FL Laws for Protecting Poultry Anyone?

[jeff cook]

Hi. This is my first post here. My wife and I live in Florida, out in the boonies. Everyone has a fence. Fences are good for keeping your animals in and everyone else's animals out - but they are not foolproof by any means.

You received some good advice here (and not so good - I agree that filing a false report is not a good idea, and I don't condone shooting someone's troublesome pet except under extreme circumstances).

I think a combination of containment, being watchful, reporting to local law enforcement, and pepper spray is a good combination to protect your birds. Dogs are curious, and generally pretty smart. A good dose of pepper spray will make your environment hostile to the dog. He will probably go look to harass somebody else's chickens after he gets a good taste of pepper spray.

Good luck!

Jeff Cook

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Look, I wasnt attacking you by any means Sun Chick. I was complimanting the GREAT advice given to you. I already got involved in a chicken vs dog "debate". My feelings are clear on the issue.
Just some ideas before you do something drastic:
1- would you really want it on your conscience of shooting someone elses animal on the grounds it MIGHT kill your 2 chickens.
2- are your, as you stated, TWO(2) chickens considered LIVESTOCK according to Fl law, and if so, are you keeping them in accordance to such livestock laws.
3- sometimes, in these cicumstances, calling animal control can backfire on you. Just watch animal planet.
4- granted, that dog SHOULDNT be on your property, and it seems like maybe the neighbor doesnt want any problems either, so why dont you be the "bigger man" and make the first move towards a friendly neighborhood. You have to live near them for a long time, and wouldnt it be easier to get along with them instead of not?
5- what if, by some crazy chance, your chickens get loose and go onto that neighbors property, would you be ok with them killing your birds as nuisance livestock. If it was me, and I found some chicken on my lawn Id probably try to catch it and eat it.

Sun Chick, Im not trying to pick on you personally. There are alot of people here who take this topic to the extreme. These are just some thoughts that I would consider as a rational person. There just has to be a better first reaction than to run and get a gun. By all means, protect your chickens, but do it by making sure that if a stray dog or racoon(which also doesnt deserve to be shot) or any animal for that matter, ever gets on your property,your chickens are safe in their well-built and attack-proof coop.