# Anatolian shepherd eats chickens



## ChristyGirl81 (Mar 14, 2018)

Hoping someone can give me some pointers... new to owning chickens and dogs.   We have had chickens and ducks for close to 2 years now, and last summer we started having problems with coons... we lost close to half of our flock. While trying to find a way to keep them, we ended up buying a 2 (ish) year old Anatolian shepherd. She started out being ok with the chickens, though not really around then all the time... but all of a sudden one day she decided they looked good to eat... killed 3 adolescent chickens.  Has gone after them (though will stop if yelled at) fairly consistently since then.  I don't know a lot about training dogs, so any help would be appreciated! We have to keep her in her kennel most of the day now so she can't get to the chickens, but that means she gets bored, and lately has been barking a lot at night and making the neighbors upset... help! She's a super sweet dog and does really great with my young boys; seems to have bonded with the people here rather than the animals.


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## Latestarter (Mar 15, 2018)

Greetings and welcome to BYH Christy! So glad you joined us. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. If you read through some of the threads about LGDs, I know there are issues discussed along this line. Mostly you have to be there and teach the dog that chickens are not toys or food. There will be accidents. it will take time... She needs to learn that she is to protect them, and you have to teach her this. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home! 

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## babsbag (Mar 15, 2018)

Chickens can be a steep learning curve. My dogs that were great with my goats at a very young age were not good with chickens until they were 18 months old. My male would chase one almost every night as they headed back towards their coop...I swear that he could tell time.  I'm not sure that I really have much advice. I tried tying the dead chicken to the dog and my other dog simply chewed it off of her. I tried an electric collar and he learned not to chase chickens when I had the collar on him. They are smart dogs. I would spend as much time as possible with her and the chickens together but under your supervision. It is going to take time if it is going to happen. Wish I had more wisdom to share.


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## Beekissed (Mar 16, 2018)

You'll need to establish that you are her leader and that all things on your place are yours.  You can do this best with some good leash training, basic obedience training, etc.  After you've established all of that, training on chickens is easy...might be a tad harder on you due to the dog being older and already having killed chickens on your land without any consequences.  

Going to take some work on your part but it's well worth it when you can trust her no matter what.


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