*my* dog killed a neighbor's chicken!!!!

[Fowl Mouth]

Lack of fencing/secure enclosures seems to be a pretty common!

This thread is just one small example, people on this forum are always posting that dogs or other predators (including their family dogs) managed to hurt or kill their chicks/chickens and 99% of the time they did NOT have fencing or other basic security measures in place.

True enough, around here I often see range hens in the ditches near a major highway. I personally love grilled chicken, but not like that. lol

It's just that a few commenters have made it seem like those with firearms don't have fencing at all. Maybe I'm reading more into those comments than I should.

My situation, for example; I do have a firearm, and I would have no qualms about shooting a dog (coyote, raccoon, what have you) that gets past my fencing and harasses my flock. Does it mean my fencing is crap? Not necessarily. It's not Fort Knox but it's secure and, knock on wood, I have had no issues with predators in the past several years since I started working with much more valuable birds and did in fact invest into a higher level of containment.

Having said that, I have seen cases of some very desperate domestic dogs tear through secure fencing to get at the creamy center inside. In this case what should one do... stand around, watching the dog eating their beloved flock while they contemplate putting up more secure fencing?
Should they run out there and attempt to manhandle the strange dog and get it off their flock while its being overly playful or flat out aggressive and risk turning into the new plaything for said dog?
Should they run out there swinging a bat, possibly hitting the dog and breaking its spine, leg, etc to let it scream and wimper in pain?

Those may be options for some. But I personally prefer having a firearm as a quick and humane way to end any additional losses of my stock while keeping myself safe from an unknown dog/dogs. I don't and would never enjoy killing a dog. But you can bet your boots I will do what I can as quickly as possible to end the casualties in my flock.

 

[Sonya9]

If you and y9our neighbors work on training the unrestrained dogs and birds, it can be heavenly as benefits of free-range foraging can be realized. If the "half-butt" or "my way or the high" approach is taken then every body in your area will be acting like a bunch of warlords defending their property and stock.

I have no concerns about predators here, I have secure fencing in place (to keep my dogs on the property) which is more than enough to keep other dogs out.

My dogs are not kept in a pen, they are companion dogs so they have free access to the house and the land around the house which means that means nothing can enter without me knowing about it.

The chickens have a lush green 40 x 40 foot pen with 6 foot wire fencing and avian netting on top.

No one needs to act like a war lord defending their property and upsetting their neighbors IF they have good fencing in place. Okay maybe in some ways my setup is sort of war-lord like seeing as how I have secure fencing and dogs patrolling the perimeter and I am also a bit of a gun nut BUT it means we have no conflict with the neighbors or wildlife.

 

[Starfire669]

True enough, around here I often see range hens in the ditches near a major highway. I personally love grilled chicken, but not like that. lol

It's just that a few commenters have made it seem like those with firearms don't have fencing at all. Maybe I'm reading more into those comments than I should.

My situation, for example; I do have a firearm, and I would have no qualms about shooting a dog (coyote, raccoon, what have you) that gets past my fencing and harasses my flock. Does it mean my fencing is crap? Not necessarily. It's not Fort Knox but it's secure and, knock on wood, I have had no issues with predators in the past several years since I started working with much more valuable birds and did in fact invest into a higher level of containment.

Having said that, I have seen cases of some very desperate domestic dogs tear through secure fencing to get at the creamy center inside. In this case what should one do... stand around, watching the dog eating their beloved flock while they contemplate putting up more secure fencing?
Should they run out there and attempt to manhandle the strange dog and get it off their flock while its being overly playful or flat out aggressive and risk turning into the new plaything for said dog?
Should they run out there swinging a bat, possibly hitting the dog and breaking its spine, leg, etc to let it scream and wimper in pain? 

Those may be options for some. But I personally prefer having a firearm as a quick and humane way to end any additional losses of my stock while keeping myself safe from an unknown dog/dogs. I don't and would never enjoy killing a dog. But you can bet your boots I will do what I can as quickly as possible to end the casualties in my flock.

Thank you, you said what I have been tring to say. Apparently I couldn't express my thoughts and feelings clearly enough.

