at wits end with my @#$@% chickens!!!

[Darklingstorm]

I have 9 adult chickens of mixed breeds, I also have a 2 dogs and one is a chicken killer. The dog is a good dog otherwise and we are trying to find him a good home, but right now everyone is trying to find a new home for their dogs.
Here is my problem, the dogs are in a kennel with a 4' fence. The chickens free range the rest of the yard. First it was my SLW that kept getting in to the dog's area, but after a close call, she stopped. Now my BO is getting into the dog's area, twice today. I've already clipped their wings (just one on each bird), they have plenty of food and water available. So why?! I can't put a topper on the whole yard or dog kennel (53' long x 30' wide). We are going to build a run for them but even then it's going to be very large and money is tight.

I seriously thought about letting him have the stupid bird if she gets in there again, but it was just a "I'm ticked off" thought. Nothing like running through dog poop in socks to chase down a stupid chicken to get your blood boiling. Right now she is locked in the chick-growing-out box in the garage. She is my only BO and one of our favorites so.....grrr.
Maybe locking her up for the day will help get the idea out of her head that the dog's area is a good place.

Thanks for letting me rant.

 

[karimw]

They never do what you want them to do, do they? We always have to save them from themselves

Does your dog run have a rail the chickens can perch on? If so, that's probably the issue. 4 feet is a pretty easy hop for them. I have a few fenced areas I have to protect to keep them from pooping in the horse water buckets. I string baling twine about 3 inches above the rail to stop them from roosting on them. They don't seem to go over them either.

 

[nurse_turtle]

http://www.zarebasystems.com/store/electric-fence-kits-and-netting/k9kit

I have considered this kit for my chicken run as double protection from my one chicken eatin' dog. I have never used it nor do I work for or otherwise gain any benefits from suggesting this product. It can be found for around $50 on ebay. Maybe it could be used around your dog run.

 

[yinzerchick]

Is there dog food in there? They might be after that. Just a thought, hope you come up with something!

 

[sabias5]

if you can get enough chicken wire cheaply the easiest thing to do would be to simply lay it out flat along the top of the wall with as big an overhang on the outside as you gan manage without it drooping, just put rocks or bricks on it to stop it from falling off and bend it up and over so that you have like a curved overhang around the edge. That way when a hen flies up she'll hit the chicken wire and fall back down. it's how the council stops koalas from getting out of the sanctuary

 

[brahmakid11]

 

[MetalSmitten]

get some cheap plastic deer netting and zip-tie it over the dog kennel.

or put the dog on a long lead and "allow" him to chase your chickens for a few minutes, under your supervision/control, so that the chickens are made aware of the predatory nature of dogs without actually getting hurt. keep in mind though, chickens aren't very smart, what seems obvious to you is complicated science to them hah. they might not realize they're hopping over a fence towards a dog, they might think they're hopping UP, away from a dog.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

dog food, chickens think it's great stuff! I was watching the roo trying to sneak some out of the bowl while the puppy was eating, (70 lb puppy) dumb chicken...but amazed when he was totally ignored, maybe cause I was watching..those puppies are very protective of their food , mostly against each other though...
If nobody wants your dog, including you, why don't you have it put down? It's not a perfectly good dog after all, because it's already learned to kill. Don't mean to be insensitive, just practical

 

[san415]

I think you should clip the fight feathers on both wings. With only one clipped, she can fly, just cant control where she goes or land as well. I have owned parrots when I was younger and parrot owners clip both, never just one. I clip both the wings on any of my chickens who tend to fly out of their yard area. Its a 1 minute job to do both and then the problem is gone for at least a year. I have posted instructions on clipping the flight feathers by yourself as opposed to having a helper and pictures on bird wings and where the flight feathers are.

I live where chickens are not expected and so I need then to stay in the chicken yard. I also think its better for my hens to have no flight ability then to be off balanced.

 

[Darklingstorm]

Well I found where the BO was getting in and fixed it. She wasn't going over but under. There was a dug out area under the fence that was covered up by weeds but since the weeds all died, the opening was exposed. Little miss smarty pants found it and slipping under fast.

I also found out how my SLW was getting in but have no idea how to stop her, she almost got killed the other night when she got in again. This particular pebble in my shoe has learned to fly up to the chain link fence's top pole and walk down it to get inside the dog pen. I stopped her on one side but there is another side that she can use.

I only feed the dogs at night (wild birds kept eating all their food during the day) so normally there is no food in there by the time they are let out in the mornings. I do have plenty of food and water out every day, so have no clue as to why they are getting in the pen. I don't know how big our yard is but its very large (1 1/2 lots) so it's not like they don't have room to roam and plenty of variety to eat from. The dogs have pretty much killed all the grass there, so no vegetation to temp them and they have several dust bathing areas to use too.

So I'm still