Am I over-reacting about my Neighbor and his dog who ate my chick? (kinda a lengthy vent)

[cafarmgirl]

OP, sorry uncle is behaving like such a jerk. The run you are building sounds great. If the yard is accessible to the dog, or any dog, you might consider using electric poultry netting around your run or a few strands of hot wire. That will deter any dogs that attempt to break in. And a whole list of other nasty critters as well, very easy to do and very effective. Good luck. Oh by the way, the Uncle really needs a few zaps of the hot wire too for his crummy attitude!

 

[Heat]

Who would win in a fight between your dog and his dog, if your dog would clearly win- then let him know you'll have your dog guarding your property and he's to use the front path/driveway and not bring his mutt?

Oh I am sure my dog would win... I am working on building him a run around the perimeter of the chicken run as added protection... just trying to figure out the best way to do it so it is sturdy and tall enough (hoping to not have to cover that portion).

I never said "sorry my kid ate your kid...". You are confusing my post with someone else. My hens are my pets. We take very good care of them and making sure they are safe. It's not cheap unless you are using recycled materials.

I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to say that you said "sorry my kid ate your kid...". I was using it as am example since he wanted to buy more chicks (for his dog eating the one) but he wanted them as his own, just living in my coop and I would be taking care of them.

I'm fortunate enough to live in Washington near the Olympics so we stay pretty cool and have lots of trees. So letting them out in the evening when we are home is working for now. We are hoping to have our run finished this weekend or next... thanks to CL (whoever invented CL in a genius I say)

 

[Heat]

OP, sorry uncle is behaving like such a jerk. The run you are building sounds great. If the yard is accessible to the dog, or any dog, you might consider using electric poultry netting around your run or a few strands of hot wire. That will deter any dogs that attempt to break in. And a whole list of other nasty critters as well, very easy to do and very effective. Good luck. Oh by the way, the Uncle really needs a few zaps of the hot wire too for his crummy attitude!

very good idea (on all accounts

) I think I will be adding electric netting or wire to the honey-do-list...

 

[Daisy8s]

Heat, I'm completely with you in this issue. It was your uncle's responsibility to control his dog--plain and simple. He should have given you cash to replace your chicks the very day it happened and with no strings like they're really "his" chickens attached.

I know that you are building a run that will be secure from your uncle's dog and that is wise given that you have a known predator living next door. If he won't control his dog then your entire flock would probably be gone within a few days. But, I disagree with all the previous posters that attacked you in this situation. Not only were their comments unhelpful when you needed to vent about a recent loss but they're also completely dismissive of the fact that there is more than one way to raise chickens.

I free range my chickens without any protection during the day. Their coop is completely predator proof so they're safe after dark, but they free range with only their own wits, and lots of places for them to seek protection if needed, to protect them during the day. I have made the decision that I'd rather have shorter lived chickens who live a fuller life because they can roam than long-lived but bored to death chickens contained in a run. And no, I'm not going to put my finances towards building them a huge run. I have other, much more important, uses for my dollars than that kind of a run.

I enjoy all my animals very much but I have not confused them with humans, I do not think they're my children, and I'm not spending hundreds of dollars to protect a chick that cost me $2.50 at the feed store. There are many different ways to raise chickens and attacking someone who doesn't have the exact same set-up as you do is unproductive and naive.

 

[FireTigeris]

my dogs are barrier trained, hey will not cross a vertical barrier to tall for them to step over, I have a four foot perimeter fence (except the area near the deck, that's 6 foot from the ground). Here's my coop.

I have a pit bull and a greyhound - it keeps them out, they are now being trained to ignore birds, both ignore adult chicken or duck birds with me present - chicks and ducklings not so much...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/album/view/id/6177963/user_id/44847

it's 24*12*8 (not counting the attached laying coop @ 3*5*3), but 6 would have been tall enough. (hubbie and I are short)

 

[Lynne in Maine]

We are both chicken and dog people and I think the uncle is way out of line. I know some people don't think of chickens as a big deal -"what's one or two, more or less", but if you love them like pets, you don't feel that they are just barnyard animals. And I also don't approve of beating a dog. First of all, it doesn't work. A dog who is scared of its owner still doesn't understand what the rules are.You have to teach them what they are and are not to do. I don't think this uncle will be inclined to spend much time on this, so it's up to you.

This might be more difficult, since it's not your dog and you probably don't like him much right now, but it can work. This is what happened with us. My significant other's dad had a German Shepard/Collie mix who was a confirmed chicken killer. Every time he got away, he ran down the road to the neighbor's chickens (free range) and killed all he could get his mouth on. We inherited this dog when his master died 18 months ago and we already had chickens at the time. We weren't sure we would be able to keep him because of his history, but we decided to try to work with him and to see how it went. We started off with him on leash, outside the chicken pen. Every time he panted or drooled or focused too hard on the chicks, we corrected him; not by beating him but by speaking sharply and giving the leash a quick jerk to redirect him. Then lots of praise and patting when he relaxed and focused elsewhere.

When he was good outside the pen, we moved on to leashed with the chickens. You have to focus completely during this lesson, because dogs are quick! We let him get a little close, but always had complete control over the distance between him and the chicks. Again, correction if he made a mistake and lots of praise when he did well. When we felt comfortable, we let him off the leash, but followed him around the yard using sharp voice commands if he seemed too interested in the chicks. Now we can let him loose in the yard unattended. This didn't happen overnight; it took 2 or 3 weeks of almost daily lessons. And now he is so much happier and calmer inside the yard and out.

