Dog Problems...Any tips on keeping them away?

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Obi-wan Henobi

Obi-wan Henobi

In the Brooder
Feb 11, 2021
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Heyo. I was outside the other day, and a neighbors cute blue heeler dog came over. She's not a bad dog, and I was hoping to sort-of be friends with it, but then it started bothering my chickens... so pretty much never mind on that. (Chickens first, thank you.) She was running around the coops, jumping up on them (they are mostly low, moveable runs), just really scaring the birds for sport. I couldn't get her to leave, and eventually resorted to running to keep myself between her and the chickens. It didn't work great (I have four coops to protect, after all).... Eventually I noticed my little bantam Ahsyolka, and her coopmate were bleeding from hitting themselves on the side of the coop. That made me pretty mad! I have had way too many past experiences with dogs hurting my chickens, and my nerves in that area are pretty delicate now. I finally chased the dog off (or maybe it just got bored, who knows). Afterwards, inspection of my hens revealed the one bird to (thankfully) just have a little blood where the beak meets the top of her head. The poor bantam's comb, however, was nearly severed from slamming into the wire! I didn't think I had the supplies, time or experience to try and save it (it was pretty ugly, bloody), so I wrapped her in a towel, took an alcohol- cleaned exacto-knife, and cut it the rest of the way, using flour to stop the bleeding. Poor bird! I am worried it will get infected, or she will start bleeding again. I am going to put some triple antibiotic (no painkillers, don't worry) on it today. I would have done that yesterday, but it was still so fresh I was afraid daubing stuff on it would make her bleed again (it was kinda hard to get it to stop). She's such a little bird; it couldn't be good for her to lose so much. She looks like a different breed without her little comb! I will try to post a picture of her later when I have the chance.

Obviously, I do not want this happening again. We are going to try and find out the dog's owner (we're not sure who's it is, because almost everyone lets their dogs roam around here), and let them know she's bothering our birds. In the meantime, if it comes back, how do I communicate with this dog that my chickens are absolutely off limits? preferably without hurting it? There's not much I can see to do to reinforce the coops, so for now I'm going to have to go with keeping the dog away, I think. I've managed to get another neighbor's sweet dog to leave them be, but she only really chased them once, and was a people dog; this new dog next to completely ignores me. (She didn't even turn an ear when I slapped her with a stick. I guess it didn't hurt...) I'm not one to really try and hurt animals, but this, I feel, is going to make me snap if it happens again. (Chickens be my weakness.) *sigh* and to think I had just started warming up to dogs again.

Thanks in advance!
 
I’ve had very similar experiences. Some neighborhood dogs are fine. Others have claimed several chickens while free ranging. All animals have a risk/reward ratio. So far the reward doesn’t seem to be that high except for fun. So it’ll be easiest to solve it now before something worse happens.
I don’t know where you live, but in Alabama, it’s legal to shoot and kill “any creature” that is a threat to you or your livestock. I haven’t and will not shoot a dog. BUT, a gunshot nearby will make the dog think twice. But absolutely check your local laws and such before using a gun to any extent.

Check with your local animal control office. In our area, they will come out and set a humane trap at no charge to you. What happens next is they try and contact the owner and they have to pay to get them back. And the price to free the dog goes up each time.

Also again, check local laws and such. But reporting a loose dog to the sheriffs office could produce fines for the owner. And if nothing else, it creates an official paper trail in case something bad happens and you need compensation. Pictures/video go a long way as well.

I haven’t had to go that far yet. But all of this was told to me by the sheriffs office and animal control. We were able to solve to problem easily. But look at local laws and find your rights before doing anything drastic.
 
I can tell you how I would handle it and how my husband would handle it - keep in mind we are both dog lovers and owners!

My way: Shotgun into the air the next time I see the dog.

I would try a few times with my technique. If he keeps coming back I would hand over the reins to my husband and let him "handle it"

Husband's way (never used his technique because mine has worked): BB gun to the dog's behind.

This is of course after trying every way to find the dog's owners!
 
LizzzyJo said:
I can tell you how I would handle it and how my husband would handle it - keep in mind we are both dog lovers and owners!

My way: Shotgun into the air the next time I see the dog.

I would try a few times with my technique. If he keeps coming back I would hand over the reins to my husband and let him "handle it"

Husband's way (never used his technique because mine has worked): BB gun to the dog's behind.

This is of course after trying every way to find the dog's owners!
Click to expand...
Careful about the BB gun. Looking through the law, the dog owner may come after you for animal abuse or something. When using a gun. Shoot to miss or shoot to kill. In between leaves room for argument.
 
"
Dogs who are Chasing Livestock or Wildlife

Many states have laws allowing the shooting of dogs to protect farm animals and agricultural interests. In Puckett v. Miller, 381 N.E.2d 1087 (Ind.App.,1978) , the Court of Appeals found that a farmer who had shot the plaintiff’s coon dogs as they were trying to get into defendant's chicken enclosure had a valid defense under an Indiana statute providing that any dog known to have worried livestock or fowl or found roaming unattended may be lawfully killed. In Vermont, domestic pets “found wounding, killing or worrying another domestic pet or wolf-hybrid, a domestic animal or fowl may be killed" when reasonably necessary to prevent injury to the animal.” 20 V.S.A. § 3545(b) . Ohio provides that “a dog that is chasing or approaching in a menacing fashion” or that “attempts to bite or otherwise endanger, or that kills or injures” a person, livestock, poultry, domestic animal, or other animal, that is the property of another person, except a cat or another dog, can be killed at the time of that chasing, approaching, attempt, killing, or injury. OH ST § 955.28 . If the requirement of imminent threat is not explicitly stated in the statute, as it is in Ohio, courts often will often incorporate it through interpretation. In Propes v. Griffith , 25 S.W.3d 544 (Mo.App. W.D., 2000) , for example, the court held that "it would be logical to conclude that the legislature did not intend for MO ST § 273.030 to allow a sheep owner to have an unlimited time frame in which to kill a dog found on his property.” Rather, the landowner could only kill the dog immediately while in the act of chasing to protect his sheep. Thus, defendants were liable for taking the dogs to two different veterinarians over a three hour time span to have them euthanized. In fact, the court even found the award of punitive damages was justified, given that this type of conduct had to be deterred. "
 

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