Dogs and Chickens

Reinforce the pen.  Work on training sessions for basic obedience using distance for focus, teach incompatable behaviors.  Dont allow dog out near stock of any type off lead until the dog is responding to commands instantly in close proximity for multiple sessions over multiple days (make that weeks)  Then work with a drag line on the ORIGINAL distance.  Repeat entire process of working slowly closer to the chickens.  Do not allow dog out unsupervised at all.

 a strong leave it command and let your dog know those are his chickens. 
my dog has killed chickens and the things that have helped are doing exactly what mrv said.  and being you have 2 dogs they will feed off each others excitement and thats when your chickens will get hurt.
one thing i have done with my own dog is take her in the chicken pen with me when i do the chores, on a short leash of course.  and let her see them fluttering and pecking around so their actions become normal and not so exciting.  the whole time i tell her to be nice to the chickens and praise her tons when she sits nicely by me.  i have also caught a chicken and let her smell it and check it out.  please be careful when doing this as it works for my dog but may not work for you.  you could possibly get one person to hold the chicken and another holding your dog.
doing this has made my dog understand that the chickens are part of her pack and she has come used to there movements.
as for wild birds my dog knows those are not hers and she will chase/kill them.  so dogs can learn what belongs and what doesnt.

Farm-tek makes a metal predator-proof coop.  Or, you can do as mrv says and reinforce yours.  Or, you can keep the dogs in a securely fenced area.  Seems pretty simple that you can't leave them alone together...

Good points and tips.
 
I have a flock of hens. When I first brought them home as chicks, my old lab really thought they looked "crunchy"! I had her interact with me as I raised them starting with digging my fingers into scruff just a bit and telling her "eh-eh" from the first moment she saw them in their cage and clearly wanted to eat them. She learned to ignore them and I let my chickens run loose in my fenced yard. One day I even saw one of the hens sitting on her.
 
When my old dog died, the first thing I did with my new dog was walk right into the flock. I ignore the dog and "talked" to the hens in a friendly tone. My new dog never bothered my hens, but does still enjoy chasing seagulls at the beach. So yes, dogs can learn the difference between pack-hens and the seagulls.
 
A good solid hen house, supervision, and communication with your dogs will all help. But if the dogs don't understand these birds are pack members, they will try to kill them if left unsupervised.
 
E-collar training with an experienced professional who is skilled in their use is another option. This is done so that the dogs associate the shock with the chickens and not the trainer, you, or the collar.

[linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4[/link]

Okay, now what about permanence of that behavior?  that was a cute one btw! 
 
One of my older Siberians went after an entire area of hens, roosters and turkeys.  The funny thing about it was that it was totally after he had already smelled them and it was just when the birds kind of  noticed him and started squalking at him, and flapped their wings.  That was it.  That dog dragged me across the ground to get at those birds.  Luckily, the birds were caged and we got the dog to stop, with correction - not too much different than that video clip.    But there is no way I would trust a Siberian with a flock of chickens.  And once they have killed one, I have heard that you just can't get that drive out of them.  It is a one way street.
 
Poor chickens.  They just look like something to chase!

ORIGINAL: espencer

[linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4[/link]

espencer, are you CM's publicity agent?  []

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

ORIGINAL: espencer

[linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4[/link]

espencer, are you CM's publicity agent?  []

They pay me as much as the guys from clicker training webpages ay you []

ORIGINAL: espencer

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

ORIGINAL: espencer

[linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_IZf6o0q4[/link]

espencer, are you CM's publicity agent?  []

They pay me as much as the guys from clicker training webpages ay you []

Wrong, hon - I'm a volunteer!!! []

ORIGINAL: spiritdogs

ORIGINAL: espencer


They pay me as much as the guys from clicker training webpages ay you []

Wrong, hon - I'm a volunteer!!! []

Are you a volunteer on Karen Pryor's webpage? because i clearly stated "webpages" like the ones you always post [] , or are you Karen's publicist?

[sm=backtotopic.gif]

Yeah, I am still waiting for an answer to my question. [] I watched the blurb, but what about permanence to the not chasing the chickens behavior? 
 
Can you or would you trust a Siberian or 2 to not chase and kill the chickens? 
 
 

ORIGINAL: dogslife

Yeah, I am still waiting for an answer to my question. [] I watched the blurb, but what about permanence to the not chasing the chickens behavior? 

Can you or would you trust a Siberian or 2 to not chase and kill the chickens? 

 
In the video they show how to stop the behavior, they would repeat the excersice untill the dog knows the chickens are "out of limits" and that the leader of the pack does not like the members to kill those chikens

I would always be concerned about the permanence of this effort . 
 
If I had chickens, I would reinforce the area they were in and supervise the dog.
 
I like the way mrv explained it.  It would take a lot of time to make any visible change I would imagine.