3 murdered hens...advice please

[Chick and Lady]

First off let me tell you how sorry I am to hear of your loss. I'm new to this forum but I found myself deeply moved by this thread. For you see...as a new chicken owner myself I am amazed at how much we have grown to love our babies. It's almost like we gave birth to them ourselves. We spend hour upon hour outside watching them as they playfully frolic around the yard during the day. Although we have a fenced in yard the back gate to our yard is a bit rickety. For weeks now we have been seeing a doberman pincher that belongs to one of our neighbors pacing back and forth outside of the gate itching to get in. It wouldn't take much for him to make his way inside to get to our babies and in the morning when my husband wakes up we are going to discuss putting in a new gate. We already have the materials it just a matter of getting our butts to work.

Reading this thread was almost like going through it myself. What would I do? I have always been against owning a gun. Yet trying to go up against a doberman frightens me even more. I have heard a lot about our new neighbors from some people who know them and from the sounds I overhear of them screaming at each other I already know they aren't people I would want to go up against.

Calling the pound is probably the best bet. But how to keep it here without it escaping till they arrived is another issue.

I guess the best thing to do is to fix the gate. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure they say.

After all....Someone has got to protect the innocent.

I'm one of those people who believe that everything that happens in life happens for a reason. And that even though its hard to imagine what that reason can be at times. (Like in the meaningless death of a loved one) It sometimes becomes clear long afterwards.

So if something ever were to happen to my babies. God forbid. I would have to ask myself. What can I learn from this? How has this made me stronger? What did I gain by going through this. How do I feel about whats come out of this? What can I do to be sure something like this doesn't happen again? That sort of thing.

Reading this thread and watching for your response has shown me that you have come out of this stronger, The love and concern others have shown for your situation is obvious. And to hear that you might receive financial restitution for your loss is another bonus.

So even though you have lost your beloved pets keep in mind one thing. You may have prevented the loss of mine. And for that I am deeply grateful.

Thank you
Chick and lady

 

[Cetawin]

I am so sorry to hear about your girls and I know I would be upset to...my girls are my babies. I have been dealing with a dog issue as well...we now have an understanding with the dog owner. Doggie comes back and doggie goes bye bye. They insist it is not their dog doing it and it has charged me!

Contact the sheriff and animal control. If you can capture the doggie, tie him up and call animal control to come get him!

 

[petitesphinx]

First of all: Sooo sorry for your sweet chickens!! I understand and this has happened to me/us before!! I feel so bad for you! Our own dogs keep trying to get at our chickens, so they're tied up now. =-(

Second of all: Don't give up on your chickens. Get more and keep on keeeping on!

Thirdly: I know it sounds harsh to that dog, but I live in the country and we had MAJOR problems with the neighbor's VERY STUPID dog and I called the police on it three times and each time, the Police told me directly, "...to shoot the dog if it comes on my property again!" Now, I could never shoot someone else's or my own dog, but I sure was tempted to think about it when I'd constantly catch that dog on our land, chasing, eating our cats, horses, chickens..etc!

I even asked the neighbors..."...if you must KEEP the dog, please tie him up, build a pen...do SOMETHING to keep YOUR property off of mine!" But they wouldn't....we got so tired of it, WE tied him up on OUR land! That really ticked the owners off! hehe....then they'd take him home and let him GO!! Arrggg! Finally, after their dog BRED our registered Rhodesian and cost us at least 5 grand in puppy sales-they moved!

You're absolutely correct in feeling like this, but please keep giving chickens a loving home and attention! If you still have problems with that dog, go out and tie the thing up! When the owners come looking, say that ".....I found myself a new pet--it keeps staying and EATING at my place, so I decided to KEEP it.." ;-)

Good luck!

 

[Southerngirl]

You warned your neighbors twice about their dog. The dog knows where your hens are and will just keep coming back. You are well within your right to protect your property. Shoot it or catch it and take it to the pound and say this dog kept wandering around your property. It is at your expense and heartache to rid yourself of this "problem". The neighbors don't care. What if it attacked your daughter too ??? I agree with willheveland's post, paint a big red X on its side and send it home !!!!!!! Good luck !!!

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Hey Chick and lady,

A dobi is pacing your fence looking for a bit of a snack? My suggestion is to say something to the neighbors prior to anything happening. It's bad enough for people to let ANY dog run free but a Doberman?!

