Help! Neighbor’s dog killed chicks!

[dmaloney15]

Have you talked to the dog owner yet?
Start there.

Not yet. They are medical marijuana growers and you’d think they’re protecting a forest of the stuff! I’m uneasy about going there based upon a past experience and I believe the deputy must have spoken with them or it would have been back. I’m drafting a letter explaining our position and pray they’ll be responsible. If not we’re off to small claims court.

 

[Kiki]

Not yet. They are medical marijuana growers and you’d think they’re protecting a forest of the stuff! I’m uneasy about going there based upon a past experience and I believe the deputy must have spoken with them or it would have been back. I’m drafting a letter explaining our position and pray they’ll be responsible. If not we’re off to small claims court.

Oh my.
You'd rather waste time and money to go to court then go knock on the neighbor's door?

That is silly.

 

[Folly's place]

Maybe the OP has reasons for not wanting to visit this neighbor? Makes sense to me.
Did you talk to the deputy who did visit them? Read the report filed?
Mary

 

[WhatTheDuckingDuck]

I called animal about a dog once, they told me to shoot it.

 

[WindingRoad]

Not yet. They are medical marijuana growers and you’d think they’re protecting a forest of the stuff! I’m uneasy about going there based upon a past experience and I believe the deputy must have spoken with them or it would have been back. I’m drafting a letter explaining our position and pray they’ll be responsible. If not we’re off to small claims court.

Another solution is SSS....

 

[TARDIS37379]

Dogs are, IMHO, the worst predators. I’ve lost birds to dogs and I’ve had to remove dogs from inside my perimeter fencing.
Chickens can be safe when protected by a multilayer system to keep them safe. Fences, electric fencing, dogs, covered runs, Safe coops and a bunch of other things.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

Approach your neighbor in a non-threatening way and say you hate to introduce yourself this way but I need to let you know your dog killed my chickens. Maybe, just maybe, they will apologize and offer to compensate. If they don't then let them know the value of your birds and how much it will cost to replace them. If they don't offer to compensate then...then you know what kind of irresponsible neighbors your dealing with.
You can call local animal control or set a live trap and trap the dog and take it to the dog pound and your neighbors will have to bail it out if the want it.
But no sense in starting a war with them because this day and age people are crazy and it can be dangerous. So reinforce your chicken coop and what ever else you have to do to keep them safe. If they continue to let the dog loose there are certainly creative ways to make it disappear without yourself becoming a target for abusive neighbors.

This is very good advice

 

[Bob 1313]

Hello friends. I was horrified to find a neighbor’s dog INSIDE my metal brooder. (110 gallon metal stock tank) I am in OK and recently moved to a locale I just learned offers ZERO protection for losses of livestock to privately owned pets. My only recourse is to shoot the dog if it returns and file a civil lawsuit which would be a small claims case with no attorneys and only a $60 filing fee. But who wants to sue a neighbor and kill their dog?!

I am fairly certain these folks will not restrain their animals so does anyone have advice for how to best keep them away AFFORDABLY? P.S. That dog MASSACRED TWENTY NINE chicks and even when beaten over the head with a metal feeder, would not MOVE. I am totally inexperienced with this situation so advice/tips on any point will be much appreciated! Thank you!

If there is no leash law in your area and the neighbors won't restrain their dog(s) you will need to shoot 'em. Neighbors that won't keep control of their animals are the worst.
Our's would not control their 3 Labs. One day while they were over here, neighbor came to try and coax them back home. I shot at one of the dog's heels to move them along and to show I was serious. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[bobbi-j]

Electric fence is very effective. I’ve had it around one of my runs for at least a couple of years. This spring, for the first time, my dog accidentally touched it with his nose. He let out a sound I’ve never heard him make before, and ran yelping to the house. This summer we put electric around our other coop. To test it, I touched a metal shovel to the electric fence and the welded wire to see if it would snap. It did, and when my dog heard it, he took off! Now he won’t go within 30 yards of either coop.

 

[margaretbyrd]

It is always best to try and find a friendly solution to avoid long term conflict where you live. I would definitely go to the neighbor and tell him what the animal did. Tell him in an email if you don't want to stand in his yard and tell him.

If you buy just a few posts at a time could you afford to Install a fence?. I like wood posts because you tack the wire on with staples and it is harder to lift it up at the base. But Wood at corners and for breaking long runs combined with metal posts would work too if your wire was good. I use Red Top woven no climb horse wire and nothing has pushed under that wire. My chicken wire was easy to break down by other animals.

Electric fences are great unless they get shorted out with grass then they stop working. So you are looking at devoted maintenance. I've seen animals use their whiskers to test the fence. (But it is so satisfying to watch an unwanted animal hit it the first time!) They are not cheap if you get a solar charger. Electric plug in are not too bad cost wise.