I have run out, grabbed a pipe sitting on my porch from our shower redo, because 1 of the dogs came in under my gate and was after my cat. Luckily the opening is small enough the others hadn't managed to wiggle through and I chased it out the yard, which was my intent. I had no desire to beat it, the pipe was for intimidation and protection in case the dog turned on me, and it was a good thing i grabbed it. The dog did turn and growl at me, with head lowered and hackles up, at which point i put the pipe diagnal in front of my body and kept going. (never show a dog how afraid you are, it eggs them on). My cat took the oppurtunity to get away, and i guess without prey in front of it the dog ran off. After that, I started blocking up the bottom of the gate. They do test the area constantly, and I know 1 can jump/climb into my yard but so far none of the others have. They did tear a hole in an old lady across the streets gate and have killed one of her cats, she is in a wheel chair, she can't go out there she is vulnerable to attack herself. My next door neighbor has chickens, the dogs have killed some and he shot a dog in the head with a chicken in its mouth. He has a hole torn in the far corner of his chainlink, the dogs did it to get at the birds. He now has a chicken friendly mostly pittbull bully dog that does a good job guarding, but i fear for the dog if 3 or more strays to after chickens. Because they have access to these 2 yards right now, they have not been as intent to regain entry into my yard. that will change as soon as they see my chickens, also both neighbors are repairing the damage the dogs caused. I will not stand by while these dogs kill my chickens, geese, or any of my animals. A quick, clean shot to head or chest, seems more humane than letting them suffer. These dogs are diseased, mangy, and who knows what else.

 

[Starfire669]

On a different note, I talked to my husband about the electric fencing. He said that he can make it work, even along the bottom of the gate, but has some questions. What's the draw on electric to run one of these? And for the wire along the top of the fence, of a bluejay or cardinal should touch it, would it kill them? We do not want to put something up that will kill the local bird wildlife.

 

[centrarchid]

On a different note, I talked to my husband about the electric fencing. She said that he can make it work, even along the bottom of the gate, but has some questions. What's the draw on electric to run one of these? And for the wire along the top of the fence, of a bluejay or cardinal should touch it, would it kill them? We do not want to put something up that will kill the local bird wildlife.

It is a very rare event indeed for wildlife to be harmed by fencing. Birds can land on it without being shocked so long as they do not touch ground at same time. Go to your local vender of farm supplies to see specifications on fence chargers. Most dogs that are not overly motivated are repelled by a 0.05 joule charger powering high tensile wire surrounding a 2 acre plot. 0.5 joules will be effective against more persistent dogs.

 

[Sonya9]

On a different note, I talked to my husband about the electric fencing. She said that he can make it work, even along the bottom of the gate, but has some questions. What's the draw on electric to run one of these? And for the wire along the top of the fence, of a bluejay or cardinal should touch it, would it kill them? We do not want to put something up that will kill the local bird wildlife.

With a hotwire you need to be careful about grass/weeds touching the wire as that will sap all of the juice. I don't think they are very expensive to run, buy a unit intended for the size of the yard and the purpose (i.e. unit for dogs vs. cattle).

A bird sitting on the hot wire at the top will not get shocked. To receive a shock the recipient MUST be grounded (as in touching the ground or a grounded object so the electricity has someplace to go). As an example when I bought the electric poultry net I got the "positive/negative" net which means it has strands of "hot" wire and strands of grounded wire, that way if something jumped onto the net but was NOT touching the ground they would still feel the shock (if they were touching one of the grounded wires in the fence).

Hot wires run at the top of fences generally are not very effective because of the grounding issue.

 

[Starfire669]

It is a very rare event indeed for wildlife to be harmed by fencing. Birds can land on it without being shocked so long as they do not touch ground at same time. Go to your local vender of farm supplies to see specifications on fence chargers. Most dogs that are not overly motivated are repelled by a 0.05 joule charger powering high tensile wire surrounding a 2 acre plot. 0.5 joules will be effective against more persistent dogs.

Ok, what about our chickens? The wire under the gate would be dangerous to them right? We would have to keep them away from it.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Yeah the pitchfork thing is a bit odd. Unless one has large livestock and needs to move hay why would they even have a pitchfork?

Regarding the 11 year old LGD, I think said dog would be fine with chicks introduced carefully to the HOUSE in a safe enclosure.

No large livestock here but we certainly have a pitchfork. We use it for all kinds of stuff - pitching debris into the compost pile, turning compost, pitching straw into the garden or chicken run, etc.

A pitchfork is more of a lifting/tossing implement. While it has long sharp tines, those are rarely used for stabbing anything. The tines are great for sliding under something so that you can lift it. I can totally see why he'd use it to lift a dead bird or animal and my husband would probably use it the same way.

I can't imagine anyone NOT having a pitchfork. I don't see the guy using a pitchfork as being odd in the least.

 

[Sonya9]

Ok, what about our chickens? The wire under the gate would be dangerous to them right? We would have to keep them away from it.

Your chickens will feel the zap but it won't harm them, the electric poultry fences have just as much juice and they aren't killing the chickens.

 

[Sonya9]

I don't see the guy using a pitchfork as being odd in the least.

I think not checking on the bird to see how badly injured the poor creature was is a bit odd, to simply get a pitch fork to remove the body without touching or even confirming the bird was dead even though the attack had just occurred seems strange to me.