My puppy vs. my chicken.

So I head a bit of banging and everything out side, I went to check it out. and Shelby (pup) had Balina (choock) =( I thought she was dead =*(. I quickly run out there and yell at him and she just got up and walked away!! I seriously have no idea how she survived it!! They both have free run of the back yard, so I knew one day it would come to this... but everything time I saw him try and get her she got away easily by just getting on higher ground. I msged DH and he goes, 'yea they do it all the time!' (:o ) 'it is their game they play together, she plays dead and he caries her around' (:o
:o ) I'm really not happy with this. it is cute they 'play' but one day he will get her in the wrong/right spot and =*( well yea...

we have got three dog run cages, one of which is cleared out and has Shelby's kennel etc in it, the other 2 are over grown cause we havent gotten int there to do it yet. and now its ****ing down raining and too wet for me to get out there and do it (one of the things I did have planned for the day). So I moved Shelby's kennel out of the cage (which he really wasn't happy about..) and put it near the house (where he sleeps anyway, and once he worked it out he was pretty chuffed his kennel was nearer the house). and I put her in the cage. =( she is no longer free range. (even though the cage is about 2m by 4m - that big enough for 1 chook??)

Now when I was putting her in there (she let me pick her up) she has blood, and feathers missing =( and bite marks...so he has gotten her. There was a fresh one, but there was also old bite marks. this is my next problem.. it was hard to tell, but what if they are infected? one of them was yellow... and i know in humans what infection looks like, is it the same for chooks? is there anything I can do for my girl????

please help, I know it was probably bad of me to keep them out together like that and I brought all this on myself, but she was so happy having free range of the yard... and for ages they showed no interest in eachother at all! I'm also a little ****ed that DH knew it had been going one for a few weeks and didn't do anything about it... (i work away from home so I'm never here).

BUMP!!

cause i am keen on advice..

The size of the pen sounds plenty big enough for one chook its bigger than my dads chook pen and his chook seems happy. Could you maybe put Shelby in the run for a few hours a day to let Balina be part time free range?

I'd definitely keep them separate, so smart move. We have our dog in the back yard and chickens in the front, even though the most he does is bother them by trying to pinch food from their coop. :rolleyes:

The pen is big enough for one chicken, but if you can keep the puppy away from her for a couple of hours a day (tie him up, maybe?) so she can free range, that would give her the best of both worlds. And puppy is still contained for too long either then.

I would also think that she will need a friend, particularly when she's less free to roam. Two chickens will fit in about the same size as what you have comfortably.

GL!

PS You can put diluted Betadine on the wounds but not sure if there's much you can do if it's infected.

Would definitely separate them, does not take much for play to become a kill. Have lost a few rare breed chickens to our puppy, just started off as a bit of a chase, then if left alone for long enough, becomes the kill.

It's best to keep them separated. By nature, however lovely they are, dogs are predators. It's normal behaviour for them to chase, hunt and kill little animals/birds. It may be play now but it will become real. As for the hen, her playing dead may not be 'play'. It may be a survival instinct many prey animals have. Freeze and hope the predator leaves you alone. It's not malicious of your dog, it's just natural behaviour. Some dogs are bred to use soft mouths with birds so they don't damage them. Most gun dogs can hold a bird gently -labs, retrievers, spaniels etc. They were bred to flush and/or retrieve birds for hunters and not damage or eat them. That instinct can't be untrained.

What kind of dog is he?

Thanks for your replies everyone.

Ill keep an eye on her now no new damage can be done, and see if those wounds get better..

Tashy - he is a greatdane x mastiff

My pup did this too. My pup grew, and was eventually that rough she killed the chooks. Actually, she didn't kill them, she just "played" with them until they were very ill and dh had to put them down. :(

Definitely keep them separate!