I need help, please.

[Hip Hillbilly Acres]

Hi y’all~ my name is Stacy and I am new to the chicken community, which I simply adore.
I have had 44 chickens for over 8 months and when I came home from my nursing shift tonight I found 29 of them killed. I’m afraid that the rest of them will not make it, but the vet will be here to help them soon.
2 neighborhood dogs are on camera committing the attack.
I am not posting my first thread to ask what to do about the dogs~ will someone please show me a coop that I should build in the future? Also, I have a perimeter of 1/2 an acre that I need to secure. I live in Mississippi on 55 acres.
Please don’t criticize me, I’ll only ignore you. I’m absolutely devastated.
Thank you in advance.

For now, welcome, Ms. Stacy, to our lil abode on the WWW. I am so sorry for your losses and I am so glad that you are not wanting to give up on chickening.

 

[KimMMXVIII]

I am sorry for your loss. I hope you pressed charges. Their owners should give you economical replacement both for the chicks and emotional damages. That is how we deal with it in my country. My sisters dog hurt a chick and it was just right that she had to pay the owner back for the vet bills and emotional damage on the family. If someones dog hurt my girls I would go crazy!

 

[ChknMama50]

Oh my gosh- I can't even imagine.... I'm so sorry for such a loss!! Breaks your heart ;-( I've always read that even domestic dogs (vs wild pack ones) are one of the biggest predators esp of "backyard" chickens...that aren't on huge lots of land and who have more neighbors!

We had an electric fence in place when we bought our place a couple year ago and I know it only keeps out bigger animals that don't want the trouble of getting a shock but makes me feel a bit better at least as an initial line of defense. We just finished a new coop/shed combo with a large covered run that took forever to build and thought my husband was gonna leave me ;-) (kidding) if I mentioned ONE more place to "predator proof" that I could see light thru!! haha But why try if you aren't gonna go all the way, eh?! We used 1/2" "hardware cloth" that was 19guage and "galvanized after welding and PVC coated" to help it last longer and not rust, etc. (went with this over the 1/4" one I wanted as that is usually like 22-23G wire which is much easier to chew thru for animals with teeth... but honestly is still much better than chicken wire-it's only meant to keep THEM in as others mentioned!
It's also attractive as a bonus and from a distance you can barely see it-black color! Instead of burying it in the ground I took the "newer" advice to do a "predator shield" around the surface of the entire run that goes out 2ft and overlaps on the corners so there isn't an area that an animal would start to dig and not get frustrated and in theory, give up- not sure any would start 2ft out and tunnel in ;-) (other than say ?moles/voles) We used the suggested 16G PVC wire coated fencing in the 'how to' video on YouTube by a popular online coop builder (in NC) who was happy to give a demo on just how to do it.

Personally I used 2"X3"(size of holes) fencing (they used 2X4 I think) but still felt like it was too big of a hole up near our 4'X6' beams that are on the ground tied into concrete support beams but my husband didn't exactly bury them at all and my chickens are DIGGERS so I'm concerned about them creating holes under the beams along with erosion over time from rain, etc. SO, much to his dismay I also added a much shorter additional barrier from the beam bent to the ground and going out between 3-5 inches that is either over or under the other one. I'm DONE with finding snakes and almost having a heart attack ;-) and also want to keep out "pests" that can get them sick such as mice, toads, even wild birds who used to go thru my chicken wire so I couldn't leave out any food or water for the am.

We started with landscape fabric, and used the suggested stainless staples installed with pneumatic staple gun for strength and added large "stakes" that also hold it down further out in the ground every couple feet. THEN we plan to cover the whole thing with a nice landscape rock of moderate size since we don't have grass growing there that would grow up over the wire as is suggested. Don't want big enough to entice snakes to curl up and hide from the heat or cold, but not so small that the chickens will kick them all over the yard! ;-)
I'm praying all this will do the trick and figure that we have at least 3 other coops on my 1/2mile gravel road that do NOT have such measures in place so maybe they'll move on to something much easier to get in! (awful thought, I know but....hey...;-) )

I take the goodhearted ribbing by my neighbors and family about my "fort chicken" but having lost a chick to a black snake and the horror stories I've read, I'm trying to do the diligence I'm capable of at ;east!
Sorry this is long- I'm detail oriented (also a nurse- a lifetime ago) so it's hard for me to not end up with long posts, so I often just don't! ;-)... but your story touched me!! Esp after spending the last 6+ months building this thing from the ground up and trying to anticipate any areas of weakness! My own goal is to be able to spend less time out there than what I was having to do and "automate" my chickens schedule for consistency and ease on me too as mornings are tough due to health issues. Now I can go out once daily to spend time, assess everyone, and clean up and do other food/water chores.
......and IF God willing we ever get to go away for a weekend or overnight, we would feel safe they will be OK! My new chicken door has worked flawlessly on solar power...

Now if I can only get them all well again.... just lost one a couple year ago which was tough for us, so I can only imagine... Hope some of your girls survived and are all better by now!

FYI- I'm new to this forum so I apologize if I posted info that doesn't belong here!!

 

[ChicFil- A]

I’m so sorry you had to endure that, Glad you are getting over it that takes courage, this is my worse fear also, I’ve put hardware cloth 36 in up the sides all the way around the coop.over the regular chicken wire and added an 18 inch apron of hardware cloth all the way around. I found a dogs collar caught in the side of the coop he had almost chewed through and panicked and lost the collar when he pulled his head back out. Then he had attempted to dig under so the hardware cloth apron should discourage him.

 

[Nicci0110]

This is my worst fear. I intend to let me chickens free range once they are a little older but am SOOOO scared now that the time is approaching. We do live in a rural area in North MS BUT I have some neighbors that let dogs wander. my beagle has been great with our chickens but she wouldnt even protect herself LOL. But I have always been kind about neighbors dogs visiting my yard but I have a pellet gun ready now. My surrounding neighbors also have chickens so I hope the dogs will leave mine alone also. I am so sorry!

 

[David61]

I'm sorry for your loss. Penny you can expect loss when you free range but thats hard to hear about. I have loss 1/2 my chickens to a neighbors dog in the past. Chicken wire stops chickens only. animal wire with an electric wire will help. I'm on the MS coast