How to train your herding dog around chicks

The best time to start training your herding dog is while your poultry are still young. If you are bringing home day-old chicks or ducklings, this will guide you through three stages of training your herding breed to young poultry that are still delicate and vulnerable. In fact, the first two steps are specifically meant for training while your chicks or ducklings are still confined to a brooder box.

Training livestock guardian breeds (LGDs) vs training herding breeds around young poultry

This guide specifically looks at how to train herding dogs around young chicks or ducklings (although it can be applied to most any dogs). You will notice, however, that it is very different from most guides on how to train livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) around poultry.

That’s because I followed those guides with my first dog, Lennox, and later discovered that I had crushed his confidence when it came to herding. Since I want my dogs to retain their herding abilities—while remaining calm and gentle around young, vulnerable poultry—I changed my training methods with my second dog, Maisie.

This is an overview of what I’ve found to work with my dogs. I’d love to hear if you’ve had success with other methods that still encourage your dogs natural herding abilities!

I had crushed his confidence when it came to herding … so I changed my training methods with my second dog, Maisie

Starting day 1: How to desensitize your herding dog around young poultry

So you’ve brought your chicks or ducklings home—what now? 

This is a critical time to begin training! Don’t wait until your poultry is older. Young poultry are much easier to contain and handle, which makes it easier for you to show your dog that these babies are yours and they need to be protected. 

These are YOUR chicks (or ducklings) 

For the first couple of days, take your dog with you to visit the brooder box. Keep your dog on a leash. If you’re able to safely drop the leash, that can take some of the tension out of these training sessions, but you still want it on in case it’s needed. I recommend bringing treats to reward relaxed behavior (like lying down).

The goal of these sessions is to show your dog that these are YOUR baby chicks or ducklings. Don’t let your dog stick its nose in the brooder box. If you pick up a chick or duckling, demand your dog give the baby poultry space.

Once your dog knows to respect this boundary and is completely relaxed—as in, chooses to sit and lay down next to the brooder box—you’re ready to move to the next step. (Even if your dog gets this after a single session, I recommend practicing this for at least two days.)

Give your herding dog a new responsibility

Once your dog respects that the chicks or ducklings are yours (and knows they are not food), your dog may naturally take up guardian behavior. 

You may think, my border collie was bred to herd, how would it know to guard? The reality is that most herding breeds originally were bred to also protect livestock if needed. According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), “These breeds (herding breeds) were developed to gather, herd, and protect livestock.” Why else would herding breeds be a common choice as protection dogs?

Begin giving your dog a little more freedom as you visit the brooder box. Let them do some sniffing. My Scotch Collies are natural observers, so they tend to sit next to the brooder box and watch the poultry. 

My second dog, Maisie, absolutely LOVES checking on the baby chicks or ducklings. She will whine to go see them, then take up her spot as guardian, simply sitting next to them and keeping an eye on things. She does do some sniffing, and if you notice your dog sniffing one chick more than others, you may want to pay attention—Maisie would spend more time sniffing a sick chick.

If you’re looking for a dog like Maisie who has the natural instinct to protect and gently work poultry, start by understanding which herding breeds have the lowest prey drive around poultry. It will put you on the right track to finding the right dog for your flock!

What if my herding dog doesn’t display any guardian behavior? 

So long as your dog is not too boisterous around your poultry, it’s not necessary that they feel a sense of responsibility to protect your young chicks. Right now, you just want relaxed behavior. If your dog is not relaxed, you may need to go back to step one or actively work on training exercises (asking for sit, down, stay, etc.) around the brooder box. 

If you’re wanting your dog to provide some protection to your poultry, read my honest guide on what a herding breed can (and can’t) protect your flock from.

Supervised exploration: Train your dog to not chase young chicks

If possible, I enjoy seeing how my dogs interact with chicks or ducklings while they are still fairly small, but big enough to start exploring outside of their brooder (learn more about giving your chicks time outside the brooder box here). 

If you are still training your dogs, I always recommend working with one dog at a time. I let my chicks or ducklings explore a smaller fenced area (like a large “chick corral” or chick run), and then give my dogs the ability to explore with them. 

What is good behavior for a herding breed around chicks and ducklings? 

For me, some sniffing, gentle following, and low-energy interest is actually good behavior. This is where my training differs from traditional LGD training. Sometimes it is easier to train strictly for LGD-type behavior, because you don’t want ANY interest in the poultry. It’s easier to draw the line. 

Keep in mind that Scotch Collies and rough collies have a “gentle eye,” meaning that they don’t have the border collie stare. Instead, they tend to gently push livestock. Other breeds like border collies will probably act a little different than my dogs, and you may choose to wait until your poultry is full grown to introduce them outside of a brooder box. 

What are signs that my herding dog sees baby chicks as prey? 

If your dog shows any of these behaviors at any point, immediately redirect their energy. Redirection can look like:

• Reprimanding your dog: This could be a verbal “No,” a tug on the leash, or whatever you know works for your dog. 
• Asking for a preferred behavior: I will often ask for a “back out” if they are too close to my poultry. I also keep treats, so they know they will get rewarded for giving the chicks or ducklings space.
• Changing activities: Be careful with this one since you don’t want to reward unwanted behavior. I think it is perfectly acceptable to leave the area, refresh, and try again later—especially if you also need a break. However, I would be careful about redirecting by getting a toy out, etc. as this keeps energy high and can be seen as rewarding the unwanted behavior. 

You can also find links to some of the training tools I use when training excitable dogs to poultry. These primary include a long line, herding stick, and temporary fencing.

Taking a step back: What to do if your dog is chasing chicks or ducklings

If your dog is too excited, remember that you are in control. When first introducing your dog to your poultry, you should be holding onto your dog’s leash. Simply take some time to refocus your dog by asking for them to sit, lay down, etc. 

If your dog continues to have too much energy around your young poultry, this may be all you do with these training sessions. Remember you can always go back a step. It’s better to take things slow than to get frustrated and blame your dog for the unwanted behavior.

Different types of herding breeds and their trainability with young poultry

I have Old-Time Scotch Collies, a heritage breed of farm collie. This training style worked for us, but every dog is different. You will need to use what you know about your dog—and what your goals are for your dog—and decide the best training method for you. Oftentimes, that’s a mix of several training methods. 

I want to put my personal training experience out since I know a lot of people are told herding dogs can’t herd and be relaxed or even protective around poultry. My experience has told me otherwise.

What success looks like when you train your herding breed around chicks or ducklings

Working with animals requires patience. There is no crossing something off a list and never thinking about it again. 

I’ve loved seeing how fiercely protective Maisie is of our new chicks and ducklings. 

And I’ve loved seeing how calm and relaxed Lennox can be around these small, baby animals. 

While I trust them 90% of the time, I still don’t leave them outside all day by themselves (mostly because we don’t have great fencing yet). But I know that I can go about my chores with my dogs, and they will behave around my poultry. And if I ever need to give a reminder that I don’t like a behavior, I know how to communicate with them. And that’s a great feeling. 

To me, success is improving the bond with my dogs.

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