Dog attack

[nhingy]

I'm beside myself right now, lost 2 of our 5 hens to the neighbors dog. One is confirmed and the other is missing, we have searched all over for it, hoping that it's hunkered down hiding right now and will come back before dark. The ones missing are waddles and moosho. We have a nice lot, 5.7 acres and a wooded area between us and the neighbor. The hens decided to venture into their yard and their dog was out and got at least one of them. I am very sad as they have become part of our household and part of our everyday lives. I can't fault the dog as it was on it's own property and it is a golden retriever that has hunting in it's blood.

The neighbor was very apologetic, offered to buy us more chickens, but I don't hold him responsible for our chickens in his yard. I didn't think they would wander that far and have usually only gone into the woods to get away from the heat. They have plenty of room in our backyard to wander.

I'm hoping the 4th comes back. The biggest question I have is will they now know that is not a safe place and stay away or will they continue to wander that way if we let them free range again? I'm hoping that they know it's not a safe place and avoid it like the plague!

 

[V-NH]

I would not bet on them staying away. Chickens are smart animals, relatively speaking. Mine have shown no propensity to learn from their mistakes.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Agree, they do not seem to learn from that type of mistake. They might stay closer to home for a day or two, but eventually they will go back. I can't tell from what you said if the dog is tied or fenced in in any way, but my bigger concern at the moment would be that the dog has now learned chickens are fun to play with and might come over now if he is free out if he sees or hears them.

 

[Folly's place]

I agree with the above posts. FENCING!!! The dog had fun and will repeat, and your birds won't avoid that area for long. I put up goat fencing between my colsest neighbors and the chicken house area; not very expensive, and works pretty well. They will hopefully confine their dog at home, but your job is to keep those birds at home and safe. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I agree with the above posts. FENCING!!! The dog had fun and will repeat, and your birds won't avoid that area for long. I put up goat fencing between my colsest neighbors and the chicken house area; not very expensive, and works pretty well. They will hopefully confine their dog at home, but your job is to keep those birds at home and safe. Mary

 

[nhingy]

Good news is that mooshoo came back, we only lost waddles, it's always the favorite. She was the one I gave the most attention to as she wasn't as energetic and seemed to be older and slower than the rest.

My neighbor is going to make sure the dog is secured and not running free, he still feels terrible about it.

I'm planning on fencing in the side of the yard between us and them, my concern is that there is quite a distance and even if I put up a fence, the birds can still go around it in the woods.

They love to free range and even after this, they were anxious to get back out of the coop and kept running to to door when we went out repeatedly to see if mooshoo came back. I ended up letting them out and they stayed around our deck and went to roost pretty early for them tonight.

 

[five is my dog]

this happened to me we called the police the same dogs killed my cat and more chickens. Fence in your chickens as soon as possible.