New hens not going into Eglu Go Up

[Henergy]

We are (hope fully if we are happy when we view the little bundle of gorgeousness) soon to be bringing home our first ever puppy - an 8wk old red cockapoo.

 

We are new dog owners & so am a bit unsure of where to let the pup do its business in the garden. It sensibly needs to be close to the house I guess but should it be on patio or grass ? And is that then the place where they will always go ?

 

My main concern is that the chickens have had a free rein of late as their own area became a bit waterlogged. Will it be safe for the puppy who has not completed his injections to roam where there have been chickens & their poo ??

(We intend to keep the chickens back in their large free range fenced area now the weather has improved & the grass is starting to sprout back !)

[Lavenders_Blue]

How exciting to hear about your new pup! There seems to be some kind of Omlet dog epidemic happening at the moment

I don't see any reason why your pup shouldn't be in the garden with your chooks/where your chooks have been. As far as I am aware there aren't any diseases which could be passed from your chooks to your pup but perhaps you could double check with a vet to be on the safe side, especially until vaccinations are complete.

Personally, I would encourage the pup to toilet on the grass. The surface that you encourage them to go on tends to be the surface that they will favour, so when you start to take your dog out for walks, he will prefer to go on grass rather than pavement. This is definitely preferable for those occasions when your dog has an unexpectedly dicky tummy and produces something that proves tricky to scoop up with a poo bag!

Unless you section off a part of your garden, your pup won't necessarily stick to toileting close to the house. Tango has her favourite toilet spots in the garden that seem to change fairly regularly - at the moment she likes to go as close as she can to the chicken pen so that she can try and lunge at them as soon as she has finished her business

How long is it until you get your pup (and post lots of lovely puppy photos!)?

[Henergy]

Thank you for the reply. We are going to look at him this weekend with the hope that we can bring him home on thurdsday

Very excited

[chucknette]

Hi

 

I had an eight week old puppy (shes two now) and I think you will find that in his learning process the chickens will become part of his world.

 

I taught her to go to the toilet on the grass and let her observe the chickens for about a week and she was facinated as they are with everything when they are babies.

 

I then let them all out together and said a firm NO if she looked like she might run at them. After a while we would see a group of chickens walking past the patio windows closely followed by a puppy. She was with them so much we even found her in the run with them. They didnt care. I now have the added bonus that when they are free ranging she is out there with them and enjoying every minute

 

Also, she never caught anything off of them germ wise or lice or anything.

 

Hope you have a great time with your puppy and it would be lovely to see photos

[lillybettybabs]

We start with letting them go toilet on the front garden first as we had puppy go down with campylobacter,

which is present in chicken poop.

We then introduce them to the back garden when they are a little stronger.

[The Dogmother]

I'd be careful too, especially as puppies tend to like eating chicken poo

[Henergy]

I'd be careful too, especially as puppies tend to like eating chicken poo

 

Hmm yes they do don't they

 

Well - an update. Dexter has been with us for 4 weeks now. He's gorgeous but also a true naughty puppy. We are slowly getting him toilet trained but its been hard work. I guess we underestimated the work involved. But we have turned a corner. A man is coming to put in a small fence to completely seal off the chicken area as Dexter likes to poke his head through the Omlet netting & lick the poo !!!! So that will help we hope.

 

All injections done now & he seems fine. He did have a dicky tummy at one point but all sorted now

[Henergy]

Fence done - also fenced off a doggy area for him to do poos in - now the boys can roll on the floor without me worrying that there may be a poo that didn't get cleaned up !!

 

Pictures of pup here

[Couperwife]

wow, isnt he gorgeous

[Lavenders_Blue]

Awww what a cutie!

[mollyripkim]

He is just so cute, just made for a cuddle!