I had the worst scare of my (chicken life) today

[spacecowgirl]

I was on the phone with one of my best friends, who happens to be my next door neighbor (but she wasn't at home, she was at work) , when all of a sudden my chickens start up a major ruckus.

I looked out my bedroom window and saw a beagle up against my fencing, staring at my chickens. I think, okay, I'll go down and shoo the beagle away, so I go outside on the back deck, and down the stairs, and then freak out and throw the phone down and squeal and scream because there is a huge boxer bulldog INSIDE THE PEN attacking my precious hens!!!

I swear time slowed down as I was trying to get down there, and all I could think was, this is the day I've been dreading, and, this is it, it really is happening.

My sweet chickens are dead..

One of my tiny ones (Lucy) was outside the coop at the bottom of the stairs when I ran down so I grabbed her and kinda threw her up on the stairs, hoping she would run up on the deck and protect herself, then ran at the coop screaming my head off. The dog wormed his way under the fence and ran off. My hens then decided to get in their coop, and have been there all day.

I wish I'd had a gun, though, because he just went a few yards away and stood there staring at me. I'd have had a very clear shot. He scares me. He stood in my front yard a few weeks ago and growled at me and wouldn't back down.

We called animal control , and of course they were more interested in our neighbor's dogs than they were the actual perpetrator!

One of the neighbor's dogs is much smaller than our smallest cat.

The neighbor's dogs are great at chasing this dog away from our houses. We consider these dogs ours as much as theirs. I'm so frustrated. Now they're telling us they have to keep their dogs put up at all times!! But these dogs are the good guys!

Sigh........

( On another note, after searching extensively, by the way, I finally found Lucy cowering under our dining room table, on a chair, scared to death, but very happy to be alive.)

she was happy to be petted and cuddled, but she's still a little traumatized..)

Still, I'm so mad at animal control... I should have just SSS'd that dog.

Now I'm gonna wind up busting my neighbor's dogs out of doggie jail for the next month or so.....

 

[Mahonri]

You need a weapon handy. (and a shovel to put him under the ground immediately) That dog will be back.

 

[geepy]

Yep, SSS is the way to go.

 

[Johndeere96]

Or just make it easy and use the shovel for both but it is a good idea to keep something. I'm an avid hunter as is my whole family so we each have plenty of weaponry

 

[chickathon]

That dog will definately be back. If you have kids you can't tollerate that kind of dog in the neighborhood. A dog that won't back down when not in their own territory is VERY dangerous. What you need is a .22 rifle with a scope. It's not very loud but will get the job done. Stay safe. If possible, take a pistol and/or rifle out with you every time you go out to feed/water the chickens you just might get lucky.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Thanks for the replies. And, you were right about him coming back. He was back again yesterday, but the (good) neighbor dogs chased him away, thankfully. (I am buying them special yummy treats next time I go to the store). When I heard the noise I ran outside screaming, in nothing but my bathrobe because I had just got out of the shower. One of the other neighbor's kid was coming up the back stairs at the time because he'd seen the dog come over and was going to tell me he was sniffing around the chicken coop, but the good dogs ran him off.

I reinforced the pen as well as I can, so that he won't be able to dig under the fence to get to them. My husband brought home a BB gun today, but that won't be a permanent solution. We have a couple of shotguns, but I think that would be overkill.

My neighbors offered to loan us one of their many guns, (one with a scope), and also volunteered to shoot on sight after I positively confirm the identity of said dog. (There are two boxer looking dogs around here; I would hate for them to shoot the wrong dog!) Also, said neighbor has a small pistol in his back pocket at all times.

I just can't handle this stress. We wound up clipping their wings yesterday, which I never, ever wanted to do. But even though their fence is 8 feet high they still constantly fly over it, and with this dog around, if they were caught outside they would definitely be dead meat.

 

[Mattemma]

I would use the treats to lure the boxer,and then either put it down or call SC to get it.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: In most cases, you cannot LEGALLY shoot a dog that is not "in the act" of harassing/killing your animals.

The THIRD "S" is the most important

 

[moetrout]

I think in this case she can easily say the dog already has harrassed the poultry and was aggressive towards her. In this case she would be legal. You said you had shotguns, use them, they are not overkill. In fact for anyone not actively shooting on a regular basis it is probably the best choice. A 12 guage loaded with 00 buck shot would be my first choice. I say this from personal and RECENT experince. I shot a coyote over the holidays and it did the job very well. The 00 buck I use has 15 pellets (think of them more like small ball bearings!) in each shell. That gives you a better chance of hitting your target than with say a .22 (single projectile). The coyote I shot with 00 buck was a 40 yard shot. You could test this by pacing off the distance you think you would have to shoot if that dog comes back. I've had to shoot plenty of feral cats, but yet to shoot anyones dog. It won't be fun and you will feel bad. Accept that now and get on with what you have to do. The first time I had to shoot a cat I felt really bad about it, but it was stalking my chickens and it was that or my chickens so I did what I had to do. I do have a dog that has been getting closer and closer to our house. He seems to run off anytime he sees anyone. I waited until after a good snow and had seen him and tracked him back to where he lives. Should he continue to come around I'll be having a chat with the owner. Not to say I will shoot it, but to say it's not safe for their dog to roam MY field. If it doesn't happen like that it will be the dog getting caught in one of my traps set for coyote.