been around them since we brought him home at 6weeks. I guess I had a false sense of security, I didn't know he would kill and try to eat her.

chance of killing chickens
by: Anonymous

I have a year old Aussie and he's killed 2 of my brother in laws chicken. Mind you we live on 3000 acre farm and the chickens are about 3/4 miles away. He plays with my outside and inside cats no problem. Just something about chickens.

My Aussie killed my favorite hen. Will she kill again
by: Anonymous

I have a 10 month Aussie. She been pretty good up until last night. She killed my only blue French Copper hen. I'm so heartbroken. This hen was so docile & followed me every where even inside. My other Aussie is good. How can I assure this won't happen again?

Killing Chickens
by: Help

My 6 month Aussie puppy has been killing my hens. He has killed at least four (that I know of). He doesen't eat them he just rips them apart like they are toys. I got him when he was 6 weeks old and he has been fine with my hens up until this past month. I try to discipline him, I yell at him and tell him no and then lock him up in his pen, but it doesn't seem to do any good. Recently he killed one of my newer hens, I threw the carcass out in to the woods and I few days later I find him with the head of the hen in his mouth. What do I do? He needs to stop killing my hens.

Training
by: Anonymous

Really gross solution but I heard to tie the dead chicken to the dog for a few days... gross. But would it work? We want a dog but i woulds prefer it not to attack my chickens, and not to have a latent instinct that suddenly pops up and then inspires the pup to go after the birds.
I also read about someones method of training a dog from puppy. The puppy lived in the chicken yard with the birds during the days and was let out to be a dog and do dog things in the evening.

Hit or miss
by: Anonymous

Just wanted to share my personal experience... I've had three Aussies, two of which were GREAT with my chickens...the third, by far the sweetest disposition and loves everyone and I mean everyone...kills my chickens if given access...he over plays them, not a vicious attack, but still kills them. He also chases the cat and I feel it's his prey drive. Him and the cat are pals, but I can tell his instinct to chase takes over. If you have a highly visual Aussie with strong working genetics, keeping them with chickens is very risky imo. You could get lucky tho!

Aussies kill chickens
by: Anonymous

Our 8 year old female Aussie just killed 3 of our hens. She has been around them for 2-3 months and seemed okay when they were both out. She would chase them pretty aggressively if they were near a fence but we were usually around to tell her to knock it off. I would recommend keeping Aussies and chickens separated. The Aussie are too high energy. They are fine around sheep and cows but I think chickens are just too fragile.

Perfect Chicken Herder
by: Anonymous

I'm not sure how old this post is, but I'm going to put my input in anyways. I have hunting dogs. That's all I have ever had and been used to my whole life. They are good with my chickens and other animals, but it took a lot of training - and chicken tragedy - to get them used to the other animals. I got my first Aussie in March, 2018. She is 5 months old now. When I first got her, I was a little hesitant to introduce her to the chickens. I knew it would be a new experience for me, because I had never had a dog like this, and it would be new to her because she had never even seen a chicken. The first time around the chickens was interesting. She didn't move. she was kind of at a standstill. These were new to her, she wasn't going to "jump to conclusions." The next go around, she undoubtedly had time to think about it and chased them. I put a harness and a leash on her for at least the next week for every time we went out to the Chickens. Every time she would jump at them, I would do a quick tug on the chain and say "no!" in a stern voice. She quickly got the hang of it and when she would sit and look at me, I would pet her. Just that one little easy week of training was enough. Since then, her herding instincts have come in full force. She is excited every evening to go to the chickens and put them up. By the time I get finished tending to my livestock and other animals, she already has the chickens in their pen. She is a huge help in the evenings and is so gentle with the chickens as well. I hope you have good luck with yours as I did mine!

Aussies and chickens
by: Anonymous

I have had 2 Australian Shepherds run with my free-range chickens. It's easy to train them if you have a Great Prynese to watch and teach them when you are away from home. The one I have now loves to break up fights among chickens but he knows he can't touch the chickens.

TWO A WEEK!
by: Anonymous

Our Aussie puppy is just under a year old, and she has been killing almost two of our free-range chickens a week for a month and a half and I don't know how to keep her from doing that.

My Aussies love our hens
by: Leonoras Cordero

I have three Aussies. I actually got chickens for my daughters Aussie who is a SD. I also in the home have two males , a four year old and a puppy. Zero issues at all . We had chicks in a brooder in same room as the males . One chick jumped out of brooder and so caught me four year old male Aussie trying to put it back in brooder. He had the chick in his mouth fully and it was completely unharmed. They are very gentle with them too. They go out help gather eggs and the hens are happy and trusting of them as well. There’s photos on my males Instagram too. Rookie_The_Aussie

My experience is Aussies and chickens can be a great combo.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Australian Shepherd Q & A.

Have Dog Training Questions?

Check out these introductory dog training videos...

I want my dog to stop being aggressive.

I want some help training my new puppy.

I want my dog to stop barking at everything.

I want my dog to walk nicely and calmly on the leash.

I want my dog to listen and come every time I call!

Back to Home

⌃ TOP ⌃

All Content Copyright © 2006-2024 by Anton Hout,
Australian-Shepherd-Lovers.com. All rights reserved.

Disclosure: If you make a purchase via a link on this site, I may receive a commission from various affiliate programs, and as an Amazon Associate and Chewy affiliate I also earn commissions from qualifying purchases—at NO extra cost to you. See the Disclosure page for more information. Thank you!

As stated in our Privacy Policy, Australian-Shepherd-Lovers.com
does not sell your personal information.