It isn’t uncommon for people that own chickens to also own one or multiple dogs. Many keep livestock dogs to protect their chickens from predators.

But what about protecting the dogs from harm? Can dogs get sick from chickens? They sure can!

Many diseases that chickens carry are species specific and cannot be passed to any other species, but there are some serious illnesses (3 in particular) that chickens can carry and pass on to dogs.

These 3 common diseases can jump from chickens to dogs and cause serious health issues.

But before you panic, here’s the good news…

---

🌿 A Natural Way to Protect Your Flock and Your Dog

One of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce disease spread in your coop is by adding herbs that naturally repel pests, support immune health, and keep the nesting area clean.

That’s exactly why I created my Nesting Box Herbs for Chickens—a hand-blended mix of 9 powerful herbs that not only improve the health of your chickens but also help create a cleaner, safer environment for all your backyard animals.

These herbs:

• Naturally repel lice, mites, and flies (which can carry bacteria and parasites)
• Support respiratory and immune health
• Keep your coop smelling fresh and reduce harmful bacteria buildup

---

🐾 Why It Matters for Dog Owners

Many people don’t realize it, but the condition of your chicken coop can directly impact your dog’s health. When dogs walk through or sniff contaminated bedding, droppings, or feathers, they can accidentally pick up dangerous pathogens.

---

🦠 Top 5 Chicken Diseases—and the 3 That Can Affect Dogs

In the rest of this article, you’ll learn:

• The 5 most common chicken diseases
• The 3 your dog can actually get
• And how a few simple changes (like adding the right herbs!) can reduce the risk of transmission in your backyard

🌿 How Nesting Box Herbs Help Prevent Disease Spread

1. Natural Antibacterial and Antimicrobial Properties
Many of the herbs in your blend—like lavender, rosemary, peppermint, and chamomile—have well-known antibacterial and antifungal qualities. These help to:

• Reduce bacterial growth in nesting boxes
• Lower the presence of pathogens that can live on surfaces and spread to other animals, like dogs
• Create a cleaner, less hospitable environment for disease-causing germs

2. Pest Repellent Action
Herbs like peppermint, rosemary, and marigold naturally repel mites, lice, and flies—tiny but mighty disease vectors. This means:

• Less chance of pests transmitting bacteria and parasites between chickens and your pets
• A more comfortable, healthier environment for your flock

3. Encouraging Clean Behavior
Your aromatic herb blend encourages chickens to stay in the nesting area and lay in cleaner spots, which:

• Keeps droppings and mess out of the nesting area
• Reduces cross-contamination with eggs (which is one of the main ways dogs are exposed to Salmonella)

4. Odor Control = Lower Stress = Stronger Immunity
A fresh-smelling coop is more than just pleasant—it reduces ammonia buildup, supports respiratory health, and keeps chickens less stressed. And less stress = stronger immune systems, which:

• Helps your flock naturally resist illness
• Decreases the chance of pathogens being passed to your pets or family members

---

💡 Bottom line: Your Nesting Box Herbs help create a healthier environment that reduces the risks of disease transmission—from chicken to chicken and chicken to dog. Keeping the coop clean and fortified with natural herbs is one of the easiest ways to prevent common illnesses from ever taking hold.

1. Can Dogs Get Salmonella from Chickens?

Yes, dogs can get salmonella from chickens! Salmonella is a bacterial disease transmitted through chicken manure, raw eggs and either undercooked or raw chicken meat. A dog can contract salmonella from an infected chicken in many ways:

• by eating chicken manure
• by drinking or eating out of a chicken waterer or feed bowl that is soiled with chicken droppings
• eating uncooked chicken eggs
• by eating undercooked chicken eggs
• by eating undercooked chicken meat
• eating a live chicken
• by walking in chicken feces and then licking its paws

Symptoms of Salmonella in Dogs

SYMPTOMS OF SALMONELLA IN DOGS
YOUR DOG MAY NOT HAVE ANY SYMPTOMS AT ALL
DIARRHEA (MAY HAVE BLOOD OR MUCUS IN STOOL)
MAY SEEM VERY TIRED
LACK OF APPETITE
DOG MAY VOMIT
MAY HAVE A FEVER
DEHYDRATION
SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES
DEPRESSION

How to Prevent Salmonella in Dogs

Most healthy dogs with good immune systems will not contract salmonella. But, the best prevention is to avoid exposing them to the bacteria in the first place. This would mean:

• Take precautions to help prevent salmonella with your flock.
  • chicken coop hygiene: keeping feed and water bowls clean and litter management
  • control coccidia in chickens
  • maintain chicken gut flora
• Don’t let your dog eat raw eggs.
• Don’t feed your dog raw or undercooked chicken meat.
• Keep dog out of chicken coop or area where chicken manure is present.
• Wipe down dogs paws after walking through chicken manure.
• Don’t let dog eat or drink out of chicken feed and water bowls.

2. Can Dogs Get Coccidiosis from Chickens?

NO, dogs can’t get coccidiosis from chickens. Coccidiosis is species specific. There are certain strains that dogs carry and different strains that chickens carry. In other words, the strains that poultry carry cannot be passed on to dogs and the strains that dogs carry cannot be passed on to poultry.

While dogs cannot get coccidiosis from chickens, humans can. So it is important to take the appropriate precautions to avoid getting it yourself.

3. Can Dogs Get Worms from Chickens?

Yes, a dog can get capillaria worms or “hairworms” from eating contaminated chicken poop. These are parasitic roundworms that like to take up residence in a dog’s nose, respiratory tract and bladder.

There are also many species specific worms that cannot be passed from an infected chicken to a dog.

Tapeworms are species specific and cannot be transmitted from your chickens to your dog.

