coolaboola
Registered User
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Chickens and Dogs?
I am contemplating investing in an outrageously overprice eglu and keeping a couple of chicken in my back garden in Kimmage.
My main concern about this venture (apart from trying to convince himself indoors!) is that I also have two dogs. Now, omlet.ie (the eglu site) says that chickens can live with dogs, cats, etc. And I'm sure it depends on the dog. But I'd love to hear from anyone with experience as to how feasible it would be to keep chickens and my dogs and still have a happy home (with no dead chickens!)
For info, my dogs are both small mutts, one is like a leggy jack russell and will chase cats but doesn't appear to bite what he chases. He cornered a cat once and just yelped/barked at it in a 'Er, what the heck am I supposed to do now?' sort of way. He seems to treat cats as furry versions of his rubber bone - to be chased, not chewed. He's also getting old now and is arthritic and suffered a spinal injury last year which means that which he can still leg it after his rubber bone, he doesn't corner so well and gets tired quite quickly.
The other is smaller, about the size of a West Highland White. She's fat and lazy and an attention whore. However, last year she killed a mouse (only thing she's chased and/or caught in the five years we've had her, despite having mice infestations - she's useless!) Admittedly a slow-moving heavily pregnant mouse (mouse embryos everywhere). But she doesn't seem to be that pushed about chasing things. The only time she really runs or barks is if she's being defensive (or trying to steal a toy from the other mutt ... b1tch by name, b1tch by nature!)
Another thing is my garden is pretty small. More than enough space for an eglu (though on concrete patio, so will have to lay bark). But the omlet site suggests leaving 8m by 6m. Now my garden is bigger than than that (but not by a lot, about 11 m x 7m) and the space is shared by my shed, patio furniture, a bath (soon to be a water feature), a pond (in a raised bed), a raised bed, many container fruits and veg (to dog-proof them), bins, a water butt and the washing line (well, that takes up air-space more than ground space, but you get the picture - its a small, intensively used garden. Now, the chickens would have the free run of all the garden while we were around (thanks to the dogs we've long-since given up on being precious about the garden) but the rest of the time (i.e. when we're at work) they've be in their eglu while the dogs would be in the garden/garage.
Thoughts and experiences much appreciated.
I am contemplating investing in an outrageously overprice eglu and keeping a couple of chicken in my back garden in Kimmage.
My main concern about this venture (apart from trying to convince himself indoors!) is that I also have two dogs. Now, omlet.ie (the eglu site) says that chickens can live with dogs, cats, etc. And I'm sure it depends on the dog. But I'd love to hear from anyone with experience as to how feasible it would be to keep chickens and my dogs and still have a happy home (with no dead chickens!)
For info, my dogs are both small mutts, one is like a leggy jack russell and will chase cats but doesn't appear to bite what he chases. He cornered a cat once and just yelped/barked at it in a 'Er, what the heck am I supposed to do now?' sort of way. He seems to treat cats as furry versions of his rubber bone - to be chased, not chewed. He's also getting old now and is arthritic and suffered a spinal injury last year which means that which he can still leg it after his rubber bone, he doesn't corner so well and gets tired quite quickly.
The other is smaller, about the size of a West Highland White. She's fat and lazy and an attention whore. However, last year she killed a mouse (only thing she's chased and/or caught in the five years we've had her, despite having mice infestations - she's useless!) Admittedly a slow-moving heavily pregnant mouse (mouse embryos everywhere). But she doesn't seem to be that pushed about chasing things. The only time she really runs or barks is if she's being defensive (or trying to steal a toy from the other mutt ... b1tch by name, b1tch by nature!)
Another thing is my garden is pretty small. More than enough space for an eglu (though on concrete patio, so will have to lay bark). But the omlet site suggests leaving 8m by 6m. Now my garden is bigger than than that (but not by a lot, about 11 m x 7m) and the space is shared by my shed, patio furniture, a bath (soon to be a water feature), a pond (in a raised bed), a raised bed, many container fruits and veg (to dog-proof them), bins, a water butt and the washing line (well, that takes up air-space more than ground space, but you get the picture - its a small, intensively used garden. Now, the chickens would have the free run of all the garden while we were around (thanks to the dogs we've long-since given up on being precious about the garden) but the rest of the time (i.e. when we're at work) they've be in their eglu while the dogs would be in the garden/garage.
Thoughts and experiences much appreciated.