Chicken protectors

[minna]

I agree on the great Pyrenees. I know you said you couldn't afford it, but look around a little. We found one once for $40. Of course 9 months later some idiot poisoned it, but that is another story.
On the neighbors dog issue. If a dog messes with my chickens it gets shot. If I know it is a neighbors dog, I will give them a warning. Then, the first time it will be a pellet or .22 in the rear, depending upon the dog and my husbands mood, the next time, it probably won't survive. I know it sounds mean, but that's the way it has to be, I refuse to lose my livestock b/c someone else can't contain or train their animals.
And yes, it is perfectly legal according to MS law if a dog even chases any of my livestock, chickens, horses, ect. I can kill it with no recourse, and the owner will still be liable for the damage to my animal if any.

 

[sandypaws]

i agree with prariechick.... i think it is absurd to think chickens should "free range"..(i am talking to anybody).
everything out there wants to EAT them.. and you are just setting them free????.. i have about 3/4 ?? of an acre FENCED for my chcikens to "free range" on. the 6 foot fence has 2 strands of hotwire (top and botom). and a coop to lock them in at night.. i still have predators testing the fence, trying to get IN.. if i didnt have a fence i would not have any chickens....

and to all that think the great pyrness are great dogs... yes they are great dogs.. BUT remember YOU have to BRUSH and care for ALL that coat... if not they become MAGGOT dogs in the summer.. lots of coat,, fly lays eggs in coat,, eggs hatch into maggots,, maggots EAT your dog alive....
i see it every year.. and it is either a chow or a GRTpyrn..
if it was ME i would get an anatolian...
do NOT get a HERDING dog to protect.. they are way different JOBS..
it would be like asking your CAT to babysit your budgie,, yeah somecats might do a good job,, but it IN their instinct to KILL your birds...

and getting GAMEBIRDS???? to ward off predators???? serious??? i guess you never seen a TERRIER at work.. the more that bird would fight the MORE a terrier would work hard at killing it... terriers ignore pain when they are in a killing mode... and just fight harder to kill...

i really really dont understand why so many people INSIST on letting their bird free range... and then get upset when something kills them...

 

[WalkingWolf]

I never understood why people get upset when somebody shoots or runs over their free running dog.

Same goes for free running dogs as free ranging chickens. Except nobody gets hurt from avoiding a chicken of a night on the road because chickens roost of a night. I have not heard of any children mauled to death by a free ranging chicken. if you have a dog it should be fenced or leashed, if it runs free and anybody feels threatened they are legal to shoot the pest.

 

[sandypaws]

wolf.. i agree 100%..... dogs running free should be legal target practice.. they cause to much trouble...
as for free ranging chicken.. i dont understand it because everything wants to EAT your chickens,, arent you just "feeding" the wild life?????...
coyotes,, bobcats,, MTlions,, coon,, opposum,, hawks,, owls,, weasel,, fishercats,, fox,, wolf,, cotimundi(sp?),, ect,, ect,,,
.... and then neighbor dogs day of fun....
where i live,, NO WAY i could NOT freerange my chickens.. 80 chickens, one week they would be all gone...

 

[PortageGirl]

Well, it's all about "where you life" I guess. Everyone's situation is different, I live on a dead end road in a very rural area. I also didn't lose any to predators when I had my obviously inferior HERDING dog on the job, not even to the pit bull that lived up the lane. I lost a few to things like impacted crops that I hadn't learned to treat and such, and to some odd illness too, but not to predators. Gee, he didn't read the posts here I suppose.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Sandy I free range my chickens in my fenced yard, but most the time they are penned. But many people for ages free ranged their chickens and I am sure they lost some to predators, but then in those times they were around to protect them. It is one thing to lose chickens to a wild animal another to a neighbors negligence.

I had a problem once with a neighbors dog jumping my fence and coming into my yard. It got mauled a couple times by my pups but never learned. When it growled at a neighbors child the darn dog ran in front of my truck, too bad. Now the same neighbor has a pit pull chained up and it has broken the chain at least 10 times this year. Several times I have had to stand with a sawed off so my neighbors children could go and come from the bus stop. The next time he's loose it will be the last.