Gapeworm or Syngamus trachea is a type of roundworm that is also species specific and cannot be passed from your chickens to a dog.

Symptoms of Hairworms in Dogs

SYMPTOMS OF HAIRWORMS IN DOGS
SNEEZING
DISCHARGE FROM NOSE
SNEEZING
WHEEZING
COUGHING
PAINFUL URINATION
BLOOD IN URINE
DIFFICULTY URINATING
INCONTINENCE(ACCIDENTS)

How to Prevent Hairworms in Dogs

There are several things that you can do to prevent your dog from picking up hairworms from poultry. The number one way is to keep your chickens healthy and to keep their environment clean. This includes keeping the chicken coop, run, laying boxes, bedding, food and water sanitary.

Capillaria are most commonly found in chicken feces. Chickens are not discreet about where they poop, so it is not uncommon to have feces in food, water, on perches and in various other areas within their environment. A dog that eats or drinks from objects that are contaminated with capillaria can likely become infected.

TIPS TO HELP PREVENT HAIRWORMS IN DOGS
KEEP CHICKEN ENVIRONMENT CLEAN
DON’T ALLOW DOGS INSIDE DIRTY CHICKEN COOP/RUN
DISCOURAGE DOGS FROM EATING CHICKEN POOP (COMMON HOST)
DON’T ALLOW DOGS TO EAT AND DRINK OUT OF CHICKEN FEED BOWLS
DON’T ALLOW DOGS TO DRINK OUT OF CHICKEN WATERERS
DON’T ALLOW DOGS TO EAT EARTHWORMS (COMMON HOST)
CLEAN DOGS’ PAWS AFTER WALKING THROUGH DIRTY CHICKEN RUN/COOP

4. Can Dogs Get Parvo from Chickens?

No, dogs cannot get parvo from chickens. Chicken parvoviruses (ChPV) and turkey parvoviruses (TuPV) can only be transmitted through turkeys and chickens. In other words, if a chicken is infected with parvo, your dog cannot contract it from them.

A dog can contract parvo from another dog that is infected with a dog parvovirus. It can also contract parvovirus from an infected dog’s feces. This feces can be on objects or in the soil. Extremely resilient strains can live up to 9 years!

5. Can Dogs Get Aspergillosis from Chickens?

Yes, dogs can get aspergillosis from being exposed to a chickens’ environment that it is present in. Canine aspergillosis is caused by a fungus, aspergillus fumigatus, that can be found in an unhealthy chicken’s environment. A dog can become infected by inhaling the spores.

Most strains of Aspergillus are do not cause infection, unless the host is immunocompromised or has been exposed to a large amount of the fungal spores.

There are over 180 different strains of Aspergillus fungi. The two most common strains in chicken aspergillosis are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillous flavus. The two most common strains in dogs are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillous terreus.

STRAINS OF ASPERGILLUS CARRIED BY CHICKENS	STRAINS OF ASPERGILLUS CARRIED BY DOGS
ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS	ASPERGILLUS FUMIGATUS
ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS	ASPERGILLUS TERREUS

The most common strain passed from chickens to dogs is Aspergillus fumigatus.

Symptoms of Aspergillosis in dogs

SYMPTOMS OF ASPERGILLOSIS IN DOGS
DISCHARGE OF MUCUS, PUS OR BLOOD FROM USUALLY ONE NOSTRIL
SWOLLEN NOSE
SNEEZING
ULCERATED AT EDGE OF NOSTRIL
BLOODY NOSE
SMELLY NASAL DISCHARGE
MORE COMMON IN YOUNGER DOGS (UNDER 1 YEAR)
DECREASED APPETITE

How to Prevent Aspergillosis in Dogs

• Keep your chicken’s environment clean.
  • Maintain cleanliness in the coop, chicken run, nesting boxes, bedding, chicken feeders and waterers.
• Keep your dog healthy.
  • Maintain healthy diet, exercise and routine vet visits.
• Don’t let your dog around when you are cleaning out the chicken coop and chicken run. This is when mold spores are greater. (You should wear a respirator mask when cleaning out the chicken coop too.)
• If you have a dog that is immunocompromised, it is best to not allow them around your chickens.

🐔 Keeping Your Coop Clean: Protecting Both Chickens and Dogs

Maintaining a clean coop is essential not only for your chickens’ health but also to prevent potential disease transmission to your dogs. Chickens can carry pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter, which may pose risks to other animals. Incorporating natural herbs into your coop can help mitigate these risks.​

Benefits of Using Nesting Box Herbs:

• Natural Pest Repellent: Certain herbs can deter mites and lice, reducing the spread of parasites.
• Antimicrobial Properties: Herbs like lavender and mint have natural antimicrobial effects, promoting a healthier environment.
• Odor Control: Herbs can help neutralize ammonia and other odors, making the coop more pleasant for both chickens and nearby pets.
• Stress Reduction: Aromatic herbs can have calming effects on chickens, leading to better egg production and overall health.​

By integrating my Nesting Box Herbs into your coop maintenance routine, you create a safer and more comfortable environment for all your backyard animals.

CONCLUSION: Can Dogs Get Sick from Chickens? 5 Serious Illnesses

Most illnesses that chickens get are species specific, meaning that chickens can only pass the illness to another animal in the poultry family. BUT there are a few illnesses that dogs, especially those that are immunocompromised, CAN contract from chickens.

COMMON CHICKEN ILLNESSES	CAN CHICKENS PASS THIS ILLNESS TO DOGS?
SALMONELLA	YES
COCCIDIOSIS	NO
WORMS	YES
PARVO	NO
ASPERGILLOSIS	YES

The number one thing that you can do to help stop the spread of chicken illnesses to your dogs is to keep your chicken’s environment CLEAN. This means maintaining the coop, chicken run, bedding, nesting boxes, feeders and waterers.