Dogs killed chickens, ready to give up. *Another chicken killed.*

[Coralietg]

We have the chickens in a run completely covered with hardware cloth, but the dogs are going after the wood. I think I'm going to have to keep a close eye on them until Tuesday and hope Animal Control will come and take care of them.

And talking of guns, what is the best one to get? Something that would take care of dogs and small predators and doesn't sound like a bomb going off. The only gun we have in the house is in my husbands safe and I believe it's a .357 Magnum? I don't know much about guns. I moved from the UK to the US three years a go and the worst we had to deal with in the UK when we had chickens was a fox that came around every so often.

Thanks for all the replies, I'm so frustrated with this. I guess I should of expected it at some point, she has already been a problem neighbour to others. Guy who lives behind us owns a lot of land around here, and he sells it with strict rules about no single wide trailers, no hogs, etc. He had to take her to court because she bought the land then refused to build a house, and now we have her huge pigs stomping through our garden too frequently for my liking. She has since built a house AROUND her trailer. It's bizarre.

Rambling, hehe.

Good idea with the pictures. I'll try and get some today.

 

[schellie69]

Call the sheriffs office they are not off due to holiday they can get animal control out there, talk to the guy in the back of you maybe he can help or knows someone that can good luck. hope something works for you.

 

[B. Kossum]

I would use a .22. Relatively quiet and does not kick. Even though it is a small caliber it will bounce around inside them and do serious damage. Don't feel bad about it, but if you do you could always get rid of the chickens and take the dogs in. lol jk. Good luck!

 

[rufus]

Electric fence. Be sure and wet the ground down real good, then turn the thing on and wait for the show.

Rufus

 

[fancbrd4me02]

You can get a product called dog stop. It's like a pepper spray for dogs, has a long range spray. Very handy and non-lethal.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Quote:
A friend of mine had that problem where the local animal control told her that it's 'not their problem'. Of course, in this town, they catch dogs and cats then take them out in the country and release them. The animal control wouldn't take care of it...so a rifle did. Both times it was quick and painless, the dog was dead before it hit the ground. A teenage boy did it (farm kid), and I have to admit, his marksmanship was amazing.


I would:
1. Try to talk Animal Control out. Throw a fit it they refuse. Call the sheriff and raise hell their. Don't refer to your chickens as your pets...make it clear that 'These mutts are MAIMING MY PROPERTY AND LIVESTOCK!'.

2. Raise horror with the neighbor. I would threaten to sue her for damages to my flock and coop is she doesn't get off her lazy rump and do something about the idiot dogs.

3. Call local animal rescues. Make it very clear that these dogs will be shot (even if your not going too) or poisoned if they don't get
relocated in a jiffy. Tell them your neighbor is not taking responsibility. Loss of your livestock is unacceptable, cute lil' doggy or not.

4. Get yourself a real gun and pop them right in the head. You may have to lay in wait if their scared of you. If you have bad aim/can't kill a dog, check around with a few farms. More often than not someone will have a son who's steady with a gun and is not afraid to put a stray to sleep.

5. If you can't/won't kill them, catch them and take them on a nice long car ride to somewhere far, far, away. Be very careful if you decide to take this route. Who knows what kind of things the mutts are carrying.

PLEASE PLEASE do not do #5. That is only dropping your problem off on someone else. I know! It happens here on my very rural road all the time. I am so sick of people dropping off animals it just disgust me. Just please do not do it.

 

[skydvrz]

Quote:
That is the route I took after raccoons killed 3/4 of my goose flock in one night. A few weeks later, a fox finished off the rest, in broad daylight! I had a 5-wire electric fence installed (3 hot-wires covering the first 18" or so above the ground, and 2 hot wires up near the top (5 feet). The rest of the fence is called no-climb wire. The hot wires are on the outside of the fence, with the no-climb wire trapping the birds inside the pasture.

It has worked perfectly.

To train the local predators (I live in a densely forested area with lots of wild critters) , I taped hot dogs to the lower hot wires of the fence, every 10 feet or so, all around the perimeter. The first week it was up, there was a lot of screeching predators each night, but they got trained pretty quickly that my "chicken/duck/goose buffet" was closed for business.

The neighbors dog came a visiting a couple times, got a major jolt and ran off yelping, so it works well with domestic critters as well. My dog tried tasting the hotdogs a time or two and learned that the fence bites pretty hard. She is probably still terrified of hotdogs

I moved the fence charger inside a nearby rabbit hutch I built, and electrified that too. We have had zero problems with predators bothering the rabbits, even though the hutch is inside the tree line.

I had my fence done professionally, but you can buy all the stuff at your local farm supply store. Our local Dell's has all the stuff to build your own electric fence.

