Dog killed my chickens, I killed the dog

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I must agree with you two. Cats are no different from dogs in the city in that they too need to be kept in on their own property. Usually that means keeping it in the house, but that's where a house cat needs to be. Now if you are in the country and have cats outside for mice, that's different. One thing though, cats rarely bother grown chickens. Unprotected little ones would be at risk, though. Even though I live in the city, people still dump cats off in my neighborhood from time to time and since the guy behind me has a huge dumpster that his workers put their lunch garbage in, they tend to gravitate to a spot close to my chickens. They are also the reason, I think, that we have hawks. In 30+ years I never saw a hawk around here till they started doing that. And crows usually just passed through from time to time, now they are full time residents. I've talked with them and evidently, putting food trash in a can with a lid is just so HARD!
 
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Off topic, but nearly all metropolitan, and some rural, areas have ordinances against leaving food garbage in uncovered containers. You might want to contact the local P.D.. As far as the hawks, I would think it more likely they are attracted to your chiickens than the open garbage container; I've yet to see a hawk even do a fly over checking on garbage cans or even road kill.
 
Try living in a semi-rural area with no leash law! Only legal option is to shoot a dog attacking livestock.

I have police reports on file where several different neighbors have be informed of that by the local police. In each situation, the dogs were loose and running down the highway within 5mins of the police leaving.
 
I remember a previous post with a BYC member posting cost breakdown. Below that was my reply. Hope this helps determine value.

jason_mazzy wrote:

At the current average cost of comercial feed it will cost you THIS:

This is an "average" example of what it will cost to rear 25 chicks from hatch to 18 weeks old.

Pullet Chick Price "Average Cost" $2.05 each - 25 x $2.05 x 1.1 = $56.38 lose of 3 chicks = 22 chicks at $2.56 per chick

Feed per 50lbs "Average Cost" $12.00 = $0.24 per lb x 24lbs (Light Breeds) = $5.76 per pullet
Feed per 50lbs "Average Cost" $12.00 = $0.24 per lb x 32lbs (Heavy Breeds) = $7.68 per pullet

Vaccinations and Medications "Average Cost" $1.23 per pullet - "use only if you plan on vacc/med"

Brooder House/Box, 1 Lamp, 1 Heat Bulb, 1 Waterer, 1 Feeder, 2 Bags of Shavings "Average Cost" $100.00 = $4.55 per pullet

Labor "Average Cost" Minimum Wage Law $7.25 per hour - 30 minutes a day = $3.63 x 126 days "18 weeks" $457.38 = $20.79 per pullet
You can pay yourself less if you want too. $2.50 a day x 126 days = $315.00 divided by 22 = $14.32 per pullet
Maybe you work for free = $0.00 per pullet - (We have plenty of work for you if you work for free)

Electricity for a 250 watt Heat Bulb "Average Cost" $0.60 per day x 49 days "7 weeks" $29.40 divided by 22 = $1.34 per pullet


22 Chicks Reared to 18 Weeks Old using everything listed above except vacc/med with the minimum wage law.
Light Breeds Price - $35.00 per pullet x 22 = 770.00 "Average Cost"
Heavy Breeds Price - $36.92 per pullet x 22 = $812.24 "Average Cost"

Herein lies one of the problems with dogs is that they don't kill one chicken. They kill in multiples. Thank God you have a neighbor that will take responsibility. I probably would not soak him too hard,$20-25 per bird and let him know that these are the figures I will use if I ever have to deal with this again. He will think he can get by for $5-7 per bird because that is what a commercial meat bird cost in the store. Those are only 6-8 week old birds of an entirely different type. Also let them know that it will be reported to law enforcement/animal control. Then if it happens again there is a record that this dog is a repeat offender. This is the only 2nd chance this dog gets.

I am glad you did the hard deed and dispatched the offending dog.
 
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Sorry, but I just have to comment on this. Just because a dog kills small feathery or furry animals does not automatically mean the dog will begin to attack children. Even high prey drive dogs can tell the difference between chickens and children. I know a number of dogs that have killed small animals outside that are fantastic with kids. Many high prey drive dogs can even differentiate between "outdoor" and "indoor" members of the same species. I know people with greyhounds who will leave the indoor cats alone but God help any outdoor cats in their yards.

I suppose for me shooting a dog would be the absolute last resort after trying everything else first. I would rather get bitten trying to get a dog away from my birds than just shoot first and ask questions later. That's just me though--we all have our own comfort zone with these kinds of things I suppose. I would also be concerned about the dog's owners retaliating.

I do agree that these owners should have kept the dog contained and I hope they learned their lesson. It's just makes me sad that so many animals had to pay with their lives.
 
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Sorry, but I just have to comment on this. Just because a dog kills small feathery or furry animals does not automatically mean the dog will begin to attack children. Even high prey drive dogs can tell the difference between chickens and children. I know a number of dogs that have killed small animals outside that are fantastic with kids. Many high prey drive dogs can even differentiate between "outdoor" and "indoor" members of the same species. I know people with greyhounds who will leave the indoor cats alone but God help any outdoor cats in their yards.

I suppose for me shooting a dog would be the absolute last resort after trying everything else first. I would rather get bitten trying to get a dog away from my birds than just shoot first and ask questions later. That's just me though--we all have our own comfort zone with these kinds of things I suppose. I would also be concerned about the dog's owners retaliating.

I do agree that these owners should have kept the dog contained and I hope they learned their lesson. It's just makes me sad that so many animals had to pay with their lives.

