Greyhounds and chickens

[OhFensa]

Bit of a specific topic, but has anyone had both? We're moving to a more rural property with a massive garden, and would like to keep chickens. I can envisage carnage while we try to train the dogs, but has anyone managed to do it? We've had to train them to live with cats (and would likely have to train them to live with cats again as I think the move will cause a bit of a reset), but at least the cats are more wily and will stick to the trees etc to get out of the way. I'm guessing keep them separated until they become less interesting to the dogs? I don't want to rescue some battery hens only for them to be terrorised to death.

The rescues I work with foster first so will re-home the rare hound who is cat friendly in a home with cats , although we did have one returned because he was terrorised by two Maine Coons.

The difference is cats can give as good as they get , they can get away from hound if they have a safe place or can climb far enough up and are part of pack. Even so I wouldn't totally trust a hound and just because a hound is safe with your cat it may not apply to all cats.

Chickens cannot run or fly away quick enough and although they can peck it's not much of a deterrent . It's the fluttering that seems to provoke the sighthounds.

We've trained the ones we've fostered and adopted to ignore the chickens behind their fence. However seeing reactions to fluttering birds eg pigeons etc would never trust a hound around loose chickens.

I suppose it's because we've seen so many hounds returned when people have thought they were safe around birds in particular that I am particularly cautious .

Plenty of dogs can have their prey drive reduced for certain stimuli if you work at it enough.

It's a massive risk to take though. I'd personally never have a sighthound around cats, birds or small furries as I've heard too many horror stories about cats being killed after years of living "in harmony".

I'd have the chickens in a very large run, I wouldn't give them full run of your land, they'll shit everywhere, and chickens really do shit! Depending on the breed, they'll also dig and scratch up any beds! Don't get me wrong I love chooks, and they are clever, friendly and make excellent pets, but I'd still keep them in a decent sized run both dog and fox proof.

Okay thanks @Lollygaggle that makes sense.

One of our dogs has zero interest in cats, even though one of our cats is white and fluffy. He needed no integration with the cat at all, he ignored him straight off the bat, and shows no interest in cats outside the home either. Interestingly he was the one with the stellar race career, cut short by injury, so I'd expect his prey drive to be high but think he just loved running.

My last dog was a hound terrier who lived with cats with no issues. She was 1 when we introduced the first cat and we took it slowly. Current dog is a high drive working terrier albeit introduced as a pup. She’s a pain to the cat but no threat. At the moment dog is asleep on my lap and cat over my shoulder.

Dogs are individuals and if you have good management in pace which is easy with livestock as you do it anyway then really I don’t think you’ll have a problem.

My late cat was attacked by a dog. If the intent is there then the cat can give as much as it likes but the dog has to grab and shake and it’s all over. Cats are as vulnerable as birds IME.

Although sighthounds do obviously have the prey drive it does seem to depend on the individual dog on what they want to chase. My lurcher does not bat an eyelid at sheep, cattle, horses, goats, ducks, pheasants, geese etc. However, she completely perks up for rabbits, squirrels and deer. Cats - I have managed to train her to a certain extent not to react but I wouldn't trust her. So I would be able to have chickens but not a cat for example. I wouldn't want to risk a disaster so it depends on how you think yours will be!

I had two lurchers with free range bantams and the dogs completely ignored them.
One lurchers would bring me back baby wild rabbits, completely unharmed albeit a little damp. She also carried our cats around when they were kittens, much to the horror of visitors.
They never harmed anything in all the years I had them.

I am forever scarred by watching a greyhound hunt down a hen. The poor lady was desperately trying to get a little bit airborne up a steep slope but the dog just caught her. It was awful, like watching a wildlife prog on TV, and I knew the owner and had to break the news. The dog's instincts take over.

I adore dogs and cats and currently have hens ( and cats) myself. I don't think I would risk it with a grey unless you have enough land to build a solid enclosure. But they are such powerful dogs.

We had an xracing grey, he passed numerous 'cat tests' and lived happily for months with our two cats. Until one day when one was coming across the lawn. That tiny bit of instinct took over. We used to have chickens and dogs together for years - my spaniels were terrified of the hens (we had warrens and they are fierce) but I'm not entirely sure I'd trust a greyhound.

Not a greyhound answer but I once had two Pugs and 3 chickens. They liked red grapes. My Pugs bum hole looked like a grape. Yes. Two cocks of the head to decide, and the chicken pecked it. Dog got a fright, but not injured in any way.