Tasman Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Hi all I tried to do a search for information on this topic but I got about 5 zillion results. I'm thinking of training my BC, tasman to herd our chickens. First - is this a terrible idea? Second - anyone know of any good books on the subject? Third - could you just read books about sheep herding and apply the same? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Sorry, no suggestions but I have actually seen a border collie herd a chicken. I thought it was so cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie_Girl Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Jackson herded my chickens and murderous rooster but he was trained on sheep first. Chickens don't tend to flock as readily as say ducks or geese. I would say it would be difficult but not impossible. A lot would depend on your dogs inherent desire to work stock and the chickens desire to stay together. However if you can get the basics down with sheep, switching to the chickens should be easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 The dog Brenda is referring to is my Lark. Chickens are much harder to work than geese or ducks as Linda says because they don't flock quite so readily, which sounds rather odd, given that we refer to flocks of chickens. It's just that chickens tend to be a bit more independent and go their own way (in many different directions) when pressured by a dog. Slower, heavier birds would probably be easier to work than smaller, lighter birds. Lark can more easily work my Rhode Island Reds, for example, whereas trying to work the Old English Game bantams is nigh unto impossible. I certainly wouldn't start a dog out on chickens--perhaps use ducks if sheep can't be in the picture since the appropriate ducks will stick together better and allow the dog to learn its job. Once the dog has the basics of stockwork down, it can certainly try to herd chickens, though success may be mixed. Another thing to consider is that many working dogs don't consider poultry something to work. Of the eight current and former working dogs I have here, only two ever really showed a very great interest in working poultry. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Missy will gather the chickens when needed. Ours have a large fenced outdoor pen. Inside the is pen is underbrush and brambles and it can be a total pain trying to get an uncooperative chicken in before dark. Miss did already have basic commands down before I had her do anything with the chickens - sides, walk up and lie down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OurBoys Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 The dog Brenda is referring to is my Lark. Yes, I was! Bless Lark's lil ol' pea-pickin' clappy heart!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Coyote Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Missy will gather the chickens when needed. Ours have a large fenced outdoor pen. Inside the is pen is underbrush and brambles and it can be a total pain trying to get an uncooperative chicken in before dark. Miss did already have basic commands down before I had her do anything with the chickens - sides, walk up and lie down. My very first border collie came from a commercial turkey farm. They used border collies to herd the turkeys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NW_MONTANA_BC Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Hi allI tried to do a search for information on this topic but I got about 5 zillion results. I'm thinking of training my BC, tasman to herd our chickens. First - is this a terrible idea? Second - anyone know of any good books on the subject? Third - could you just read books about sheep herding and apply the same? Thanks This has little to with herding chickens. Just a story about a BC and chickens. I adopted an ABCA 3 year old papered BC about 2 months ago. A wonderful tri colored male. The dog was turned into the animal shelter though the dog never really was there at all. The owner clamed that the dog was killing and eating her chickens. She said she had about had it and wanted to just get rid of the dog. I called the person that gave the dog up to talk to her about the back ground of the dog. She told me that he (Codee) was a wonderful dog but she did not want her chickens killed. She also apologized about Codee being so skinny. Apparently she had been feeding all 3 of her BC at the same time out of the same dish and they lived outside. When I got Codee it was obvious he had not received much to eat except maybe a chicken now and again. He is now gaining weight and hopefully does not have any more thoughts of his life before I got him. I may want to raise chicken someday though he probability would do fine around them now. He gets plenty to eat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Our Aussies will put the chickens back into their pen if they get loose. N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda-pop Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Soda has conflicting desires about whether or not to thwack them with her paws or try to move them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Tess is an awesome chicken, turkey, duck and goose herding dog. We have about 25 chickens and 2 very stupid turkeys and 15 ducks. Tess has no issues in putting them in the pens. She is quiet, methodical and efficient. She even puts in the neighbor's guineas hens. Nan on the other hand, thinks any poultry is beneath her and refuses to even see them. Each night Tess has to put the poultry away and I all do is open one of the two pens doors (one for chickens/turkeys and one for ducks) and then shut them. She will load the chickens/turkeys in their pen and then load the ducks in their pens. If I don't shut it quick enough and one gets away, Tess will glare at me and do a heavy sigh and then get it. I mean a real heavy sigh!! I have gotten better at closing the door thanks to Tess's training of me!! ;-) Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda-pop Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 If I don't shut it quick enough and one gets away, Tess will glare at me and do a heavy sigh and then get it. I mean a real heavy sigh! I just got the best mental image of that!! I got a good chuckle out it, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Crazies Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 I have one dog that's particularly interested in working poultry. However, I think it would be next to impossible to start a dog on chickens. Books about working sheep really wouldn't apply to working chickens - they just don't react like sheep. That being said if you can find a trainer nearby and start your dog on sheep it's possible (assuming the dog will even look at poultry) to transfer the work over to your chickens later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Try as I may, I can not convince Nick to work chickens. Ducks, yes, chickens, no way. He'd much rather follow them around and eat poop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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