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

[Bigtom Turkey]

What is the situation with you dad? Why can't the birds be on his property, if they could that would solve a lot of problems.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Thank you. I’ve reminded nice to them. I was upset this last time because my autistic son saw what the dog did. That’s what hurts the most. He’s having nightmares about it. My father won’t change his mind. He’s making pour jokes about this to me & stating that the birds deserved to die. Their dog runs fee everywhere & harasses our other neighbors cows ever day. Even attacks the calves. However, nothing has been done about him in the last 5 years.

Oh, sorry just say your post never mind.

 

[Skyleen13]

What is the situation with you dad? Why can't the birds be on his property, if they could that would solve a lot of problems.

He claims that chickens are pest animals. He considers them the same as cockroaches or mice. He’s actually nicer to mice then my chickens. He’s been happy that the dog has killed some of my chickens. Says they deserve to die. That that’s what they’ve been raised to do. Die.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

He claims that chickens are pest animals. He considers them the same as cockroaches or mice. He’s actually nicer to mice then my chickens. He’s been happy that the dog has killed some of my chickens. Says they deserve to die. That that’s what they’ve been raised to do. Die.

Oh my gosh! How can anyone hate chickens so much!!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I would have thought he'd at least be bummed about not being able to have those dead birds for dinner.

I would recommend maybe chain link if you can, just to try and dissuade the dog more.

 

[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.

 

[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.

Update:

Since this post has caused so much negativity I want to apologize & everyone can ignore it. I’ve covered the run. Clipped wings. Run old barbed wire along the exterior of the run to try to keep the dog out. I can’t afford to electricity the fence. The run is an acre away fro the closest outlet & I can barely afford the materials to try to predator proof it to this point.
I was asking for help on what to do to protect my birds. I wasn’t asking to be ripped apart for my cry for help.
Sorry if I pissed people off.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I still say, that if I was the "nice neighbor" whose dog was massacring you hens I would feel soo bad! And be promptly trying to fix it.

 

[Skyleen13]

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.

He refuses to even try one of our eggs. Says their dirty.

 

[LaFleche]

I have 3 separate runs. The 2 that are attached to the coops themselves are covered & reinforced to prevent predators. We had just made the connecting run. We hadn’t put the netting up yet but since it was a 5ft tall fence & my birds wings had been clipped I felt that they could enjoy the new space for a bit before the netting went up. That was my mistake & I’m owning up to it. I was asking for help on how else to help keep them safe. I can’t afford to run electricity out to the run/coops. I can electrify the run to keep them safe. I’m sorry if I pissed you guys off asking for help.

All this was not mentioned in your post that led me to put down where from my point of view the responsibility for the safety of your chickens lie.
It was not you asking for help, but the way you were pinning the responsibility for your chickens on the neighbours that were nice enough to help you out letting you set up your chickens on their grounds.

Obviously your situations is a very stressful one with your father behaving the way he does, seemingly even enjoying the trouble, which is beyond me. But it is not the neighbours fault that your father will not have your chickens in his yard.

Maybe just move back to your own house and take your chickens with you, so your son will be comfortable and your chickens out of danger.
Sometimes there is no other way to regain peace of mind for everyone involved in such a jumble.