I am sick of my dogs killing chickens

[Mom 2em All]

Im sorry for your losses. I have a murdering long-hair daschund myself. She killed 8-9 within seconds when she broke into my brooder in the bedroom. She would kill again in a heartbeat.

I disagree with whoever said a good beating would teach her- I tried exactly that, and the next time she came into the bedroom she tried to get another one. They are bred to kill, and kill they do. Mine has stolen baby rabbits out of the hutch and killed them, and she attacked one chicken (Carmen) and I had to pry her mouth open to get her out- she refused to let go, and was trying to swallow her whole before I could get her free. During that moment, I literally had to carry her outside so I wouldn't kill her, I was so angry. The dog only weighs 9 pounds.

My chicken yard was easy enough to make dog proof though. Doxies dig- so I buried 3 foot hardware cloth. I laid it flat out on the ground and covered it in dirt. My split rail fence and gate are also covered in 3 foot hardware cloth. I have an additional three foot of 1X4 garden wire, making my chicken fence six foot tall. If any bird gets out of the yard, they are dog lunch. However, they cant fly that high. The quail did. The remaining quail has one wing clipped.

Good luck. Much easier to weiner dog proof than it is to dog proof for something much larger and stronger. I believe it is easier to dogproof for a weiner dog than it is to break them of their killing instinct.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Take the dogs. Hog tie their legs. Put on a muzzle. Roll in honey.
Sprinkle with scratch. Drop in chicken coop. Done.


The real answer is obvious. Your coop stinks.

 

[dixygirl]

I agree with PurpleChicken. It has be covered on here repeatedly that chicken wire is only strong enough to hold back a chicken. It is not strong enough to hold out a dog or anything else.

Get some good welded wire fencing
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...eId=10051&List=List&storeCity=Fort+lauderdale

Attach it with poultry staples and a hammer

to a strong wooden frame made out of 2x4s.

Either that or get a chain link dog kennel and add an extra row of small wire around the bottom. Small enough so no heads or paws can poke through.

If you do that the problem will be solved. The dogs can jump on the pen until they pass out panting with their tongues hanging out and they wont be able to break in.

If you make it over with chicken wire it is like wondering why intruders keep coming in your house if you have a door made out of plastic bags.

 

[nnbreeder]

Another option would be the pet containment system from Fi-Shock. It is a very mild fence charger that will turn most dogs. You should actually be thankful, if you fencing can not repel a little dog how will it stand up to a Coyote, Fox or a big boar Racoon? At least they were showing you a weakness before the inevitable happened.

 

[horsejody]

I have a close friend with a pack of doxies and chickens. She is very experienced with dogs and poultry. The dogs are kept seaparate or supervised around the birds. It doesn't matter how good of a trainer you are. You are not going to "break" them of chicken hunting. They are very tenacious dogs. Don't let the size fool you. The were bred to go down badger holes. You might be able to get them to not bother chickens that are being still, but once they run, the hunt is on. You will have to keep them separate.

 

[Eggseronious]

I have had these all my life in fact we have a minnie long hair now that runs with the free range chickens, actually he helps me herd them sometimes to the coop at night.

He is an outside dog which may have a bearing on the whole thing.

 

[michaelvcrowder]

one whipping or scolding does not teach a dog to overcome its genetic disposition. it takes constant reinforcement for some dogs. but i have yet to see many dogs that couldn't be taught how to act. i have actually taken control of vicious dogs that had destroy orders from their local animal control and turned them into gentile puppies in a matter of days or weeks.

dogs understand the alpha male, leader of the pack, rule all the way down to their soul. once the proper pecking order is established and the rules are laid out they will toe the line. if you have a dog that doesn't understand that, it means that the owner is incapable or unwilling to make him understand in 9 out of 10 circumstances. for that dog that cannot be taught the best option is to shoot and bury it before it further contaminates the gene pool.

if you can't teach your dog with scolding or corporal punishment then try a good shock collar. put it on the dog and every time he acts aggressively toward the chickens zap him with the remote control. a few weeks of this type of training will break 90% of a stubborn dogs will. if a person can't control a dachshund then how would they ever deal with a real dog like a chow, rotweiller or a pit bull?

teaching a dog is work. the vet we have used for over 20 years has a leash rule. every dog that enters the building must be on a leash. no exceptions except for mine, no matter what breed i have ever had. my dogs are taught how to act, where to go and how to do it. they end up living happy lives because i reward their obedience.

one time my neighbor came over to ask me when i was going to fix my fence. apparently a tree had fallen way back in the yard and leveled a 20 foot section of it. i owned a lab and a chow at the time. neither one of them ever crossed the downed fence line even though it had been down for weeks. they knew they were not allowed outside the fence except with my approval and supervision.

here is my personal opinion... show me a dog that does not act properly and i'll show you an owner that has not tried or doesn't know how to train a dog 99% of the time. for that 1% dog that is genetically unable to learn. get your gun and a shovel, but not until you at least let a professional give it a go.
michael

 

[arlee453]

Quote:
You just found your own problem. Chicken wire is only good for keeping chicken IN - does nothing to keep even a moderately determined, small predator OUT.

Invest in some REAL wire, as others have mentioned - like 1/2" or 1" welded wire (hardware cloth). Heck, even 2"x4" fencing would protect your birds better than chicken wire if your dogs are the only threat.

It shouldn't be THAT hard to build a run that will keep out a less than 20 lb dog.

I would, however, be sure to take the advice to bury your wire out in an 'L" shape from the run. Daschunds were bred to be 'burrow' dogs - meaing they were bred long and low so they could go into rabbit and other animal burrows and scare out the game for the hunters. They are BRED to break into hutches, hollows and burrows and will not hesitate to try digging in if they cant just nose through the fencing like they did with the chicken wire.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'm really sorry you lost more chickens.

If your small dogs can break into your run, so can stray dogs or raccoons. It just so happened that your dogs got there first. I think you need to work on a sturdier enclosure for your chickens. There are various ways to do this, as others have suggested.

Until you can make modifications to your run, I would not let your dogs run loose in the yard unsupervised. Dogs can be trained, but you have to be there to do the training.

 

[summerwindsfarm]

Quote:
Caging them next to the coop would just make them worse..thats like putting cookie jar next to a kids bed and telling them to go to sleep instead of eating a cookie.

Tying it around their neck very rarely works. What else have you tried so i wont repeat anything. What kind of dogs? What ages?