Dogs killing my chickens

[Howard E]

This "neighbors dog killed my chickens" thing seems to go on ad nauseum. To shoot or not to shoot that is the question. Old Drum and all that.

My advice is don't shoot.......electrocute! Put up a hot electric fence and your dog and neighbor problems will quietly go away. No shots fired......no neighborly feuds........nothing but quiet, peaceful enjoyment. Just what you want it to be.

 

[PeepersMama]

That is an excellent idea, Howard E! Darn, been awhile since I heard/saw a different plan of action against dogs besides shooting them

 

[annagoodspeed]

This "neighbors dog killed my chickens" thing seems to go on ad nauseum. To shoot or not to shoot that is the question. Old Drum and all that.

My advice is don't shoot.......electrocute! Put up a hot electric fence and your dog and neighbor problems will quietly go away. No shots fired......no neighborly feuds........nothing but quiet, peaceful enjoyment. Just what you want it to be.

Definitely! If your primary goals are to keep your chickens safe and also preserve relations with your neighbors, then this is the way to go. If somehow the dogs do get past this fence you will know that you have tried your best. The beekeepers around here protect their hives from bears with electric fencing.
I have the premier net fencing and so far no predator problems. I have seen dogs sniff it and get shocked and turn away. No guarantees on anything in life, but for me, this is the best option.

 

[scooter147]

Here is my two cents worth.

I learned a long time ago not to even bother with the neighbors. When dogs show up chasing, harassing, killing my livestock I simple shoot, shovel and SHUT UP.

It's a waste my time and breath to have this discussion with 90% of neighbors so I stopped.

When the neighbors come a looking and its usually several days after they go missing (which shows you how much they really care for the dog) I simple say with a very straight face, "no I haven't seen them today"

 

[Eps32]

Here is my two cents worth.thats the best way to be honest shoot it where it stands and Shovel where it lies and the neighbors usually never even know cause there dog wouldn't be running loose without a leash every other day if they cared if it's a dog I know I usually taken care of and kept contained I'm a little more lenient and will try to shoot in the ground and scare it away but if it's the same dog every day I know gets loose I shoot it cause it will come in my yard when I don't expect it or my kids are playing or my chickens are free ranging

I learned a long time ago not to even bother with the neighbors.   When dogs show up chasing, harassing, killing my livestock I simple shoot, shovel and SHUT UP.

It's a waste my time and breath to have this discussion with 90% of neighbors so I stopped.

When the neighbors come a looking and its usually several days after they go missing (which shows you how much they really care for the dog)  I simple say with a very straight face,  "no I haven't seen them today"

 

[centrarchid]

Electrocute to harsh a term and might turn some potential users of electric fencing off from using it. The clearly is a problem in urban areas and where small children are involved.

Electrocute mean to harm or kill with electricity.

Properly constructed fencing for use around livestock is not intended to cause harm, rather just to be a repellent.

 

[LucyBO16]

I am very sorry to hear that. I have lost a chicken to a neighbor's dog before as well. I would find out how much money they owe you and make them pay it. Our neighbor's dog got loose again for the second time about a week ago. The first time when it did kill one of our chickens, they payed us the amount that we payed for that chicken and said they would tie up their dog. They didn't tie up their dog though. The second time it came to eat our other chicken, we fired a bullet into the ground to scare it. It went running back to its house. That has seemed to work because it hasn't come back.

 

[Howard E]

Electrocute to harsh a term and might turn some potential users of electric fencing off from using it. The clearly is a problem in urban areas and where small children are involved.

Electrocute mean to harm or kill with electricity.

Properly constructed fencing for use around livestock is not intended to cause harm, rather just to be a repellent.

Apologies. I fear I often resort to hyperbole to get my point across. Plus it had a catchy ring to it.

I was thinking of this thread yesterday morning as I sat down at my desk and looked out the window and noticed movement across the road. That movement turned out to be a coyote. Broad daylight and about 200 yards or so from the back yard where my chickens were running around. An hour or so later, went to check on the mail and was greeted by a growling chocolate lab mix coming up my driveway to give me a sniff test. That was less than 100 yards from where my birds were out running around. So the owner was just out of sight........a nice young momma out for a walk with her dog and her infant child strapped to her chest. So shoot that dog? I think not. Besides, the coyote and dog could have come and gone without me ever knowing about it even though I was in the house and the birds were right outside. And even if I had known about it and realized what was going on, the damage would have been done before I could have shot up the place.

So in addition to shooting my neighbors dogs being a really bad idea, it probably won't work except after the fact.......after the damage has been done. So why didn't the coyote make a play for the birds? It could be he didn't know they were there.......or it could be he has tried it and gotten the bajeezus zapped out of him and he wants no more of it.

Which is why I still maintain an electric fence is about 100X more effective and offers about 100X less trauma and drama than shooting at stuff. It's on guard 24/7 and it works. What is not to like? Put another way, I've never shot any dogs or predators and have never had to worry about it, even though I know they are around all the time.

