In a tight spot. Need advice. Neighbors dog has killed 3 of my hens. Help

[Skyleen13]

I’m in a tight spot. Thanks to covid 19 my family & I have been forced to live with my father in law. He hates chickens even though eggs , chicken is all he ever eats. He claims he thinks that their nuisance animals & lumps them in with rats & cockroaches. His exact words not mine. To get my chickens to even be with us we asked our Nextdoor neighbors if we could put our chickens & the run on their property between a line of trees & an old dilapidated barn that’s falling to pieces. They readily agreed stating that they always wanted to raise chickens themselves but were never home enough to do so. Shortly after we got the coop & run fixed up & my chickens moved in their 12 year old hunting dog ripped open the plywood siding & killed one of my pullets. I was devastated by her death because I had managed to save her when she was a chick & got super sick. My neighbors claimed that their dog was only trying to play with my chickens & not kill it but if it hadn’t tried to run their dog wouldn’t have hurt it. Don’t understand that logic at all but that’s what they said. Only apologized & they promised to try to keep their dog away from the coop. We reinforced the coop & made it stronger. He hasn’t gotten back into it since.
About 2 months went by with no problems. My husband & I decided to expand their run to make it much bigger. A 50 ft by 50 ft square with 2 coops attached to either end so we could expand our flock. Neighbors agreed to this. The fencing is 5 ft high & about a foot down under the ground so no digging. All was great until Christmas Day. Their dog got outside & harassed my hens into flying out of the run. He killed one of them & started eating her before we could get outside to stop it. We complained to our neighbors about it but they did nothing. Now today he did it again unfortunately we weren’t home to stop it this time. We came home to find that dog covered in blood after he had killed & eaten another of my hens. I’m pissed now. We’ve told them that their dog won’t stop killing them but they won’t listen. If the coop & run weren’t on their property I’d take it up with the authorities but I don’t know what to do. The last 2 he’s killed really hurt us. One was one of our breeding hens & the other was one of our best brooding mommas. Neither were even a year old yet! My breeding hen had only just stared laying eggs 2 weeks prior to her death.
Help. I don’t know what to do.We’ve clipped my remaining birds wings. Made it harder for anything to get into the run & even removed perches for my birds to make it so they can’t hop up to get out. I’m scared that this dog will kill more of my flock.

 

[LaFleche]

If the coop & run weren’t on their property I’d take it up with the authorities but I don’t know what to do. The last 2 he’s killed really hurt us. One was one of our breeding hens & the other was one of our best brooding mommas. Neither were even a year old yet! My breeding hen had only just stared laying eggs 2 weeks prior to her death.
Help. I don’t know what to do.We’ve clipped my remaining birds wings. Made it harder for anything to get into the run & even removed perches for my birds to make it so they can’t hop up to get out. I’m scared that this dog will kill more of my flock.

You should have made the coop and run predator proof. I do not understand why you still did not cover the run after the first bird got killed.

I’m pissed now. We’ve told them that their dog won’t stop killing them but they won’t listen. If the coop & run weren’t on their property I’d take it up with the authorities but I don’t know what to do.

So it is not their fault and you should not complain to the friendly neighbours that were nice enough to let you use their property.

That said, I am sorry you lost your chickens.

 

[Matejka]

Any possibility of covering the run with chicken wire or net to prevent bird escape?

 

[MissE]

You will need to find away to secure your chickens. If chickens can fly out, owls and hawks can fly in. Raccoons, weasels, pine martins, cats, etc. will not be stopped by a 5 ft fence unless its electric. A dog, doing what dogs will do, on it's own property is not going to be the only issue. They will tell you to get your chickens off their property long before they get rid of the dog.

 

[Geena]

True but if they were in my yard I would not be holding them under the gun, making excuses for my dog (or rather my poor fencing). If the neighbors let them come then they have a responsibility as well.

Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. IMO the neighbors have no responsibility whatsoever for the OPs chickens, it's their yard, their dog, their rules.
Personally if I was nice enough to let someone put their chickens in my yard and they then complained to me about anything I'd tell them to go take a hike.

 

[RiverOtter]

Solar powered fence charger.

