Help! A dog is killing my chickens!

[AllysHens]

Hopefully you've solved your dog problem. I've used game cams extensively for deer and if you mount it on a stake/post (or tie to a 5 gal bucket full of water) in a likely approach area but aimed slightly away from the coop, you'll get the predators/dogs without 3-400 shots per day of your birds. Moultrie's are excellent, but you could go cheaper too. I recommend one with a removable SD card so you can easily check/swap cards and pull the pics up on a PC to screen the photos, without having to either pull the camera or haul a laptop out to the camera location. Rechargeable batteries are a nice feature too, as some cams chew through alkalines. Cameras have multiple modes, but you can set them usually for a "trail cam" mode, motion triggered, with 1-5 followup exposures, followed by a reset period. This prevents hundreds of pics. You won't get the "crime" on tape if the animal gets into the coop, but you'll avoid a week or two of sifting through hundreds of coop pics too. Either way, a picture is worth a thousand words...and yes, if the law is on your side, a quick dose of lead should permanently solve the issue. good luck, contact me if I can be of assistance.

 

[pigeon258]

Thanks for the advice! I did get a game cam and although we haven't had any incriminating evidence with pics of the neighbor's dog, it's only a matter of time. Your suggestion to mount it on a 5g bucket of water is great! That would allow me to use it on the side of the pasture without trees or suitable places to mount the game cam, which is where the dog is entering our property. According to the law, it doesn't matter if the dog is actually killing the birds. Harassing livestock is illegal and just the dog's presence in our pasture is grounds for livestock harassment. In addition, our county requires that all dogs be leashed or under their owner's control when not on their own property. A dog in our pasture is clearly NOT leashed or under their owner's control. Again, thanks for the great advice!

 

[Michael L]

I have not used a camera like this.

You could point the camera near your chicken run, but not pointing right at the run so the camera would not be taking pictures of your chickens but still get pictures of any dogs.

Here are some specifications I found for that camera. It seems you have to buy the memory card also.


Specifications:

- 5.0 megapixel Low Glow infrared game camera
- Up to 50-ft night range
- Day and night video clips
- Moon phase, time, date and camera ID stamp
- Picture delay 1, 5, 10 and 30 minutes
- SD memory card slot — up to 32GB (not included)
- 8,000+ images on 4 C-cell batteries
- Integrated strap loop with Python

cable compatibility (cable not included)

I have not used this camera, but from my experiences with deer hunting you want the lowest delay that you can get. If something sets off the camera and takes under 1 minute to kill your chicken then you are out of luck.

 

[Michael L]

When you realize that there was a second page to the story. Sorry if I just repeated any information

 

[zazouse]

Thanks for the advice! I did get a game cam and although we haven't had any incriminating evidence with pics of the neighbor's dog, it's only a matter of time. Your suggestion to mount it on a 5g bucket of water is great! That would allow me to use it on the side of the pasture without trees or suitable places to mount the game cam, which is where the dog is entering our property. According to the law, it doesn't matter if the dog is actually killing the birds. Harassing livestock is illegal and just the dog's presence in our pasture is grounds for livestock harassment. In addition, our county requires that all dogs be leashed or under their owner's control when not on their own property. A dog in our pasture is clearly NOT leashed or under their owner's control. Again, thanks for the great advice!

I mount my game cams on cinder blocks, they are easy to move from place to place verses a bucket that weighs so much.

 

[pigeon258]

Great pics!!!!!!!!! Cinder Block is an excellent idea. Definitely going to try it.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

Great pics!!!!!!!!! Cinder Block is an excellent idea. Definitely going to try it.

Pigeon258......keep in mind it could be a coyote!! Especially since you say you are in a rural area. I live in a semi-rural setting and had a full grown coyote killing my 12+lb roosters 2 yrs ago.....a .410 shotgun put an end to that one day at HIGH NOON

Not saying that its NOT the neighbor's dog, but coyotes will come back over and over again....especially once they've located an easy food source

 

[pigeon258]

After keeping notes for the past year, and getting a game cam, I believe that I have 3 different predators. Initially in the late fall, winter, and early spring, I think I have migratory hawks. At that time of the year, there are little poofs of feathers or no feathers. Last spring, things changed, with tons of feathers everywhere, and long messy trails of feathers from birds being dragged away. I think this was the neighbor's dog chasing and either killing them directly or scaring them so they didn't come into the coop at night and then predators would pick them off, or probably some of both. Clues included seeing the neighbor's dog chasing the birds, having the neighbors apologize that their dog had killed a bird (the difference is that I think the dog killed lots of birds, and they think their dog killed ONE chicken), kills done in broad daylight mostly while I'm gone, and chickens dead that appeared to have flown into a wall (as though being chased), and losing birds in broad daylight. Plus after the neighbors started kenneling their dog as well as patching some fences on my part, the killing stopped. But....then it started again. First loss was messy with tons of feathers and a long trail of feathers. Plus I stepped in a big pile of dog poop. Dog poop just isn't mistakeable for coyote scat. But...then things started getting weird. No feathers. Just birds disappearing. I think I have a bobcat now. Also kills are late in the afternoon, just before dusk. Game cam shows regular bobcats at night, plus an occasional coyote. I think it's been a cycle: migratory hawks, neighbor's dog, and then finally bobcat. Each with a different pattern of killing and feather scattering and time of day. So far, no kills have been recorded on the game cam.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Invest in some electric fencing instead.
A camera won't stop the attacks

 

[pigeon258]

I got a camera so I could document that the neighbor's dog is frequently on my property and killing chickens (so I could recoup my losses in court, if it comes to that). THEY should be responsible for fencing their dog, not me. But since this thread is old, I did end up repairing the neighbor's fence for them so they could better control their dog, which stopped the dog from chasing my chickens. Fencing also alerted the neighbors that I feel strongly about the dog chasing and killing chickens. Previously, they hadn't recognized that chasing and killing chickens was a problem and felt that "dogs will be dogs" and really didn't believe that their sweet loveable canine was the one that was killing chickens. In my county, I have the right to shoot the dog, but it's the kid's pet and I'm working hard to be a good neighbor.