Dogs and chickens

[Stacy]

I'm having another one of my great ideas (said very tongue in cheek.) I am daydreaming of another pet - even more since my parents went on a cruise and came home with pictures of themselves holding a sloth, but no sloth for me. It's not the right time for another dog. I'm allergic to cats. I don't love birds... I have always wished for a sugar glider, but they are really high maintenance. 

In my city they allow chickens. They just have to inspect your coop before you get them. I could have up to 10. No roosters. And I think Silkies are just the cutest little chickens ever. Not 10. Maybe 3? It could be a fun little project, right? I don't care about the eggs so much, they would just be my little outdoor pets. 

It would break my heart if the girls had the chickens for lunch. They've never been around poultry. But I know Maggie is a cat chaser. And she's a squirrel chaser extraordinaire. But maybe if I introduced them to the chickens when they were really little they would understand that they're part of the family too. 

Anyone have any experience with this? Want to tell me I'm insane? Probably I should just forget it, because I can already see myself saying, "it seemed like a good idea at the time." But I thought I would see if anyone has a doodle with a chicken friend.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, someone has to do it, and you are my friend, so here goes:

1.You're insane

2. I could spend some time going back through DRC's rehoming records to count up the number of doodles who were relinquished to our one little rescue group for killing chickens, but without even doing that I can tell you it's over 2 dozen.

bird dog

Dictionary result for bird dog

/ˈbərd ˈˌdôɡ/

NORTH AMERICAN

noun

1. 1.

   a gun dog trained to retrieve birds.

What part of Retrievers Are Bird Dogs do you not understand? 

Introductions to really small prey animals are not going to make the dogs "understand that they are part of the family." Really small prey animals are like practice shots.

3. I seem to remember a tiny little bit of reluctance to be outside in the yard with the doodles in bad weather mentioned several times in various discussions. Chickens live outside in the yard, and they need attention year round. Your attention. Outside in the yard.

4. Inspect your coop? Do you have a coop? Do you want a coop? How much does a coop cost? What kind of maintenance does it need? Do you know that sheds, coops, and similar outbuildings are the preferred haven for skunks and other vermin, who dig burrows underneath them? 

5. "I don't love birds". Ummm.....Stacy???? 

If you must daydream about another pet, I suggest tropical fish. Very soothing. Or something stuffed.

How anyone could think chickens are cute is beyond me. They stick and there is something about the way they move and look that strikes me as neurotic. Ick. 

Okay, my work here is done. 

[Stacy]

I laughed so hard. I'm going to have to call you Jiminy Cricket. Not my conscience so much, but my voice of reason. So I will answer your points.

1. Yes, I know.

2. There *are* dogs whose job it is to protect the chickens. And my dogs are so gentle... Except I just remembered the incident with the baby bunnies, so you're going to have to strike that. Point taken. 

3. Oh yeah, I hate cold. The chickens would have to live in the house in the winter. 

4. Nope, no knowledge of coops. But I read that people who know how to build things build their own chicken coops. Too bad I'm not one of those people who knows how to build things. 

5. Well... maybe I love outside birds. Or not. But I'm sticking by my opinion that they're cute. For a chicken. Look how cute that chicken is!

Okay, you're completely right. Chickens are a terrible idea. But I have a million bad ideas if you ever need to borrow one. No fish though. I had fish back in college when I worked at Petsmart. They're all work and no reward. You can't even cuddle them. (Because I think I'm going to snuggle a chicken?) 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad you laughed. Laughter was what I was after. But I'm also so glad you agree that chickens are a terrible idea.
Did you know that there are chicken rescues? Lots of them. I didn;t find one yet in KS, but I found them in MN and CA so far. And really, wouldn't it be wrong to buy chickens when there are so many who need homes. Let me see if I can do this without gagging. Okay, here goes: "Adopt, don't shop!"

I found this info from HSUS on the subject of adopting chickens very interesting. Also very good reinforcement of the premise that it's an insane idea.
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/adopting-and-caring-backyar...

[Stacy]

It's funny. People really love their chickens. I have a friend who has chickens - granted she has a hobby farm and acreage with a barn and not just a suburban backyard. But she sends pictures of herself with a chicken sitting on her shoulder, then I see her other chicken friends who are out taking videos of themselves with their chickens. There must be something about them. 

Can you just see me putting in an application to rescue a chicken only to come home and have the girls murder it? That would be so unfortunate. I think I need to stick with actual domesticated animals. Probably just dogs in this house. Even I know the sugar gliders would be a disaster!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know two people who have chickens and love them, DRC volunteers. I don't understand it, I and it was hard for me to even come up with a nice comment when they would send a picture of a chicken on their shoulder, lol. Both farm girls in the south, which is the exact opposite of everything in my experience. I never even met anyone who actually lived on a farm until I was in college, and even then I kind of thought maybe she was making it up, that's how foreign it seemed. 
I'm not sure what a sugar glider is, but if it's anything related to a snake, I don't want to know. 

[Stacy]

No, no, no snakes! It's a marsupial! So it's not even related to a mouse. And people love them too. But they live as long as dogs and require a very specialized diet and smell... and I'm sure you can't potty train them. So maybe not an ideal pet, but I think they're so cute. My entire life I've wanted to bring home all the animals. I really should have been a vet or a zoologist, but I fall completely apart when bad things happen to animals, so even though it sounds like the perfect job I think it would have been a nightmare. 

On the bright side, I have been smart enough to know that just because I want something doesn't mean it's a good idea. I'm a dog person. I just look at pictures of all the other things. And if you take me to the petting zoo I'm more excited than most of the little kids. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, it might not be related to a mouse, but it looks like one to me. Kind of makes my flesh crawl. 
I've always thought Guinea Pigs were cute, especially the longhaired fuzzy ones. They have those big rounded snouts, kind of like doodles, lol. 

[Adina P]

LOL I don't get chicken love either.  I like eating them...but feathers, beaks, those gnarly feet..don't seem cuddly at all.  

I have a friend with a good sized chicken farm on a property that houses her brother's family too.  Between the two of them: They've had two poodles, a cocker spaniel, and now two great pyr pups in training and none of them seem to bug the chickens.  Not sure if the pups (current poodle and pyrs have been allowed free roam near the chickens, but the past poodle and the cocker runs free).

I mean I would assume most doodles would LOVE to catch a chicken, so you'd have to be okay with trying it and losing a chicken or three.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And no, that does not look the least bit snuggley to me, and I think you would get a hole pecked in your cheek if you tried. Or maybe lose an eye. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Sung by Clancy and dedicated to dead chickens everywhere...to the tune of B-I-N-G-O.  

There was a chicken  had  a dog  who made his life much shorter - S-H-O-R-T    S-H-O-R-T  S-H-O-R-T shorter was his life-oh.  Need I say more -

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, Nancy! 

[Stacy]

Oh Clancy, you wouldn't hurt the chicken would you? LOL