 

[sandypaws]

i do live out in the boonies.. i would not live anywhere else at the end of a 3 mile LONG dirt road

see "free range" behind a FENCE.. that i understand,, that is what i do... but some people just let there chickens run FREE...??? that i dont get???
RIGHT if you free range you should be HOME to watch them... dont turn the chickens loose and then hurry off to work (or shopping)

and it happend to ME TOO.. dang it, that poor ol' neighbors dog ran right into my truck,, oh well, only 3 more dogs to go...

portage.. i never said your dog was INFERIOR..???? i am SO GLAD for you, you had a great dog...
my problem is with people buying the wrong dog for the job, thats all.. i love herding dogs,, i have owned several.. but i would never trust them around the stock,, ever!!!!.. because they were bred to chase stock not protect.. and so many people will NOT do the training it takes..

 

[CTChickenMom]

It is very much about where you live. We all have to do what is best for where we are. Those folks in Arizona will have different preditors than those in Montana, than those in Florida, then those of us in Connecticut or Maine. My home sits on the edge of over 150 acres of land that is solely inhabited by various critters both footed and on wing. It is divided pretty equally between pasture land and wooded areas. Predators differ in season as well. Many are hunkered down and sleeping now but I would imagine someplace like Arizona deals with the same animals year round. Free ranging is more of a risk for some than it is for others. If you live in a fairly urban setting, I think one is less likely to have the quantity or variety of predators as those of us in the country have. If I could afford to build a run that was 20'x100' I'd do it. Of course I'd have to have a mighty large hen house too because I'd want to fill it with chickens but that goes without saying!

So...here is my thought. Give the neighbors fair warning, even in writing if you have too: contain your animals or there could be potential damage to them in the event that I have to protect my flock. Try to keep the peace, especially among family. It wouldn't bother me so much because Uncle was ticked off, or anyone else for that matter. My DH would be upset and that concerns me more. We've lived here for 6 years, don't break it if it ain't broke...right? Try to find the cheapest, simplest, most effective way to solve the problem, if you can, and work your way up. Hopefully this dog is too dumb to figure out the [long] way around the fence after my electric goes up. Will talk to Uncle about new chickens and the new fence. Will politely tell him that the wardens number is set to speed dial on my cell phone. Its common courtesy. He can ignore it or do something. His choice. Take notes...keep a record of what you've done. That's my plan.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
You are absolutely right, owners should be held responsible for their dogs, if they are not, their dogs should be treated like predators.

By the way I do not understand the protectionism and admiration for all kind of predators like wolfs, coyotes, foxes, coons, hawks etc.

I guess this is part of "CULTURE OF DEATH" in our sorry ass society, killing babies, letting predators kill domestic animals is OK Our "laws" are protecting predators so they multiply without any control causing inbalance in environment and punishing people who have a God's given right to protect their livestock.

In my area ( country, heavy wooded) uncontrolled growing population of hawks killed just about every wild bird in area, now they are going after my quail (caged) and chicken.

Harming or trapping a hawk is a felony, you can get more time for it that for a manslaughter.

This society is sick indeed.

 

[PortageGirl]

Quote:
Er... I'd look at some other factors first really... I live in the same sort of area, quite wild, still lots of farms and fields, rolling hills, lots of lakes and streams, but we are getting more and more houses built, farmers selling land cause they can't afford to farm anymore. That reduces places for birds to thrive, and while for now we have lots of smaller prey animals, I wonder how long that will continue. Right now though, our mourning dove population is HUGE! I counted 18 yesterday out under the bird feeders cleaning up the dropped seed, I've had Red Tails and a Merlin try to get em there, but there's too much tree cover for them to get a good stoop in....

There's too many manicured lawns anymore, fewer cover shrubs for birds in general, and people not having wood/brush piles for rabbits and small creatures to hide in. I actually keep a small brushpile off to the side, yeah, it looks a little messy, but birds at the feeder and rabbit tracks in the snow show that it's a good thing.

There's a lot of problems with habitat loss which reduces the population of many birds, which in turn causes hawks and other predators to turn to food sources that they wouldn't normally choose. Like chickens! THey're really not a hawk's first food choice. I'm not saying we shouldn't protect our chooks, not at ALL!!!!! Just don't blame the hawks and owls for everything. It's not as simple as kill all predators and solve the problems. If we need to build better runs to protect livestock, so be it, killing everything else seems a bad response, legal or not.

Also, I know two couples in AZ who say that the Owl factor and small dogs and cats has always been an issue, the one couple has lived there for... at least 25 years, and they were warned very early not to let their cat out at night for fear of owls getting it - really, it's up to us to adapt to where we live, not to FIX everyplace so it conforms to what we think it should be. Sorry (sort of) for the rant, I just got a little ticked,,,, I'll go back to my corner now.

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