Be responsible for your dogs !!!(graphic pics)

[sunnydee]

Oh my god..i just come across this post ....how awful. As I am sitting here watching my girls out my window...poor babies. I wouldn't shoot the dog..I would shoot the darn irresponsible owner of the dog.

Be strong .... and dont stop raising chickens. They are wonderful!!

 

[horsejody]

Quote:
Depending on the chicken, that may not be overcharging.

 

[Miltonchix]

SHOOT THE #@&%$&@%DOGS AND TAKE 'EM HOME (DEAD!) WITH A BILL FOR THE CHICKENS.

In this case it should NOT be YOU making peace. They should be kissing.............well, you know.
And I TOTALLY disagree with the "you should build a bigger, better fence" crowd. I am NOT going to let someone else dictate what I do on MY land.

When it comes to a fox, or a hawk or some other natural predator it is MY responsibilty to protect my birds. If the owner is not controlling his animals HE is responsible NOT you!
I cannot believe the arrogance of some people...."its only a chicken" !! Well,"it was ONLY your dog!"

 

[moenmitz]

Gotta say...I would be more in favor of putting the owner out of YOUR misery than the dog...kidding, kidding...I think...

Dogs are not so different from people. They often hold jobs, they have a place as part of the family- I would go into a burning building to save my Tim! They too, are imperfect, make mistakes, and occasionally use bad judgement based on the way they were raised, or human, errr...canine... nature. It isnt fair to shoot the dogs because their owner is stupid. Unfortunately, sitting down and chatting with a dog to explain why what it did was wrong, is most likely not going to be successful. Sometimes, punishment is necessary-and taking away the dogs allowance is not going to have an effect. Like people, dogs have rights, and some of those rights are earned. Tim has earned the right to be loose outside, he respects his boundaries, and were he to violate them, he would lose that freedom. Some may think it is irresponsible to leave him loose, I think he has as much right to be loose in the yard as my kids do! If it were dangerous for them, or I felt they could not be trusted, they would be restricted...just like Tim would. The danger in our situation is quite minimal-we are in a very rural area with no close neighbors, our driveway is a 1/4 mile from the road, I am home 90% of the day, and he outweighs any possible predator by a good 100 pounds. We take reasonable precautions-he is fully vaccinated, wormed and receives regular vet care. We do not own our 12 acres, fencing it is not an option. As I said, if there is threat of storms, he is contained in the house so he will not be terrified into fleeing. He spends the majority of his day sleeping under the dining room table. He is old, arthritic, and has earned our trust. It does not mean nothing bad can happen to him, but if we live our lives, and make our dogs live their lives, in paranoia about every possible bad thing that could happen-no one would find much satisfaction in living! Balance is needed, and so we take reasonable precautions. He has been trained, he has responded...and now, 7 years later, he has made an error. In my book, that is a pretty good run. He has been disciplined and forgiven. Now comes the earning our trust back part-and I have little doubt that he will. Your neighbor might not BE the sort that will go to the trouble of responsibly rehoming his dogs-if he has to get rid of them, he may shoot them himself, or give them away in a free ad, dump them off somewhere, or leave them at a shelter to be euthanized. I do not advocate physically punishing a dog as a general rule, but in this instance, it might very well save their lives, as well as the lives of your chickens. Seems like the lesser of two evils to me.

 

[chickster88]

That's so terrible. I'm so sorry this happened to you. How devastating a thing to come home to and with a sick daughter, too. I think your neighbour needs to be presented with a bill for financial compensation for sure, and you need to find out about local laws re: unleashed dogs and report them.

But, as much as it's their fault not yours (you have EVERY right to expect that unleashed dogs not be on your property), it may be the only option to build larger run where you are comfortable leaving the hens when you are not home, rather than free ranging them. While this is NOT YOUR FAULT AT ALL, the reality is, your neighbour is an irresponsible dog owner, and this may happen again.

The dog may be let out again, either accidentally or "accidentally on purpose" if he's a passive-aggressive neighbour like mine, or maybe a stray dog or coyote or whatever may show up one day out of the blue...

I say build a giant-size glue trap and catch the neighbour on it...

 

[zchickens]

I plan on mailing my neighbor a bill this weekend requesting compensation. I will give him 5 days to pay. If not, I will let the police know to move forward with citing him for not containing his animals. The only question I have is what to charge. Here is a breakout of the chickens I lost to his dogs:

These chickens I hatched from eggs, and where about 3-4 months old:

2 Blue copper marans roosters
1 Splash maran hen
1 wheaten amerucana hen (this chicken came from an egg from pips & peeps - Jean what would you value this bird at?)
3 banty buff brahma hens (these were nearly six months old, and had starting laying last week)

Hatchery chickens (about 6 months old, most all the hens had just started laying within the last couple of weeks):

2 Buff Orington hens
2 Delaware hens
1 silver penciled rock hen
1 golden laced polish hen
1 partridge cochin hen
1 banty black cochin hen
1 buff laced polish rooster
1 golden laced wyandotte hen
1 golden campine hen

Total 18 chickens

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Z

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, here each point of lay hen goes for about 15-25 each. So I'd go ahead and charge 25 for each hen and like ten per roo leaving a fair charge for this area in livestock sense. Not sure what your market is but go from that and up it a bit. Best of luck.

 

[Ladysonja]

Quote:
Good for you! I am glad to hear that you are sending a bill with a date to be paid by. I am also glad to hear that if the bill is not paid that the cite will go forward.

One way or the other, the owner will be hit in the pocket book.

In that letter, let him know what your plans are... (keep a copy for your records) Pay up to me or pay up to the county... Also let him know that if the dog ends up on your property again tell him in no certain terms not to come crying to you when the dog ends up missing!

I am sure that you a have read every word posted regarding your situation. You may agree with some and disagree with others... But know that what ever your decision is with this situation, you have my support without judgement or critism!

Good Luck!

 

[pips&peeps]

I paid $40.00 a piece for my ameraucana pullets from Paul Smith last fall at the Nationals.

So, if she looked very similar to the pictures of the standard I would charge $40.00 for her.

The copper marans roos should get you at least $20-$25 as they are rare and demand for them is high now. So is the price.

The marans hen should bring you at least $40.00 too.

Around here, point of lay and laying hens go for around $10.00 to $12.00, it depends on what the going rate is where you are.

So you are around the $275.00 to $300.00 mark.....

 

[lengel]

I own three large labs and a rottweiler mix puppy. I fostered over 100 labs, lab mixes and "mutts" for a rescue over a two year period. And the only dog that ever harmed any of my poultry was a dog owned by someone who lives more than two miles away. This dog was so determined that it took out a fence post to get to my enclosed birds. And he was a regular visitor.

There are a lot of people who should not own dogs but do. Clearly your neighbors are horribly irresponsible and frankly now that the dogs know where your chickens are, they'll be back. It's pretty horrible that the only option that law enforcement offers is for you to shoot the dogs even though it's not legal for the dogs to run loose.

Even though my chickens are secured against this dog now, the next time he comes over, he'll find a new home at a shelter.