chickens and a dog - is it do-able?

[whatinthewhatnow]

That's it really. We have a small garden and a dog, who is a hound and does chase things. I would love a couple of ex battery hens, but would the dog traumatise them? I would expect that she would be very excited and barky for the first day or so, then would get bored of them and ignore them, although I don't know for sure. Does anyone have experience? She is a petit bassett griffon vendeen, just in case you were wondering.

Also, is it cruel to keep them in the run and never let them loose around the garden? I have read that as long as they have a certain amount of space per hen it is ok, but I would only want them if they could be happy.

tia.

Eglu from [www.omlet.co.uk] - there's plenty of room in the run, my 3 don't come out of it.

Dogs can incorporate in the pack fairly quickly - my springer chases nothing though, even the cats ignore the chooks.

Think it depends how trainable your dog is. My working cocker does chase birds, including other people's hens if she got the chance - but quickly learnt she had to leave ours alone - but she is very biddable (rescue dog - can't take credit). In fact, our chickens get quite mardy with her if she innocently goes near their run, and she never responds. But you know your own dog best - go with your gut feel. Maybe you could make sure you could return the hens if there were unreconcilable differences?
And I think they're fine in their run if it's a decent size.