had my three 3 dogs at farm today as farrier was coming ,the farmers daughter has got lot chickens runing around they are awful the attck people and poo all over yard,put my dogs in my horses stable after farrier had been i let them out to eat hoof trimming,milly shot straight after chicken and got it by led i shouted at her to come she came with mouthful feathers the chicken was dead,i now she is gsp x springer and its in her blood she was given in to trouble and put in car,the puppy and my show pointer were to busy playing with my horse ,not sure of i should keep her in car in futer,she is usely great at farm she is happy sitting watching everything

it isnt in their blood to kill, only retrieve.  I would be keeping her on a lead in future, she may get herself into big trouble now she has had the excitment of the chase.

Chickens nasty? They are a prey animal so will more likely flee than attack, my birds don't infact I sometimes have to.Chase them if they won't let ne pick them up. Even my cock, id be having some harsh words with you and ban your dogs from the yard if it were my chickens!

We cured my daughter's dog of chasing my chickens with a muzzle. She wore it every time she visited for about 3 months and was allowed to play amongst the chickens with the other dogs. She doesn't need it any more she is great with them.
As for nasty chickens, I have had a couple of cockerels that made grown men quake lol We eventually ate them as they were stopping the grandkids from being able to play out when they came. My cockerels at the moment are softies and no problem :) - Maybe they heard what happens !! lol

Mine is a hunting breed, but a lady who has our same breed (4 so far including two from me) tends to free range laying flock, and the dogs come with her to work and hunt out the eggs laid out of the coops, and help herd them up to get them to go to bed.

Dogs need to be proofed with any livestock and taught they are not allowed to chase, under control, in fact all gundogs are taught to leave fowl and rabbits by being exposed to them in training and taught to  leave them alone.

My 'townie' reared dogs no doubt would get very excited and chase and kill chickens as they have never encountered them.  So my lot are strictly on lead on the rare occasions we are near livestock.

Just to pick up on the eating of the hoof trimmings.....I know they love them but there was an item on the local news lately about this. The guy had let his dog do this, as it always had done for a treat after the farrier had been, but all the old nails had not been picked up. The dog ended up swallowing three and needed an op to remove them. Please check before letting the dogs eat this wonderful treat.

I have two high prey drive SBT's and free range chickens, the staffords have been trained that chickens are out of bounds and completely ignore them, it's also had the knock on effect of them now ignoring game birds out on walks. So it should be perfectly possible to train your dog to leave the chickens alone, in the mean time though, I'd suggest a muzzle, leaving the dog in a car isn't going to be an option in the summer.

I think your very lucky the farmers still allowing your dogs on his property, perhaps a bottle of wine or an offer to replace the chicken would be a nice gesture.

I agree wholeheartedly with Celli - I would offer to replace chook or a bottle of wine as a sorry.

They can be trained to leave them alone, although think it will be harder now she has killed one.   My springer (working lines but not trained but who would chase rabbits etc on walks) was 100% intent on catching the chickens when we first got them, however, within a week of them being here he accepted they were out of bounds and left them alone...although the would occasionally still get a bump up the rear end when they got in his way...much to their noisy disgust!  We just tried to desensitise (sp) him.

I thought that about the hoof trimmings, we always used to just pick up the big bits and give them to the dogs away from the site that the horse had been shod.

We just tried to desensitise (sp) him.

Thats how i went about it too, initially the hens were in a run and I walk the dogs round and round and round until they were thoroughly sick to the back teeth of hens, reinforcing any disinterest they showed with treats or a game.  

I wouldn't trust the desensitising process :( We have had hens for over a year, they are always in the run when the dogs are out and free range when all dogs are in the house (greyhounds). Dogs pay them NO attention whatsoever. However, I made a stupid mistake the other day and didn't latch a door properly - one got out and killed a chicken right away. :( Now that the hens are back in the run, dogs are still paying them no attention.

Sorry to hear that inka, you do get attached to those feathery little fiends.
I've had hens for coming up to 4 years and they are all free range ( even coming in the house ! ) and i've never had any problems after the initial desensitizing, even if the dogs chase a rabbit in the garden they haven't switched their prey drive over to the hens ( which would be the most likely time it would happen ).
Not saying it could never happen, but so far I've had no cause for concern .

I have greyhounds.... don't think they can resist! Despite having lived happily with hens, quail, cats, small dogs and pet rats! :)

I took my whippet into my chicken pen, on the lead to collect the eggs. Unfortunately one was broody & he stuck his nose into the coop. She pecked him, he learned the lesson the hard way. I can now take him in loose, he ignores them, he also can be walked around a lake where there are ducks etc., he also ignores them completely. If he sees a squirrel or a rabbit though, that is a different story!