This is a dog that will see *humans as prey* as well as everyone else's pets! I would just go straight to their house or if you have a name & can get a phone number place a call to them. Tell them that you've had their dog in your yard pacing in front of the gate to get to your chickens & you'd hate to think what would happen if he/she got in. You might mention that it could be a neighborhood kid that gets hurt as well because this is a doberman and a dog like that could kill a small kid as fast as shaking any kind of prey. Now it isn't the breed of dog that is the issue really but it's the owners of such a breed. If they're just letting it run then chances are they haven't trained it properly either (both involve time of the owner) & with a dobi it's a tragedy waiting to happen. Tell them you don't want to just go calling the police because you "can't imagine a dog like this being allowed to just run free & you wanted them to know he's out off leash". This way you've warned them.... Then you want to call the town & tell them even if you can't keep the dog in one spot. 1st that's what animal control is for to get hold of a animal that is posing a danger & a dobi running free "pacing a fence" is a danger and at the very least you want them toknow there is a problem in the neighborhood. It could just as easily be a kid going by on a bike that looks like it's going fast & "getting away like prey" to it or a kid getting off a bus etc.

Keeping the dog in one place = do you have a garage & a automatic garage door opener? This is how I once kept one for animal control. The garage is attached to the house with a door leading to my wash room. So I opened that door called said dog in (he was in my driveway far off the street on his own) I tossed him a piece of meat& I'd started to close the door as he was coming toward me & I was tossing the food. with the door to the outside closed then I closed the door to the washroom & he was kept in the garage until the animal control officer arrived. The owners get REAL annoyed when they have to keep coming to get them out & it costs them $$$$$'s.

Feeling like you've gone through this with someone who's lost chickens isn't the same as having to clean up the the feathers & *body parts* of the birds that are scattered when they've been killed. It's very difficult & not something I'd wish on anyone.

 

[Chick and Lady]

Mom2cool wrote:

"A dobi is pacing your fence looking for a bit of a snack? My suggestion is to say something to the neighbors prior to anything happening. It's bad enough for people to let ANY dog run free but a Doberman?!

This is a dog that will see *humans as prey* as well as everyone else's pets! I would just go straight to their house or if you have a name & can get a phone number place a call to them. "


Chick and Lady says:
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my response. The owners of the doberman live 2 houses down and they own some sort of Junk yard. They have at least 4 doberman from what I have seen and they all are bred to be attack dogs. The other day I walked past the place and looked through the chain link gate to see if I could find anyone standing outside. Not a soul in site. I don't even know if this is a business open to the public or just some place where the owner collects junk. There are a couple of trailers in the back and I think they might be caretakers of the place. Either way there is no way to contact them without enticing the dogs into a panic. I'm not giving up however cause I do hear them arguing from time to time. I think they are drinkers.

Yesterday we fixed the back gate to our property and there's no way a dog can squeeze in now. However if they wanted to I suppose they could jump the fence. Our Run is securely gated and fenced in completely. I only worry during the day when they are free ranging. They tend to keep themselves close to the house where the yard is Thank God and we have a large area of dirt between the yard and the back gate. They pretty much steer clear of that area anyway.

We have lots of grass and shade trees, bushes and a lot of places they can hide if danger lurks from above but a doberman would probably get to them even If I was standing right there in front of them.

Later today I'm gonna go for a walk and circle their property to see if maybe there is someplace their dog is getting loose from under their fence. Your right. It's not just my babies in danger but the kids that walk to the elementary school down the block. I would hate to hear tell that one of them were attacked.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. It's nice to see so many people taking a interest in others

Have a wonderful day
Chick and Lady

 

[Mom2Cool]

Quote:
Chick and Lady your post is the scariest thing I've heard all day. I don't know how old you are but there's a song by Jim Croce that says "bad, bad Leroy Brown the baddest man in the whole dame town, Badder than old King Kong, And meaner than a *junkyard dog*" The use of "junkyard dog" was to convey a fierce &/or nasty animal.

So now we compound that with multiple dogs & they'll be fierce dogs running in a pack..... If you're "standing right there they're lible to *get YOU TOO*"! I cannot tell you how dangerous this is & really if you've a cell phone that you can take video with that's what I would do while doing a *drive by* not a walk by. & you need to email that to the town so they can see what is happening. It's been a few years now but when I think of kids at a school bus stop it reminds me of the boy who was mauled by 3 Rottweilers. That too was in a rural area & I thought they had been "treed by the dogs prior to that day when I think 1 of them didn't make it fast enough or something like that. It was on court TV a few years ago. I would make certain to alert the town to what's going on & I would send a picture/video.... if that dog is out more than once it's a serious situation.