Our Babies Died a Terrible Death

[chickencoop57]

Hi everyone,
It is with a very heavy heart, that we lost our 6 leghorns to a very aggressive dog. The dog was so aggressive that he literally tore the chicken wire out in order to get to our hens. Our hens didn't stand a chance.
I shot the dog and the owner was so out raged he threatened me and my wife. No concern for my babies.
He will no longer be a menace(the dog). I put him away.
By the way, he was not interested in what his dog did as I tried to show him. He wouldn't even look!
Saluda Chickens, RIP!

I don't know where you live, but in my part of the country, Texas, we have the right to kill any animal, dogs included, that attacks, mame's or try's to kill anything on our property. Sorry for your loss but the dog's owner is an idiot! Just saying.

 

[Tonyroo]

Hi everyone,
It is with a very heavy heart, that we lost our 6 leghorns to a very aggressive dog. The dog was so aggressive that he literally tore the chicken wire out in order to get to our hens. Our hens didn't stand a chance.
I shot the dog and the owner was so out raged he threatened me and my wife. No concern for my babies.
He will no longer be a menace(the dog). I put him away.
By the way, he was not interested in what his dog did as I tried to show him. He wouldn't even look!
Saluda Chickens, RIP!

Sorry that happened, I love dogs but I won't think twice to kill one if it killed all my chickens.

 

[McChooky]

You have to catch the dog in the act or you can open yourself up to civil litigation or criminal charges in many states. Being arrested does not mean you'll be found guilty.Keep the faith.

 

[helicopterchickenmom]

Two big dogs killed over a dozen of our neighbor's guinea hens and layer chickens awhile back. Even though they saw and could ID the dogs, nothing came of it. We are going to build a new run and coop for our chickens from kits. We will be reinforcing the hardware cloth, that is only stapled from the inside, with the same kind of

panel fence pieces that we used for some fencing around the yard. These will be firmly attached on the outside of the run so even if a large animal pops the hardware cloth they will still have no entry. There will be an exterior grid all the way around.

 

[McChooky]

A couple strands of Electric fence will keep the dogs out.One time touching it and they won't come back.I wish you the best!

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

We have, or had, a stray dog problem but they stay away from the coop and chicken run after one encounter with the hot wire. They actually give the coop and run a wide birth when they come across the property now. The chickens just stand there and watch them go by.

 

[jspeese]

I don't blame you one bit. I did the same thing when a neighbor's (not a near one even, lived a mile away) dog killed my quail. And a few years ago when some dogs tore into the wood and turkey wire fence around our pasture and killed a bunch of chickens. Aggressive dogs are varmints just like any other predator, and deserve to be treated as such. Right, wrong or indifferent, I'm a big advocate of the 3Ss. Certainly something I don't enjoy, but it's certainly something I'm not going to tolerate either. I know there are some noble ones out there, but I am not particularly fond of dogs as a species.

 

[SaludaChicken]

I don't blame you one bit. I did the same thing when a neighbor's (not a near one even, lived a mile away) dog killed my quail. And a few years ago when some dogs tore into the wood and turkey wire fence around our pasture and killed a bunch of chickens. Aggressive dogs are varmints just like any other predator, and deserve to be treated as such. Right, wrong or indifferent, I'm a big advocate of the 3Ss. Certainly something I don't enjoy, but it's certainly something I'm not going to tolerate either. I know there are some noble ones out there, but I am not particularly fond of dogs as a species.

Thank you for your interest and comment, J. It is most disheartening to think we have dog owners who don't care about other people's pets. God bless you.
Saluda Chickens

 

[Rise722]

Guess what? The dog owner had me arrested for animal cruelty. Now I have to hire an attorney to fight for my rights. Can you believe this?
Saluda Chickens

In Oregon, the dog would be dead, dead, dead. And no charges would be filed. You cannot have an animal-at-large chasing/killing livestock. Period.

 

[addctd2plnts]

Well, I come from both sides of this. When we moved to a semi rural area, I had two foster dogs playing with me outside that saw a squirrel and took off. Before I could find them, the neighbor was saying one killed a chicken. I felt terrible and offered to pay for it. We have AG property but never dreamed people would have chickens on a 3 acre parcel. That dog has been adopted, so no more issues. My personal dogs are poultry friendly.

Now I have ducks out daily in walk in chicken tractors. I surround them with electric netting and have never had a problem. I know the flapping makes most animals go crazy, so I take the responsibility for their lives. I know it's possible to keep them safe. There will always be predators and poultry is simply "The Old Country Buffet" to any predator. I'm not shooting ANY animal for doing what it does naturally, because I didn't protect my poultry. And I'd sue anybody who shot a dog that had simply escaped. I have my dogs penned or with me. If the owner was a chronic offender, I'd simply re-home the dog to a responsible person. There are new laws regarding shooting dogs and animal cruelty is a federal offense now. The days are over for "shoot first and ask questions later" IMHO

It doesn't matter if it's a dog, fox, or bear. Our poultry is always going to feed them, till we stop blaming them, and make a predator proof coop and run. I built our night coop in the barn inside a Ft. Knox predator proofed stall, lined with 1/2" welded wire, with 1/4" welded wire inside that. It was finished when we got a camera with motion sensor for the barn isle.

Every day on this site I see people who refuse to adequately protect their birds complaining that a predator got them. I don't recall ever seeing one person with electric (that actually had the electric ON) say that their coop had been breached. Why does anyone have the right to kill a predator when they haven't adequately protected their flock? Electric wire isn't expensive and chargers can be found used too. Prevention is the best protection, not shooting a person's dog IMHO And being sued is a very real consequence of shooting another neighbor's dog. There have been people KILLED over shooting a neighbor's dog, so this might be the easy way to learn it.