I paid anywhere from 6-8 dollars a chick, they were all standard wyandottes from Urch that were auctioned off this spring as a fundraiser for 4H. BOY these birds ate. That said, I had my neighbors dog get into my coop 2x, two and a half months apart.
This dog does NOT have a fenced yard, and came over my four stand non-electrified wire fence then jumped and dug at the doors on my arrow shed (hen house, with attached run) and knocked the doors off track enough to get in.
After stitching together my last remaining standard chicken, a white wyandotte roo, (thank goodness I keep my silkies indoors and my geese in a tall chainlink fenced area) I have done two things to prevent further attacks:
1) called owners again (third time I've called, 1x after 1st attack, once about a month later saw her on my property, 3rd yesterday when birds attacked again). They say they will compensate me, but I am certain they only expect to pay a few dollars a bird. Their solution was to threaten the children with giving the dog away- not goign to fence yard and still not putting her in her kennel when she is outdoors.
2) I purchased, at MY expense, $500 of electric netting and a solar charger.
I enjoy raising meat/egg birds, and now the flock I put so much work into (sexing, socializing, supplementing, renovating a coop for) is gone except one roo.
*****What would you calculate as food utilized per bird if you have had them 9 months?*****
I want to charge for
1) cost of bird;
2) cost of feed;
3) damage to coop doors.
I tried so hard to be nice- they seem educated and neighborly, but they obviously just don't understand. I cannot shoot the dog (don't own a gun) and even if I did they watch her well for awhile, and I can't afford to sit outside with a shotgun for a month or two waiting for them to relax again. They said they won't put up fencing now since they jsut paid for landscaping. Since money seems to talk, I do want a realistic estimate of loss, although I want to exclude future loss (from egg/meat production) at this time.
This dog does NOT have a fenced yard, and came over my four stand non-electrified wire fence then jumped and dug at the doors on my arrow shed (hen house, with attached run) and knocked the doors off track enough to get in.
After stitching together my last remaining standard chicken, a white wyandotte roo, (thank goodness I keep my silkies indoors and my geese in a tall chainlink fenced area) I have done two things to prevent further attacks:
1) called owners again (third time I've called, 1x after 1st attack, once about a month later saw her on my property, 3rd yesterday when birds attacked again). They say they will compensate me, but I am certain they only expect to pay a few dollars a bird. Their solution was to threaten the children with giving the dog away- not goign to fence yard and still not putting her in her kennel when she is outdoors.
2) I purchased, at MY expense, $500 of electric netting and a solar charger.
I enjoy raising meat/egg birds, and now the flock I put so much work into (sexing, socializing, supplementing, renovating a coop for) is gone except one roo.
*****What would you calculate as food utilized per bird if you have had them 9 months?*****
I want to charge for
1) cost of bird;
2) cost of feed;
3) damage to coop doors.
I tried so hard to be nice- they seem educated and neighborly, but they obviously just don't understand. I cannot shoot the dog (don't own a gun) and even if I did they watch her well for awhile, and I can't afford to sit outside with a shotgun for a month or two waiting for them to relax again. They said they won't put up fencing now since they jsut paid for landscaping. Since money seems to talk, I do want a realistic estimate of loss, although I want to exclude future loss (from egg/meat production) at this time.
