Dogs...

[Willow2253]

I’ll try. Depending on how this case develops I may not be able to provide too many details until it’s settled.
I can tell you that while contacting the breeder I got the ameraucana rooster from, she mentioned she has ameraucana chicks for sale so I’ll be picking up 4 next week.

 

[Willow2253]

The injured hen is doing a lot better today. She still has a lot of healing to do, but she had more energy today and was out with the others most of the day and is eating and drinking normally again. I can tell she’s not a fan of having her wounds sprayed so she gets extra mealworms for being good about it.

 

[Shezadandy]

I would imagine they would be hiding somewhere in the trees or something. We have a lot of forest around us, and a stream with thick bushes growing around it. We searched some of that area but it’s so dense we could barely get through. A couple that did come back tonight came out of that area once the dogs were gone.

Here you go. To find out how to report it in your county, search "(name of county) dog kill livestock" and you should find some guidance. In my county there's a dog incident form to be filled out.

As for Oregon-wide laws, this is what you're entitled to. The page lists other applicable laws.

https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/609.140

It says:

(1) The owner of any livestock which has been damaged by being injured, chased, wounded or killed by any dog shall have a cause of action against the owner of such dog for the damages resulting therefrom, including double the value of any livestock killed and double the amount of any damage to the livestock.
(2) If one or more of several dogs owned by different persons participate in damaging any livestock, the owners of the respective dogs shall be jointly and severally liable under this section. The owners of dogs jointly or severally liable under this section have a right of contribution among themselves. The right exists only in favor of an owner who has paid more than the pro rata share of the owner, determined by dividing the total damage by the number of dogs involved, of the common liability, and the total recovery of the owner is limited to the amount paid by the owner in excess of the pro rata share of the owner.
(3) An action brought under this section may be tried as an action at law in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(4) As used in this section:
(a) “Owner” means the head of the family of the home where the dog is cared for at the time of the damage.
(b) “Head of the family” means any person who has charge or manages the affairs of a collective body of persons residing together, the relations between whom are of a permanent and domestic character. [Amended by 1973 c.655 §7; 1975 c.749 §1]

 

[Folly's place]

I hope this goes well, since she showed up today. Present a bill, which should not be too small, and expect that her dogs will not return. Having an official report filed is essential too, for that next time. I'd keep my birds locked down for now too, and take more steps:
Game camera set up
Electric fencing!
Mary

 

[neo71665]

My only suggestion is if you have to shoot a dog make sure it's a good enough shot to drop it in it's tracks. You wound it and it runs home they will most likely hang you out to dry and all the nut case animal right organizations will side with them. Should have called the cops and had a report made before you ever touched anything. Made them come out and document all the damages so it was on record. Now it's just your word against theirs. Since they seem to have been there longer and a local business owner it's not gonna be in your favor.

Once it's shot bury it and don't tell anybody.

 

[Willow2253]

We did file a report the morning after the incident. We offered the dog owners a way to settle out of court, but they refused and now they’re going to learn how much our chickens are worth. We’ve been in contact with the sheriff’s department and we have all the evidence we need to prove it was their dogs.

Like I said before, it was nearly dark out when the attack happened. We couldn’t leave dead chickens out or it would attract coyotes. I did take photos of all of the feathers on the ground and the injuries on the one that got away.

 

[Willow2253]

Sunny is back! We found 1 of the missing Easter egger pullets this morning and she’s alright, but we also found another dead pullet and a lot of feathers from the missing rooster. Now it’s just him, and the last Easter egger pullet missing. I guess I miscounted and we found 8 last night.

 

[Vickischics]

Agree.
When we lived in Kentucky, I saw a sign spray painted on the side of a barn shed that housed chickens.
It read
" If your dog is killing my chickens, I WILL SHOOT IT!"
Now, Thats a fair warning.

 

[Willow2253]

Honestly I don’t even know who’s jurisdiction we’re in. We’re way out in the middle of nowhere country. We got home at about 8:30 tonight to this, then we were looking for the chickens until about 9:45 when it got too dark. My stepdad wanted to find out whose dogs they were, that’s when the confrontation with the owners happened. They admitted it was their dogs. We were just so exhausted after all that it didn’t even occur to us.
We’ll decide in the morning if we should get the police involved. Small town culture is weird here, we have to deal with them very carefully or it could end up worse for us. However if it were up to just me I would definitely be calling the cops asap.

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

That’s the idea. We almost did this time but they ran off down the highway and the owners picked them up.

They will be back!