Bad Bad Terrible Day UPDATE post 35

[Qi Chicken]

Today was a horrible day. I had an appt with the vet for 10 am to put down our Welsummer that has been unable to walk since the end of August. I took her in and had her downed. Kids sad. Driving home and my husband called. He said the neighbors dog had come over for the THIRD time, this time he had killed our roo and a black australorp was injured. He took the dog back to the owners, again for the third time.

I was just shaking mad as I have talked to this guy about this, I didn't go home but straight over there and gave him hell. He said we were free to shoot him. HE is sitting there with a gun, with a dog that has been on our property 3 times already that he can't keep contained and he says that WE have to take care of HIS problem. Because he is too chicken SH**T to do it himself. I am not going to kill a family pet, a nice dog that is just doing what dogs do to pacify his cowardly butt.

He basically said he won't get rid of it, and won't kill it. I don't know what to do now. We live on 5 acres in the middle of nowhere. He is 1/2 mile away and our closest neighbor. A jerk anyway but this takes the cake.

So we go home, all sad. Putting away laundry, and Junie B. Jones, our roo, walks out of the tall grass. 4 hours later! He is hurt too. Bad punctures on his back near his tail. Remarkably he still has some feathers on his body. From the amount of feathers in the grass I thought there was no way he could be alive.

Both the injured chickens are able to walk. We cleaned the injuries we could find with diluted hydrogen peroxide. Then flushed with iodine. Slathered with neosporin. Put them both in isolated cages with aspirin water and food. The BA walks around but often goes to stand by herself. I'm worried about her.

So angry and So sad. Our roo was a hero I think. He saved the flock. Fling a prayer or a hope or a positive thought our way. I just can't stand this kind of stuff and am so worried about any punctures we didn't find. The feathers are thick. If I thought they would actually pay I would take them both to the vet and give them the bill. I was so sad about our Welsummer, having to put her down, but it was hard to take care of her now going on 3 months in the house. I come home and it starts all over again.

What are we going to do about this guy???????????????????? His wife originally said they would reimburse us for dead animals. Injured ones cost more and are so hard emotionally.

Just needed to vent. Thanks for listening chicken people.

 

[Liamm_1]

before having chickens, I would never have thought of killing a cat, dog, raccoon, etc.
One day while talking to my neighbor, I told him I was worried, as my chicks were young, and there had often times been a rather large cat in our yard.
He said: wow, you better shoot him!
I said: shoot a cat? that seems cruel.
he said: what, you want the cat to kill your chickens?
After that conversation I realized where my priorities lie, and that is to guard, protect and defend my chickens in any manner necessary.
I'll be darn if I'm going to lose the fruit of my labor, my sweat and blood, to someone else's problem.
Hope this helps put things into perspective

 

[cgmccary]

before having chickens, I would never have thought of killing a cat, dog, raccoon, etc.
One day while talking to my neighbor, I told him I was worried, as my chicks were young, and there had often times been a rather large cat in our yard.
He said: wow, you better shoot him!
I said: shoot a cat? that seems cruel.
he said: what, you want the cat to kill your chickens?
After that conversation I realized where my priorities lie, and that is to guard, protect and defend my chickens in any manner necessary.
I'll be darn if I'm going to lose the fruit of my labor, my sweat and blood, to someone else's problem.
Hope this helps put things into perspective

I've seen many people blame cats for killing chickens, and it turn out not to be true. In fact, VERY few cats will take a chicken. It is rare. I used to live in the city where there were a lot of stray cats, LOTS. I had chicks outside in pens and in the run many, many times. Not once did I loose a bird to a cat. Many times, I observed the stray cats in the run hunting chipmunks and mice. For whatever the reason, it is very rare a domestic cat will take a full grown chicken. The cats seem to run from the roosters and hens which would chase them! With neighbor's and people's own dogs, it is a horse of a different color. Dogs are probably the number one killer of chickens-- just read all the threads on this over the years. I hope any perceived problems with domestic cats will be put in perspective.​

 

[EggNutz]

So very sorry... prayers coming your way... hang in there.

 

[BooBear]

I am not sure on your local laws but you need to call animal control to see if they will pick the nuisance animal up.
Do you have leash laws in your area? If so, the owner can be looking at fines. Also, you can sue in a small claims court if you want to go to that trouble.

Not sure what else can be done. If you go the old shoot em way there could be trouble for you do to the changes made to protect animals which include fines and jail time. Each state is a bit different I think but the animal movement it seems gives animals like dogs and cats more protection and makes it difficult to get nuisance animals taken care of.

 

[Ibicella]

In this case since the dog isn't vicious and the guy is clearly a B-word, I'd take Fido on a long drive to a shelter if you don't want to shoot him.

What a coward. I'm so sorry for the loss of your chickens.

 

[bigshoes213]

I can not believe there are pet owners out there that do not take care of their animals and could care less what happens to thim. Unfortuately one of my dogs is also a chicken killer but I make sure he can not get out. I double check our gates multiple times a day and never let him near the chickens. The only time he has gotten one was when I did not clip the chicken wings quickly enough and she flew into the dog yard which was my fault.

I am so sorry you had to deal with this stupid man. There should be an IQ test before people can be pet owners. I hope your birds recover quickly.

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
Yep, sounds like a people friendly dog. Take him to the shelter farthest from your house. Personally, I'd shoot the dog, it's had it's 3 strikes.

 

[Liamm_1]

Quote:
I've seen many people blame cats for killing chickens, and it turn out not to be true. In fact, VERY few cats will take a chicken. It is rare. I used to live in the city where there were a lot of stray cats, LOTS. I had chicks outside in pens and in the run many, many times. Not once did I loose a bird to a cat. Many times, I observed the stray cats in the run hunting chipmunks and mice. For whatever the reason, it is very rare a domestic cat will take a full grown chicken. The cats seem to run from the roosters and hens which would chase them! With neighbor's and people's own dogs, it is a horse of a different color. Dogs are probably the number one killer of chickens-- just read all the threads on this over the years. I hope any perceived problems with domestic cats will be put in perspective.

The only time I've seen the cat since bringing chickens into my life, was once, he was crouched down watching them from across the yard as chicks, they were completely oblivious. I scared him off and haven't seen him since. If I see him eyeing them again, I will not hesitate to shoot him as he does not belong in my yard with my chickens.

 

[ErinG]

How frustrating, I'm sorry you are having to deal with this. I agree on taking the dog to the pound if you can. Irresponsible dog owners are the worst. Why do people like that own dogs?