Are toy poodles good with chickens?

[Pineywoods Peepers]

I lost my 10 year old Rottie back at the end of December, and even though I've had Rotties for 15+ years and love the breed, I think I'm ready for a more portable dog. And as much as I love my 9 week old peepers, having them hop up in my lap to eat oats is just not the same as having a dog cuddle up with you. (Not to mention the fact that my dogs never pooped on me while they were in my lap!)

I'm considering getting a toy poodle, but I wasn't sure how they do with chickens. My grandparents have one, and she likes to chase the chickens. But at only 5 pounds she's not very menacing to them, so they pretty well ignore her. Plus I would think any rooster worth his salt would put a little dog like that in her place if she worried the hens too much.

Does anyone else on the board have poodles and chickens? What's been your experience?

Thanks!

 

[Camelot Farms]

Just get Buff Orps or Jersey Giants. Then you can change your question to 'are chickens good with toy poodles?'

Seriously tho'....I dont think you can generalize. Its going to depend on the dog itself. I have a Chow and a Lab that should 'love' to chase my birds and they dont even look twice at them.

Happy Puppy Hunting!

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

With proper training, most dogs can get along fine with birds...under supervision. I never leave a dog alone with my birds.

I have a miniature poodle...demon dog from Hades. He has ruined me on adopting from poodle breed rescues.

 

[jeremy]

I think a big enough rooster could probably eat a toy poodle for lunch...

Like other posters said, with the right training dogs and chickens can coexist.

 

[wolftracks]

I raised and showed Rotties for 20 years. Never have found another line I'm happy with since. Moved on to Cane Corso breed. But I never wanted a small dog until I found my little Taz. Tiny Toy Poodle. Yes I know they are all concidered Toy, but just to explain how small. He was 4 1/2 pounds. My husband bought him for me for Mother's day when he was 4 months old and we had him shipped from Texas. We left him at my husband's friend" house to go house hunting and he got out and tried to follow the car. We didn't see him, but they caled the cell and we went back to look. People have seen him, but he hasn't gone to anyone. This since MARCH! Bill passed away in July and I want my little lap baby back to hug. Bill was going to buy me a new pup for Christmas. Last night I was online actually looking for another one. I hated little dogs! But he was soooo adorable. And he thought he was the big dog around here and my Corso thinks she's a lap dog. All 115 pounds of her.

I never got a pic of it, but he would hang out with my WCBP. I would give them treats and he would share with them. Looked like I had a 4 legged Polish. He was black and white parti and his head was black with flecks of white. Bill and I would crack up when we watched them all. My Dom I had at the time was a real pain in the neck, but even she didn't mind him MUCH. When the girls went in for the night he would go into the coop, look up at them roosting and kind of walk away sad. LOL............OK now i have to go look for a new baby for sure. Darn it. hmmm those FBCMs are big suckers though. I'll have to make sure theres a really smooth transition.

Ya know if you were close I have a female I have been meaning to find a home for for a year. Only took her to do that so she didn't go to a shelter. She's much bigger, 12 pounds and goofy as all get out. Wish I could find her a person to love. I just kept myself from getting to closse to her, because she should have been gone by now. She doesn't even know the birds exist. I mean she's a real ding a ling. LOL

 

[weimarmama]

My mother & grandmother have bred toy poodles my whole life & we have chickens, too. Theirs don't really chase any of the chickens or even any of the cats like my weims do. But, of course, like everyone else has said each dog is different & some might be more inclined to chase than others. Though, at their size even if they catch a chicken they're more likely to be hurt than the chicken. Overall though that predator instinct has pretty much been bred out of them after centuries as companion dogs. We have a standard poodle, too, & even she's good with our farm animals. Poodles are usually very easy to train, too, since they're one of the smartest breeds

 

[Break an Egg]

I think it's always a gamble. My dog is good with my chickens and she is a large mutt with I think some dobie in her. lol

 

[EweSheep]

Hubby's family always had poodles...those God awful things! I hated them with a passion but one of them melted my heart. However they are high strung (the toys and minis) and they DO chase anything that comes their way, including cattle AND chickens! Anything that moves, they would yap up a storm and no amount of yelling would ever get them to stop. That is why I do not like poodles for very reason, they can be unpredictable and somewhat neurotic. If they can not kill, they can kill with overplaying or stressing the birds out and they would flip over and die of heart attacks like the Cornish X's.

 

[dieselgrl48]

I have a med size poodle.We brought him as a 1 1/2 year old We had since he was 2 months old,when We bought the farm 6 years ago.We then got all the critter's and He has done Excellent around all of them.He takes a romp once in a while chasing roosters or such out of the yard but has never hurt anything.He love's to sniff the baby chick's.

.He's been a really good dog minus his nusiance barking at times.

 

[Bec]

I just adopted a toy about 2 months ago, she is 5 years old and came from a neighborhood...no chickens there. She has never even looked twice at them. She just walks around out there like she is one of them! She does like to chase the cats a little bit but has never tried to go after my chickens or chicks when they were in the house. She is 6lbs and cute as a button! She is VERY playful, like a well trained, housebroken puppy 24/7! She is very outgoing and loves anyone who will pet her! She is yappy, but that's just a little dog thing...they have little voices!