Devastated :(

[hennypenny99]

I am so sorry for your loss. The same thing happened to my sister Sunday night. She had her pen enclosed with chicken wire and the chicks (8 weeks) were in a raised coop they built theirself. Well there were some pit bulls roaming the neighborhood (strays) and that night they tore through her chicken wire and ripped the corner off of her coop. Killed all three of her chickens.

I agree with what cafarmgirl said - run hotwire around it. It will keep out dogs and other predators that might want to dig in as well. You can buy one for under $60. Some of them run on batteries and some are even solar. Ours is solar powered. I am so glad one of your chicks made it home.

 

[MeowCluckBark]

I'm so glad you have 2 of your babies still! I had one get chased off by our own dog. I ended up rehoming the dog the next day because I couldn't deal with that stress. Chickens are pretty resilient and I wouldn't be too surprised if given a little time the girls will slowly be more comfortable. The one that was chased off by our dog still sticks really close to the coop now. She's more timid than before, which is unbelievable that it is even possible, but she's coming out of her shell again slowly. It will be ok.

I agree that having to call your neighbor isn't the best solution long term. They need to figure something out to keep the dog under control at ALL times.

 

[tinydancer87]

I have had several experiences with dog attacks...one time killed my favorite d'uccle rooster. All the others hid in the woods until dark when they came out to go in their coop. And our property is fenced in...dogs had dug under the cyclone fence. Shot the stray that came over at night to attack the pony in his stall. A different occasion shot the neighbors' shiht-zhu bc it killed some babies. Owner had been warned previously. All she did was get another dog. A third occasion trapped dog and called Animal Control to come pick it up.

After a dog attack, the remaining chickens will always remember and be afraid/wary of dogs.

 

[KYChixMama]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I had this happen too and it's heart wrenching.

 

[shuizar209]

Oh wow. That is so disheartening.

 

[suzeqf]

i'm sorry i would definately talk to your neighbor and tell them what happened and if they seem sorry and willing to pay for their dogs actions then you have good neighbors if they say oh it wasn't my dog then you are fighting a loosing battle sad to say but i would definetly let the little guy calm down and then get him a few new playmates and keep a bb gun or paint ball gun handy they make send very good messages

 

[vtgirls]

So sorry for your loss. I fear that once your neighbors dog has had a taste for chicken fun it will be going for it again. Trying to call when your birds are out will not be a sure fix - what if the dog gets loose accidently? (happened to me with my own dog who got my sons favorite chicken on his birthday - fixed with FENCING - training too, but fence for when other steps might fail) - maybe your neighbor and yourself could work together to fence in either your space or theirs - sadly more than an agreeable conversation will be necessary to keep your sweet peeps safe. Hope it all works out!

 

[Moonkit]

Granted I don't know the full story. I don't know if these people have a habit of letting their dog wander about. But not everyone just "lets" their dog wander off their property. Sometimes accidents happen.. some breeds of dogs are even known as escape artists! Huskies can scale anything under 6 feet. Some can dig under despite the best intentions of the owner.

Personally, I'm glad to see the owners owning up to their dog's actions and doing what they can to fix the damage their dog did. How many stories have we seen on here in which the dog owner denies what their dog did or just plain refuses to offer any compensation? How many have we read about where the dog owners shrug it off and do nothing to even try to make sure their dog doesn't get loose again?

My own border collie, Diamond, has aggression issues towards other dogs. We're aware of them, we've worked tirelessly with her on them. She is a lot better, however, because of her past tendencies, we'll never be able to be completely at ease about her behavior around others. She tends to act up if I am not their to ensure she remains disciplined. But she is still a border collie who is very curious about her world and has wanderlust. She has escaped twice, but thankfully, nothing happened either time.

Once.. I let her and our sheltie out to do their business in the backyard. Unfortunately, I did not know that my father had workers over earlier in the day working in the flower beds who had unwittingly left one of the gates open. The gate is on the far side of the house.. its actually impossible to see from inside the house, you have to walk over to that side to see it. We rarely if ever use it (mainly because the dogs favor that part of the yard to leave their gifts). Our sheltie stayed in the yard, but Diamond didn't. I didn't realize she was gone until I opened the door to call them back in and only our sheltie returned. I immediately went looking for her and quickly found her a block over, exploring someone else's front yard. She returned at her recall command. After this, I worked on training her not to leave our property boundaries without me. So.. am I an irresponsible dog owner because of what happened?

Now, Diamond tends to walk quietly.. one evening, she followed my father into the front yard. He apparently didn't notice her following him as he went to get something out of his van. She went over to sniff our mailbox.. he went inside and closed the door. Thankfully, this happened around the time I tend to feed them dinner and when I went to give them their dinner, once more, I only had a sheltie waiting patiently. Since it wasn't storming (Diamond's storm shy), I didn't think she was in hiding, so I called for her.. no answer. I asked my parents if they'd seen Diamond since the last place I had seen her was when she was sleeping on the living room couch. They hadn't. Come to find out.. my training had held and Diamond was sitting on the welcome mat just outside the front door, waiting to be let back in. So once more, thankfully nothing happened. But am I still an irresponsible dog owner?

We can do our best, but sometimes.. they will get out. Sometimes by accident, sometimes by cleverness, and unfortunately sometimes by willful negligence. I think what's important is that these owners are trying to work out a plan for the future and offering to repay the damage caused. Will this bring back those poor chickens? No.. but accidents do happen.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Sadly, people will let their dogs run loose. That's where shoot, shovel and shut up come in. Unlike wild predators, who kill to eat, dogs kill everything they can catch. Chicken tractors need heavy welded wire or chain link, and we add a layer of chicken wire inside to help keep raccoon paws out. We had the same thing happen, chicken wire torn open, most chickens missing and two survivors inside a small dog kennel I put in there for them to cuddle in. I sat up with a gun all the next night, but this pack of dogs is very wary. Good luck to you. I did have one neighbor with a pit bull that kept getting out. I told them they needed to keep it penned up because my policy is to shoot dogs killing my livestock. They found a new home for their dog. My other neighbor does pretty well keeping hers in a pen, but has killed at least one. I offered to pay to get him neutered , hoping it will make him less aggressive. She gets just as upset as I do when he gets out, but did not offer to replace my dead chicken. He also bit one of my goats. I told her if he attacks my livestock again , I will shoot him, and she agrees . Actually, she only has this dog because someone dumped him off . Life is rough out here at times:'( Sorry for your loss.

 

[dandydoodle]

Sorry about your chicks.

If nothing else I would talk to your neighbor about their dog because, they need to find a proper way to restrain him. They need a fence or a chain or something. If they don't do something that dog will do it again. I know I have dachshunds which, are hunting dogs by nature. NO matter how unpleased I let my dog know I am with him when he brings home a squirrel he will do it again. My point if it is in the dogs make up to be a hunter the only way to stop it is for them to make sure he/ she can't get on your land.

Good luck,
Michelle