I also use temporary electric net fencing that is made from nylon, with stainless strands woven in it. It works great keeping the chickens and waterfowl separated. I just connect it to one of the permanent fence hot wires to light it up. The chickens learn quickly that messing with the fence is not fun. It doesn't hurt them though.

We still have trouble with hawk predation, but that only happens with very young birds, and very infrequently at that.

If you just want to keep dogs out, the temporary fence I use might work. It is fairly inexpensive (under a dollar a foot) for 10⁄40⁄3.5 fencing. Note that the matching temporary gates they sell for this type of fencing has very loose mesh. A determined chicken can slip right through the gate mesh like it is not even there. A couple of our chickens can fly over the top of it too, so it is not a perfect solution if your birds like to go walkabout.

I use Kencove.com for my temporary fencing needs.

For predators outside the fence, I use a .22 caliber air rifle with a humongous scope. It makes very little noise and can punch through 3/4" plywood at 30 yards. Shooting freehand, I can can manage a 4" group at 50 yards with the thing. Not too bad for a gun powered by a spring.

Hope you get your dog problem solved!

Best regards,

Kevin G. McCoy

 

[halo]

Quote:
A friend of mine had that problem where the local animal control told her that it's 'not their problem'. Of course, in this town, they catch dogs and cats then take them out in the country and release them. The animal control wouldn't take care of it...so a rifle did. Both times it was quick and painless, the dog was dead before it hit the ground. A teenage boy did it (farm kid), and I have to admit, his marksmanship was amazing.


I would:
1. Try to talk Animal Control out. Throw a fit it they refuse. Call the sheriff and raise hell their. Don't refer to your chickens as your pets...make it clear that 'These mutts are MAIMING MY PROPERTY AND LIVESTOCK!'.

2. Raise horror with the neighbor. I would threaten to sue her for damages to my flock and coop is she doesn't get off her lazy rump and do something about the idiot dogs.

3. Call local animal rescues. Make it very clear that these dogs will be shot (even if your not going too) or poisoned if they don't get
relocated in a jiffy. Tell them your neighbor is not taking responsibility. Loss of your livestock is unacceptable, cute lil' doggy or not.

4. Get yourself a real gun and pop them right in the head. You may have to lay in wait if their scared of you. If you have bad aim/can't kill a dog, check around with a few farms. More often than not someone will have a son who's steady with a gun and is not afraid to put a stray to sleep.

5. If you can't/won't kill them, catch them and take them on a nice long car ride to somewhere far, far, away. Be very careful if you decide to take this route. Who knows what kind of things the mutts are carrying.

I was with you until that last line. PLease dont drop them off near me, or my friends, or my friends friends. Take care of your problems yourself.

 

[IcarusSomnio]

Quote:
A friend of mine had that problem where the local animal control told her that it's 'not their problem'. Of course, in this town, they catch dogs and cats then take them out in the country and release them. The animal control wouldn't take care of it...so a rifle did. Both times it was quick and painless, the dog was dead before it hit the ground. A teenage boy did it (farm kid), and I have to admit, his marksmanship was amazing.


I would:
1. Try to talk Animal Control out. Throw a fit it they refuse. Call the sheriff and raise hell their. Don't refer to your chickens as your pets...make it clear that 'These mutts are MAIMING MY PROPERTY AND LIVESTOCK!'.

2. Raise horror with the neighbor. I would threaten to sue her for damages to my flock and coop is she doesn't get off her lazy rump and do something about the idiot dogs.

3. Call local animal rescues. Make it very clear that these dogs will be shot (even if your not going too) or poisoned if they don't get
relocated in a jiffy. Tell them your neighbor is not taking responsibility. Loss of your livestock is unacceptable, cute lil' doggy or not.

4. Get yourself a real gun and pop them right in the head. You may have to lay in wait if their scared of you. If you have bad aim/can't kill a dog, check around with a few farms. More often than not someone will have a son who's steady with a gun and is not afraid to put a stray to sleep.

5. If you can't/won't kill them, catch them and take them on a nice long car ride to somewhere far, far, away. Be very careful if you decide to take this route. Who knows what kind of things the mutts are carrying.

I was with you until that last line. PLease dont drop them off near me, or my friends, or my friends friends. Take care of your problems yourself.

I agree, I've never dumped an animal myself but if your really...really...really....out of options then it's a rather absolute-last-ditch effort. I think I would try a snare and a gun before dumping anything elsewhere. At least at the shelter they put critters that can't/are unable to find a home versus risking starvation, sickness, or worse by dumping.

 

[redhen]

Its MUCH less cruel to shoot and kill the dog then to just drop it off in a strange place with no food/water and shelter....