Dog destroyed our coop.

[centrarchid]

After all the chest thumping, I am doubting the perp was a dog. Most carcasses not found does not support dog well.

 

[lazy gardener]

It was a neighbor's husky.

 

[centrarchid]

Based on what? OP's post on evidence far from conclusive.

 

[lazy gardener]

Based on posters statement. I was not there, neither were you. based on that statement, that is what folks are responding to. I do not know if the dog was seen in the act, nor do you. I do not know if the dog has been repeatedly harassing this flock, neither do you.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Red Rover, Red Rover
If you want to see the light
Come over.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Red Rover, Red Rover
If you want to see the light
Come over.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Ack, you're killing me here! You are using my catch phrase! I knew it! SISTERS! LOL!
If you only knew how many times I've said "lock and load" about situations in the world today, not only chicken predators... Hiya, Sis!

Hiya Sis!!!

 

[speckledhen]

Of course, if you confront the neighbor about the dog, you are going to have to have some sort of proof, like a photo of the dog in your yard at the pens or something. Even then, the dog owners often do not admit the dog's guilt. We've seen that a million times, the owner standing in front of his dog, the dog covered in blood with chicken feathers stuck all over its mouth, and the owner swears the dog would never do such a thing and there's no proof. Or, even more ridiculous, the dog owner will blame YOU, the chicken owner for his dog killing your chickens on your property. Seen that, too.

My friend in KY lives near an idiot who got one Rottie after another and let it roam. He also has beagles he releases every night to bay all over the place and keep everyone awake. But, one Rottie came through her pasture into the open ended barn and growled at her husband who was doing blacksmithing in there. Dead dog. Next Rottie, same deal. Dead dog. Third Rottie made the mistake of sneaking into her coop in the middle of the day while a sheriff's deputy was talking with her on the other side of her house from the coop. She didn't hear the commotion because of where she was, but roosters and hens were all fighting the dog that day-she found many with dog hair in their beaks. She lost some, not as many as she would have if there had not been seven roosters all fighting at once, but the dog was pretty beaten up too, and ran out. When the dog ran past them with a cockerel in his mouth, the deputy shouted, "Is that your dog??" She screamed, "NO, DROP IT!" He obliged, willingly. Then, the deputy took the dead dog to the owner, who said, "It's all her fault!". The deputy said it was only her fault in the sense that she had chickens, period, and that the guy had better keep his dogs off her property and the deputy had better not hear of any retaliation or he'd be back to handle it.

I believe I heard that one of the beagles met his maker as well not long ago. Some dog owners never learn.

I have decided that I will not deal with A/C, not here where we live. They are extremely overworked as it is and hard to get hold of, too. And I will not, repeat, WILL NOT, grab some dog's collar to try and stop him from doing anything. We will use safer means for us, not so safe for the dog. Not my responsibility to protect someone else's roaming dog. Apparently, the owner doesn't much care.

 

[lazy gardener]

And I will not, repeat, WILL NOT, grab some dog's collar to try and stop him from doing anything. We will use safer means for us, not so safe for the dog. Not my responsibility to protect someone else's roaming dog.

Good point well made.

 

[speckledhen]

Have been monitoring this thread with interest. Had a couple observations over the weekend that might be relevant.

First one is we are dog sitting a Jack Russell terrier for a few weeks. Dog is very well behaved around us, but I've already seen enough to know he could become a serious problem for the wrong person. Not knowing what to expect, we tried walking him around the yard with the birds in full view. Initially, he paid them no mind, but then got close enough to make a lunge for them. His strong prey drive took over (they were bred as hunting dogs). I have no doubt that had he not been on a leash, he would have killed a bunch of birds. Then later, I put him on a leash (with birds in full lockup) and let him run around in the yard dragging the leash. After marking every tree and bush, he ended up around the chicken house. One trip around that (with birds safely inside) and he moved on. He then immediately found a shallow dip in the same section of chain link fence used by cats, coons, skunks and possums, squeezed under it and was free to run loose. Two small house dogs have never tried that in over 2 years, but he found and used it with a few minutes. That was with me in hot pursuit. I'm told he could have climbed or jumped the fence just as easy. Later on, I took him for another walk and all he was interested in was the dog barking about 1/4 mile away. I have no doubt that if he had not been on a leash, he would have been gone.....and up to who knows what type of mischief and carnage at all the neighbors houses. To anyone with chickens, that dog would be a serious threat to them if not controlled. A lot of folks would just let him run. Not me......but a lot of other folks would. Most likely they would also be the same ones who would get pissed when you shot him......lovable mug that he is.

Second incident.......dropped by my daughters place yesterday to retrieve some tools, and on the way out, encountered two strange dogs in their driveway. Both medium sized black lab mixes......wearing collars and tags, but otherwise, running lose. No clue who they belonged to. That was about 100 feet from the hoop coop where my daughter's remaining birds are housed. If not for the fact that it was reinforced with welded wire and essentially bomb proof, I would not have been surprised if those two strays would have been most interested in killing every thing in sight. As it was, they could do nothing but sniff around and harass.....but not kill anything.

So the point to all this is the threat from dogs (and other predators) is real and is constant. If you open the "worst predator" link to check out the survey, you find the two worst as indicated by BYC posters are coons and dogs. Those two alone account for nearly half of all losses. So take that as a given and plan accordingly. Go into this endeavor of raising chickens assuming there is a constant threat......24/7.......from these two predators. Worrying about what to do after the fact is of no help. To shoot or not to shoot is not the question. The question is how can you eliminate the threat of losses......day or night......from all comers? Be proactive, make your coop and run bomb proof and the issue resolves itself. Beyond that, if you want to allow more room to roam about, think electric fences.....but in any event, get ahead of it before your birds are all killed......not after.

Jack Russell terriers are one of my least favorite dogs. An early customer of mine who bought quite a few of my birds over the first years I had Orpingtons and Ameraucanas had terrible issues with a pack of the nasty little things slaughtering her birds. The neighbor refused to keep them corralled. Then, one day, as one was digging feverishly under a pen fence, her father walked up with a rifle, put it to the dog's head and executed the stupid thing. Naturally, as irresponsible dog owners often are, he was livid that his precious little pup was dead, didn't give a whit about all the poor dead birds they had killed over the years. No, I'm not at all fond of that particular breed of dog, though in general, I love dogs, have been a dog owner a large portion of my life, a responsible one. They have a fierce prey drive.

I have another friend who has one and as far as I know, she's never had any issues with him killing birds. Birds I've given and sold to her over the years have lived long lives at her place. Guess maybe she put some time into training him.