Dog killed 3 of my girls

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Hot topic. Dog kills chicken. Happens so much, currently we have a roamer who kills chickens, I am out to get it. That said, it is the owners responsibility to control their mut, does it always happen, no. In the country, the solution is to shoot it, in the urban setting, exclude it. Laws prohibit discharge of a firearm near houses, there are other ways of course....nuff said.

 

[jak2002003]

Got to agree with the above poster. We've all heard the "dog doesn't know any better" defense of the dog. Same can be said of a dog that attacks a child, I suppose. Poor doggie. The only reason anyone defends dogs in this instance is that they are attacking chickens. Were it your toddler or most other targets, no one would likely say "poor dog."

How can you compare a chicken to a child! A chicken prey animal.....a dogs natural instincts will be to kill it, a human is not a chicken!

All dogs have the instinct to kill. Its up to the owner to train them or condition them to the correct behaviour. Still most dogs will go after a rat or squirrel and try to kill it.

It smacks of a 'its someone else's fault' attitude, when in fact its and owners of the chickens who have to ensure their birds are in predator prof runs and coops, and only free range when supervised, or in a secure area.

I would not let my rabbit or hamster run about in the fields alone and then start shooting people pet dogs that tried to kill it. Neither would I release my parakeets into the garden, and start shooting hawks.

Say the owner shoots the dog, then what? Later another dog from another home, then a bird of prey, then a raccoon or fox, etc etc. People should protect their chickens then the likely hood of an attack will be much decreased.

 

[real_redhead]

Oh, I am so sorry for you. I know what that feels like to have a dog kill you pet birds.. My own dog killed one of my hens for no reason, out of the blue, after living with them for 2 years with no problems. I was heartbroken.

However, this situation just sounds like a sad mistake. The owners of the dog are very good to pay you that money. Its not the dogs fault, they don't know its wrong to kill the chickens. I hope the dog owner will take more care of her dog. Perhaps the invisiable fence thing was just turned off by accident or broke.

Learn form this.....if that dog can get into you garden ...then any dog can! Make you fence dog proof, and your hen house. If that dog comes back, then its a different story, and you can take more action. Tell the owners that you have rat poison on your land and if the dog gets into you yard then it might eat it. That should make them keep the dog under control if they care about it.

When I went to tell the dog owner what happened the electric fence collar was laying on the porch...she didn't put it on him, she also all but said she had opened the gate in the back and came in the yard with her dog to look at the chickens, as she was telling me she liked looking at the chickens and she shut up with a look of guilt, we have a privacy fence along the alley and you can't see over it so I wonder how she saw the chickens when walking back there! I don't blame the dog I blame the owners but unfortunately it will be the dog that suffers if it happens again. And yes it was my fault that the run was made of chicken wire. I had a false sense of security, with a A-frame run attached to the coop and fenced in yard. There is now a new coop and a run that looks like it belongs in the zoo. The back gate has a lock on it so no one can open it, including me which is a hassle since our garage is there but I will do what it takes to keep anyone out now. The run is very secure now and the only way we will have trouble is if they are out of the run and something gets them (I generally don't let them out unless I am out with them). No anger, I wasn't friends with the lady before and do not want to be now. I had nothing to say before nor do I now. There is nothing wrong with that. I would think that if I owned a dog and this happened I would not want my dog to go anywhere near chickens or anything else he has a fancy for, he is a big dog and I have seen him pull her he could easily pull away. That is what I worry about. And for those who understand thank you and for those who don't that is your prerogative. I have a right to state my feelings and opinions just like you! Don't judge me!

 

[dainerra]

Got to agree with the above poster. We've all heard the "dog doesn't know any better" defense of the dog. Same can be said of a dog that attacks a child, I suppose. Poor doggie. The only reason anyone defends dogs in this instance is that they are attacking chickens. Were it your toddler or most other targets, no one would likely say "poor dog."

animal aggression can't be equated to human aggression. Just because a dog attacks animals doesn't mean that they would ever be aggressive to humans.

That said, I wouldn't recommend telling small children to attack a dog "in the hunt" with a stick or a pitchfork. Too great of a chance that the dog would redirect his aggression or hurt the child trying to defend itself.

My dog is on my property. My chickens are on my property. I expect my neighbors to keep their dogs at home.

 

[galanie]

This is what I mean. The dog is attacking a small human and suddenly the attitudes are different. Suddenly, "it's not the same thing."

