What do manchester terriers do when they meet a chicken?

We might be getting a manchester terrier soon but we already have chickens and are not sure on how he will react. He used to be kept in a cage all day and all night but let out only in the evening.Thanks to all sensible answers! :)I meant the previous owners locked him in a cage.

most terriers will try to kill themwhy have a dog if kept crated day and night?

You can train the dog to leave the chickens alone.Every dog needs training. Most don't get enough training. Any dog is only the total of its training. Most dogs are either well trained or untrained. Make yours a well trained dog."How to train a dog to leave chickens alone?" used Yahoo searchhttp://search.yahoo.com/search?p=how%20to%20train%20a%20dog%20to%20leave%20chickens%20alone?

I think you know terriers love to chase small animals. It would be hard to introduce a dog to a chicken that's going to keep flapping its wings and trying to run away. I'm not familiar with chickens but the chicken should be calm or used to other animals such as dogs.I have a dog who used to chase stray cats away in my home. My fiance has a pet cat that's been living with dogs for years. I brought my dog to his house to expose him to a cat who's calm around dogs. That really helped. It seemed a bewildering experience for my dog to see a cat not reacting "as usual". It was quite funny.

Since its a Terrier and they are bred to hunt/kill rats, mice, etc. there is a good chance the dog would stalk and or kill the chickens if given the chance. Just keep the dog on leash around the chickens.

Any Manchester Terrier worth his salt will kill them. Wrong breed to own if you have other type of critters. Your asking for trouble. Oh and Manchesters are pretty energetic dogs and if you keep on in a crate all day, you will have an obnoxious barker, hyper, out of control dog. Get a different breed.