 

[rooboo]

The sad thing is that it's not the dog's fault that they have an idiot owner. Nonetheless you need to be very clear that the neighbor knows that you will shoot trespassing dogs. One warning, one strike, not three strikes. Once a dog starts killing chickens it gets much harder to almost impossible to stop. Most people are not willing to put in the time to train their dogs to stay in their own yard, even though it's not that difficult. People that own dogs and know that they are leaving their own yards are already disrespecting you and are more or less giving you the finger already, so why would you think that you are the bad neighbor? In most areas there's a pretty hefty fine for "dog at large". The way I would handle it is like this, inform neighbor that their dog is not welcome on your property, if dog comes on your property, either capture it or get photos of it on your property and call animal control. Make sure they get fined. If dog comes on property again, it never goes home again. My guess is that 80% of the time the owner will NOT correct the problem. That's just how ignorant and disrespectable people are these days. Unfortunately. I don't have dog problems here, I have cat problems. My place is rural but I'm only a half a mile from a heavily populated area across the county line. There is a barn on the property, so people think that this is a great place for their unwanted cats to live and chase mice around that nice barn. They are wrong. The coyotes around here seem to know that chicken is not on the menu. I know that they come within 300 feet of my coops, but they have never taken a live chicken. They may get a dead bird every now and then, so I'm always careful to put dead birds well out of range of the coops. Apparently we have a mutual understanding. Never underestimate the value of a few good roosters either. I have some experienced boys out there that are always on the lookout for hawks, and if the hawk is brave enough, it might take a run at one of the girls, but the boys are willing to do battle with the hawk. I was somewhat shocked the first time I saw one of my roosters squaring off with a hawk on the ground. The hawk changed his mind rather quickly. Hahaha. The worst problem I had was a dirty rotten murdering mink. Killed 10 Chinese pheasants in two nights, and never ate any of them. Little sob was just killing for sport. After traps failed to get him, one night, I heard a commotion outside, and I went to see what was going on and found that little ******* chasing a hen back and forth in a pen. He got a 12 gauge funeral. Predator control is an ongoing process, I've lost count of how many skunks, possums, and raccoons I've had to deal with. I keep a live trap baited and set year round to keep the populations down. It's even helping the rabbit population around here. The bunnies come out and eat grain right alongside the birds.

 

[mandelyn]

I sympathize with your situation, it's very frustrating when you are faced with the unknown variable of what all can come onto your property to do harm. It's expensive to fix it too.

We just moved to the country, where roaming dogs are a normal thing. Our property isn't fenced yet, and so I have free ranged nothing and no one. I've been into chickens over 15 years now, and I know how this story goes. Until I have a fence to secure the area, the birds will have to make do with the pens until I can safely turn them loose. I miss SO BAD the days of walking out into the yard and hanging out with them while they went about their business in total freedom.

When we moved in there was a partial fence around the front of the house. So we closed that in to get the dogs and tiny pigs situated. The coop got a run. Now we're finishing out the big old barn to move the other birds into. Then that gets runs.

But then the next task is perimeter fencing, because I'm not dealing with the neighbors. I've met most of them now, and they all have a completely different mindset than we do. I'm not even giving any of those dogs who have already visited a chance to do damage. So far there has been repeated visits from across the road, so that side will also get a driveway gate. 3 dogs come over to harass our 3 German Shepherds, they're quick to alert us to trespassers. The visiting dogs live in small kennels or on chains and are let loose to run on occasion. They're typically called back home when the owners hear the barking nonsense. Then there was a male German Shepherd trotting down our driveway, scoping the place out. I stepped out and saw him, and he turned and gave a look of "What? Just passing through." and he went on his a way. A super sweet unneutered German Pointer has been by 4 times now, more interested in my girl dogs than my birds thankfully. 1 coyote cruised along the creek out back, looking over.

Had I opened up those coop doors and turned them loose for the day, I would have lost them all by now.

So we're doing 6ft privacy panels down the road frontage (now is a good time of year to contact your local big box hardware store and see if they have any weathered fence panels from prior years they want to sell cheap. They just need pressure washed to be good as new!) Then we'll do 4ft privacy fence around the front of the house, it seems people like to stop at the stop sign and make my dogs bark. That open line of sight is going away through fence and landscaping. Not dealing with it longer than I have to. Also installing a no-climb feature along the top, one of my girls seems to be experimenting with escape and we'll nip that right there too. She is perturbed at my ability to know what she's up to from inside the house. LOL

Along the creek/tree line on the other two sides we'll hide field fence in there. I don't want to ruin the pretty visual with a fence, but we do need a barrier since that's the wildlife side. Was thinking I'd leave the deer trail open so as not to encourage them to fence jump, routing around where I see their trails. I plan on a garden at some point, will need to fence that area with something taller.

Now if something insists upon coming through our defenses, then the gun may come out because that's a problem. But I can't shoot something that was able to walk right on in, or even get that upset, because it's not like they read no trespassing signs. Failure to secure my belongings is my own fault. I feel so exposed not having a perimeter fence! The only barrier is the welded wire run fence. I check often for prowlers. Cameras will be added too, to see the driveway, house, barn, and pens. I've noticed desperate people too. Thankfully my dogs don't abide by strangers. I caught one person trying to sweet talk my dogs from the other side of the fence, and they weren't having it. Dog stealing seems to be a thing too around this area too.

It's hard to collect for damages. It's hard to replace birds. It's hard to potentially lose them all in one day/night. I've had losses before, and the take-away I have is "Good fences make good neighbors", even if I have to pay to fence out critters who should have their own fence. It's my responsibility to protect what's mine. Another neighbor has a pile of dogs, big ones too. They have a great fence and there has been no issue. If only the others would do the same! Dogs get dumped off around here too, ownerless. They'll go where they can get to!