In each case the dog is only doing what dogs do. Of course since most dogs are raised by humans we don't expect them to attack humans, but some do. And when they do, they're "dangerous" whereas if they attack "only chickens," then they're "just playing."

 

[Cetawin]

My friend with a dog is saying the same thing about the note and that I am overreacting.  I know I am I am just still mad!!

A personal note like that and payment is sincere...trust me when I shot the neighbors dog and took the body home to them with explanation I for "my dog was in bed with me and not bothering your chickens"...like I ran down the street in my bathrobe, dragged their dog out of the fence, drug it to my house, shot it and took it back. Sheesh so be thankful for their understanding because it was a jinx note.

 

[ZenHens]

My emotions reading this thread went from great empathy and sadness to a "Wowzers." pretty fast.

I love my chickens. Very much. As such, I've taken every precaution possible to protect them. If a dog got loose and ran into my yard, they'd be safe. Hardwire mesh to five feet and 2x3" above that. Double reinforced. A full roof. Bricks built into the ground to prevent digging. No gaps. It'd take a dog 12 hours to dig under the run. All this because I don't trust people to not have a lapse. And this is all that this could have been. A one-time lapse.

These people wrote you a lovely note. You don't have to accept the sincerity; that's your perogative. They've paid you almost $250 with another nice note. I don't know why you thought that one was so offensive; I see nothing wrong with them wanting to keep track of what they've paid you. After reading some of this, I know I'd want to.

All through that, though, I knew you had lost your chickens and I felt sad. Especially for your children.

Then I read about you encouraging the KIDS to stab the dog with a pitchfork and the meeting with the neighbor on the street. She was obviously trying to reach out to you and you shot her down in such a rude manner. This was days afterward, right? After the notes and the checks? After the anger had ebbed a little? That's the quickest way to enact a neighborhood feud and children will learn from that.

A dog is a dog. They need to confine it, but you need to be prepared for all contingencies. I know some people here would shoot their own mother-in-law if she threatened their chickens, lol, but a gun in this scenario just seems like a bad idea.

I don't mean to be so cranky, but this thread left me with a sour feeling in my stomach. Has the dog come back? Are they living up to their word? I'd cut them a break before this gets really ugly--and I think it still has that potential. Relax, relate, release. You have money to make a new, stronger coop. I truly am sorry about your chickens.

 

[LavendarFeather]

This is an interesting thread, and has given me a lot to think about. I would definitely fall into the category of "dog lover," and currently have six (some are fosters), but I also ADORE my chickens. Neighbors' dogs do visit from time to time, and I wonder what I would do if one of them got to my birds...

Here are some thoughts.... Although I don't think I could shoot a dog, I don't think it's unfair to do so, and here's why. Regardless of how or why a dog gets loose, once it's out, its life is in danger. It could be hit by a car, or for that matter cause an accident when someone swerved to avoid it. Do you know how it impacts a driver who accidetally kills a dog? It's devastating, and again, it's the fault of the dogs' owner. So if it is legal for one to kill a dog attacking one's livestock, that's that. It's fair. It's sad, but fair. Only one of my dogs is a threat to chickens (the others are tiny) and I don't want to admit how much time and money I have put into training him. He's not mean, just wants to play with everyone and everything. He's getting better all the time, but he's young and needs more training and time to mature. And he has gotten loose a couple of times (before I knew he could open gates and turn door knobs). Those times I dropped everything and went out and got him immediately. I was fully aware that he could be killed and that it would be my fault if he was.

That said, this is not just a matter of who is right and who is wrong. OP, you are right that you were violated and the dog owners were in the wrong. But it's what is sometimes referred to as 'dead right'. It doesn't bring your chickens back. Personally, I think the most important thing to do is to make your coop more predator proof. Maybe you don't have coyotes by you, but if you do, they can get into anything a dog can, and more. This isn't to say that you were at fault in any way, just that being right won't protect your chickens. There are other dogs and worse neighbors out there.

We have hawks, raccoons, coyotes, crows, opossums, loose dogs and cats around here. I use a chain link dog run reinforced with hardware cloth so raccoons can't reach through it. It has a solid roof and hardware cloth buried around the base to keep out digging predators. There's also a padlock because raccoons can open latches. I'm still trying to figure out a way I can used a portable unit safely... I lost a chick to a hawk not long ago, when I had them in an exercise pen :-(