And I'm sorry to say, but your dad sounds toxic as arsenic. I'm sorry you're in such a tight spot having to stay with him. But all the same, he'd never get another egg from me. I'd never even cook him a meal with eggs or chicken again.

 

[Geena]

The neighbors sound nice but are seemingly abusing there power.

Abusing their power? It's their yard. OP needs to build a predator proof run or move their chickens elsewhere. Also I would make sure that the neighbors approve of an electric fence being put in their yard .

 

[MissE]

Last spring I was letting the chickens out of their coop so they could play around in the small patch of bare ground. I didn't have an enclosed run at the time. The chickens didn't like walking on the snow, and the coop was behind the barn, so I thought things would be ok. They were, for a while.

Then, one got brave and crossed the ice bridge and walked up the hill toward the house just as I was bringing my 11 month old German Shepherd out to his kennel to enjoy the same sunshine. He chased her back to the rest of the flock. I lost one hen and my rooster still doesnt have all of his tail feathers.

Was it the dogs fault for being a dog? No, it was mine for not giving the chickens a secure place to hang out, and for not distraction testing his nearly perfect recall. The ground was still frozen, so I couldn't use the electric fence. I made a temporary fence right around the coop, and made sure the dog was never out when the chickens were. Once the electric fence was back out, I didn't stop him from touching it. He won't get within 20 feet of that thing now.

 

[RiverOtter]

No idea since eggs & chicken is all he ever eats. 2 eggs every morning.

I'd take a needle and inject them with ipecac.
But I'm mean.

Edited to add - the man can hate chickens if he wants, what brings out the mean in me is gloating over the death of an animal, especially with a traumatized child in the mix. That is flat uncalled for, regardless of circumstance.

 

[Johanna Albertine]

I’m in a tight spot. Thanks to covid 19 my family & I have been forced to live with my father in law. He hates chickens even though eggs , chicken is all he ever eats. He claims he thinks that their nuisance animals & lumps them in with rats & cockroaches. His exact words not mine. To get my chickens to even be with us we asked our Nextdoor neighbors if we could put our chickens & the run on their property between a line of trees & an old dilapidated barn that’s falling to pieces. They readily agreed stating that they always wanted to raise chickens themselves but were never home enough to do so. Shortly after we got the coop & run fixed up & my chickens moved in their 12 year old hunting dog ripped open the plywood siding & killed one of my pullets. I was devastated by her death because I had managed to save her when she was a chick & got super sick. My neighbors claimed that their dog was only trying to play with my chickens & not kill it but if it hadn’t tried to run their dog wouldn’t have hurt it. Don’t understand that logic at all but that’s what they said. Only apologized & they promised to try to keep their dog away from the coop. We reinforced the coop & made it stronger. He hasn’t gotten back into it since.
About 2 months went by with no problems. My husband & I decided to expand their run to make it much bigger. A 50 ft by 50 ft square with 2 coops attached to either end so we could expand our flock. Neighbors agreed to this. The fencing is 5 ft high & about a foot down under the ground so no digging. All was great until Christmas Day. Their dog got outside & harassed my hens into flying out of the run. He killed one of them & started eating her before we could get outside to stop it. We complained to our neighbors about it but they did nothing. Now today he did it again unfortunately we weren’t home to stop it this time. We came home to find that dog covered in blood after he had killed & eaten another of my hens. I’m pissed now. We’ve told them that their dog won’t stop killing them but they won’t listen. If the coop & run weren’t on their property I’d take it up with the authorities but I don’t know what to do. The last 2 he’s killed really hurt us. One was one of our breeding hens & the other was one of our best brooding mommas. Neither were even a year old yet! My breeding hen had only just stared laying eggs 2 weeks prior to her death.
Help. I don’t know what to do.We’ve clipped my remaining birds wings. Made it harder for anything to get into the run & even removed perches for my birds to make it so they can’t hop up to get out. I’m scared that this dog will kill more of my flock.

That’s sad and scary. I’ve lost 2 chickens recently too, so I understand how that hurts. There are so many dangers and you just can’t protect them from everything, especially if you want to give them some freedom. I hope you will be able to have a yard of your own again soon, because it sounds like that would solve a lot.