Dogs that attack livestock of any kind are prone to doing it again and maybe there would not be someone there to stop it next time. Then nothing but pure carnage. I feel that the right thing was done by killing the dog and also understand how hard that is to do as I had to do that about 5 years ago.. Would you jump in if it was a coyote, bobcat, bear? I hope not for your sake. The OP said it was a bulldog which as a breed has an incredibly strong bite. Please think before getting mauled, possibly permanently injured or worse. Yell , scream , throw something but always keep yourself out of harms way.
 
We have a fenced in yard and our neighborhood dogs have still gotten in. Had our neighbors pit get in and kill my chicken a few months ago. If I had had a gun close by, I would have shot it! We live in town and their is a "Leash" law requiring all dogs to be on a leash if it's not on it's own property. The minute the dog leaves your yard there could be trouble yet no one seams to care and tons of dogs just roam the neighborhood. Some of them w/ fenced in yards too! I have 2 dogs and if they had the chance would run off in a heartbeat. Now they are timid and wouldn't hurt a fly. (they love my chickens) but still they are my responsibility and I do whatever I need to, to make sure they stay where they belong, in our backyard! Those people shouldn't be able to say anything because I'm sure the law will be on your side. and I'm sorry but even super sweet dogs can turn on you if they are determined. We had a husky get into our yard and this dog was SOOOO sweet. I called the owner to come get her, then she saw the chickens. They were in the pen and she couldn't get to them but was scaring them. I was trying to call her away and grabbed her collar to pull her away and she turned around and grabbed my arm! I called the owner and screamed at him to get over there now and he said, "oh she would never ever bite" to which I then told him I would gladly show him the teeth marks in my arm! - he got rid of the dogs. If the dog knows they are there and has had a taste it will for sure be back again! You did the right thing. I will never try to intervine again after that dog got me. Next time it won't be pretty! I've already warned the guy that lives behind us that if his boxer (not a nice one) jumps the fence and comes after me, my children, or my pets I will kill him. He has since been put on a chain. No need to worry about retaliating either because if they try anything it will be to their own demise, you are the one protected by the law!
 
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Sorry, but I just have to comment on this. Just because a dog kills small feathery or furry animals does not automatically mean the dog will begin to attack children. Even high prey drive dogs can tell the difference between chickens and children. I know a number of dogs that have killed small animals outside that are fantastic with kids. Many high prey drive dogs can even differentiate between "outdoor" and "indoor" members of the same species. I know people with greyhounds who will leave the indoor cats alone but God help any outdoor cats in their yards.

I suppose for me shooting a dog would be the absolute last resort after trying everything else first. I would rather get bitten trying to get a dog away from my birds than just shoot first and ask questions later. That's just me though--we all have our own comfort zone with these kinds of things I suppose. I would also be concerned about the dog's owners retaliating.

I do agree that these owners should have kept the dog contained and I hope they learned their lesson. It's just makes me sad that so many animals had to pay with their lives.

Dogs that attack livestock of any kind are prone to doing it again and maybe there would not be someone there to stop it next time. Then nothing but pure carnage. I feel that the right thing was done by killing the dog and also understand how hard that is to do as I had to do that about 5 years ago.. Would you jump in if it was a coyote, bobcat, bear? I hope not for your sake. The OP said it was a bulldog which as a breed has an incredibly strong bite. Please think before getting mauled, possibly permanently injured or worse. Yell , scream , throw something but always keep yourself out of harms way.

I would rather strengthen my fence and take my chances then just shoot a dog the first time it shows up. Coyotes, bobcats and bears are not dogs. I am familiar with dogs, bull breeds in particular as I do own a pit mix. I'm not saying I would tackle the dog or anything, I would just save shooting as the absolute last resort. Again, that's just me--I know that killing a dog would probably haunt me and I would be very concerned about the owners going after my animals as I don't think I could just SSS, so I had better be sure that the shooting was worth it.

Again, I'm not saying that the OP was wrong--that must have been a horrific thing to witness and it is such a huge loss. I am especially sad for her child. I'm just saying that I don't know that I could do that unless it was the very last resort. I would likely shoot a wild animal in the same situation, but I admit it, I can be a bit of a bleeding heart when it comes to dogs and cats.
 
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Thank you, you made my point perfectly about not trying to catch a dog, even one you think seems friendly. They can change in an instant, especially when excited. The dog I mentioned previously that I've had to deal with several times was caught on my deck last time, just a few minutes after I locked up my broody hen with her chicks and opened the driveway gate for a delivery. He felt trapped, lowered his head, was barking and agitated. No way I was going to attempt to grab that dog's collar or even get close to him, but even if he had acted friendlier, I would still have called his owner to come get him off my deck. He's darn lucky that I didn't just call our so-called animal control since it was about the 4th time he was up here on my property.
 
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Off topic, but nearly all metropolitan, and some rural, areas have ordinances against leaving food garbage in uncovered containers. You might want to contact the local P.D.. As far as the hawks, I would think it more likely they are attracted to your chiickens than the open garbage container; I've yet to see a hawk even do a fly over checking on garbage cans or even road kill.

The hawks showed up a couple months after the dumpster. The chickens came more than a year later. I'm not saying the hawks are eating from the dumpster, most likely they are eating rats and things attracted to the dumpster. I've thought about calling the health department or someone on them but I haven't gotten sufficiently ticked at them to do something like that yet. Anyway that sort of thing almost always backfires and hurts someone else. Like the time a neighbor reported the house across his street and someone else (that caused no problems for any of us) ended up getting their "mother-in-law" house condemned.
 
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