Coyote came back to visit...

[cozycritters]

So, a week ago this morning a coyote slaughtered all of our birds-- a total of two ducks, a goose (full grown!), and 9 chickens of various ages.

Today when I was watering my garden I noticed that it had come back and left me a present! A nice, big, coyote poop on our back lawn. (Yard is dog-proof. Coyote jumped 6+ foot fence, I saw it do it.)

We don't have anymore animals back there, so it's not that that I'm worried about. We DO want to have chickens again, though, and we can't if we have been 'adopted' by Mr/Ms Suburban Coyote.

I'm seriously considering getting a dog. Is this a stupid reason to get one?

I also have two small children and one on the way-- one of my boys is extremely short... shorter than a coyote and I am worried that he would be fair game...

 

[jqs birds]

Coyotes sometimes kill dogs too. You may be able to find someone local to trap him or shoot him if you're not able to. If he has claimed your yard as his territory he will be back.

 

[citrusdreams]

Well, I know people who have lost medium and large sized dogs to coyotes. Here, they tend to tempt them to leave the immediate area, and then they gain up on them. Someone told me that one of her german shepherds was lost to a coyote. I found that hard to believe but she swears it happened. If you're sure it's only one coyote, you might be able to get away with one dog. But if there's more, you may need two. Two large ones.

I'm not sure a livestock guardian is a good choice for someone living in a suburb. They bark allllll night. So when you say you live in a suburb, that limits you a bit. I have german shepherds and they run freely with the chickens.

Someone just started a thread not too long ago about picking out a dog that was friendly towards chickens. I'd do a search for that thread. Personally, I think you're looking more for an individual dog and less than looking at a specific breed, but there are breeds that are more prey driven, that's for sure. I'd go with the working/herding dogs myself. Collies are a good choice.

Don't forget that it might take some work to train your dog to behave with the chickens. They're not all born with that and have to be trained

But yes, I think you need dogs

everyone needs dogs

All dogs need nice responsble owners who will spoil them rotten and love them to bits.

 

[Zuesdude]

Quote:
Sorry to hear about your birds, Where they in a fenced area, And was it only made of chicken wire?

 

[CMV]

A couple years ago I got my first up-close-and-personal look at 5 coyotes who were fighting in my back yard with a fox. I am assuming they were juveniles because of their vaguely puppy-like appearance, but I was STUNNED by how big they were. I always thought of coyotes as being 50-65 lbs. but these guys easily out-weighed my 70 lb. dog. I found out later that coyotes in our area have mixed with Eastern Gray Wolves and are much larger as a result. I feared for my dog's safety for a long time after. The coyotes haven't been around for a couple years and I hope they don't come back.

 

[cozycritters]

I think coyotes differ in size etc. based on region...

We've owned dogs before-- my Afghan/Irish Setter is a little on the small size to be alone with coyotes around, while my cataloua/pit was plenty big enough.

There's no way we're getting two dogs on .2 acres. It's not fair to them. The whole yard is completely fenced in, with 6 + ft chainlink with privacy 'slats' through it, so there's no visibility from the alley. Because of the Afghan mix aforementioned the yard is completely dog-proof (he has storm issues) It's a very populated/suburban area. My BIL from game and fish said to get a pellet gun, but not to tell him.

The chickens were in their own, separate pen, and it's 6-8 foot re-enforced chicken wire. The coyote jumped over the fence. (not covered, there is a low tree...) either in the pen or near it and then opened the gate. (Simple hook latch).

There are issues with the dog thing... my DH is not a dog person, really, I have small kids... and there's the whole situation with trying to find a dog that will be ok with the chickens instead of installing our own 'private' coyote.

So, friendly to kids, chickens, but not coyote-bait... not as easy as it sounds. And DH is not enthusiastic about a dog at all...