I know this is quite a commitment on your part, but you will be so much happier if you can live in better harmony with your dog neighbor and not have to constantly fear for your chickens safety. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I hope you can get to a place where you can enjoy your chicks and they can enjoy their good life with you!

 

[FireTigeris]

We are both chicken and dog people and I think the uncle is way out of line. I know some people don't think of chickens as a big deal -"what's one or two, more or less", but if you love them like pets, you don't feel that they are just barnyard animals. And I also don't approve of beating a dog. First of all, it doesn't work. A dog who is scared of its owner still doesn't understand what the rules are.You have to teach them what they are and are not to do. I don't think this uncle will be inclined to spend much time on this, so it's up to you.

This might be more difficult, since it's not your dog and you probably don't like him much right now, but it can work. This is what happened with us. My significant other's dad had a German Shepard/Collie mix who was a confirmed chicken killer. Every time he got away, he ran down the road to the neighbor's chickens (free range) and killed all he could get his mouth on. We inherited this dog when his master died 18 months ago and we already had chickens at the time. We weren't sure we would be able to keep him because of his history, but we decided to try to work with him and to see how it went. We started off with him on leash, outside the chicken pen. Every time he panted or drooled or focused too hard on the chicks, we corrected him; not by beating him but by speaking sharply and giving the leash a quick jerk to redirect him. Then lots of praise and patting when he relaxed and focused elsewhere.

When he was good outside the pen, we moved on to leashed with the chickens. You have to focus completely during this lesson, because dogs are quick! We let him get a little close, but always had complete control over the distance between him and the chicks. Again, correction if he made a mistake and lots of praise when he did well. When we felt comfortable, we let him off the leash, but followed him around the yard using sharp voice commands if he seemed too interested in the chicks. Now we can let him loose in the yard unattended. This didn't happen overnight; it took 2 or 3 weeks of almost daily lessons. And now he is so much happier and calmer inside the yard and out.

I know this is quite a commitment on your part, but you will be so much happier if you can live in better harmony with your dog neighbor and not have to constantly fear for your chickens safety. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I hope you can get to a place where you can enjoy your chicks and they can enjoy their good life with you!

I have a leash training in my signature of the greyhound w/o relying on other commands and getting lots of praise.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LncnJOuZfXEfUrMyf_G_OdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite

 

[goldfinches]

Maybe a little sticker shock is what uncle needs. You said the dog killed an Ameraucana. Probably a large one, either laying or near laying. So, the replacement bird should be a full grown one, not a baby. I don't know how much that will cost, but I am assuming you will have to have it shipped to you. Since there are no hatcheries that sell Ameraucanas, you have to find a breeder who will be willing to ship one. I believe hatcheries charge about $50 to ship a regular, older, laying age hen. Just finding a breeder who will ship an Ameraucana of this age may be a task, but you can probably do it. Day old purebreds from my local breeder are $10 each. I would think an older one would probably be more like $40 or so. Altogether, your uncle is looking at nearly $100 for his dog's naughty deed.

Present him with this and maybe he'll be more diligent about confining his dog.

 

[Nicole01]

Maybe a little sticker shock is what uncle needs. You said the dog killed an Ameraucana. Probably a large one, either laying or near laying. So, the replacement bird should be a full grown one, not a baby. I don't know how much that will cost, but I am assuming you will have to have it shipped to you. Since there are no hatcheries that sell Ameraucanas, you have to find a breeder who will be willing to ship one. I believe hatcheries charge about $50 to ship a regular, older, laying age hen. Just finding a breeder who will ship an Ameraucana of this age may be a task, but you can probably do it. Day old purebreds from my local breeder are $10 each. I would think an older one would probably be more like $40 or so. Altogether, your uncle is looking at nearly $100 for his dog's naughty deed. Present him with this and maybe he'll be more diligent about confining his dog.

I completely agree! BTW, I'd love to own an Americaunia! Maybe someday if I buy hatching eggs. I'm full right now, since I hatched 3 myself last week if all girls. If my 2 Easter eggers are hens, I'll have 4 total. Love the blue and green eggs.

 

[jahphotogal]

This is a great discussion, since we are now in a similar situation, though with a neighbor, not a relative or friend. His dog has come on my property at least three times - the first time he chased my old cat up a tree. The cat fell out of the tree and had to go to the vet for injuries (at great cost to me.) A few days later one of my chickens disappeared, and last night the dog raced onto my property and took one right in front of me - she was dead before I could get to the dog.

Our local dog warden says that he has to compensate me, and that I have the right to shoot the dog if it comes back (not that I ever would.) She also says that if I can catch it the next time it shows up she'll come get it and take it to the pound. I am afraid to let the chickens out - while I agree that I don't want them to live a terrible life, we only have a few and they are our pets -we are not farmers. (This IS backyard chicken dot com, not poultry farmer dot com!) I'm afraid the dog will kill my cats, too, since he now has a taste for blood, so I'm keeping them inside. (The one is too old to get away, and the other is declawed so she couldn't climb a tree at all.)

I'm pricing electric fencing, but it is awfully expensive - I am not happy at having to spend the money since I am quite broke! But I guess I was naive going into this, and didn't realize, despite warnings from friends, how likely it was that we'd lost a bird to predators. (We live in the center of a small town - coyotes and foxes and even raccoons are rarely seen around here, though I know it only takes one.) I just thought people keep their dogs on leashes! My bad, and the trauma of seeing poor "Dandelion" ripped limb from limb in front of my eyes (and my children) has sure taught me a lesson.