Need help calculating the cost of lost chickens PLEASE!

[OldGuy43]

Unsubscribing to this topic now.

 

[Anarchy82]

So BigDaddy'sGurl, what is she suppose to do? Kill the dog, hang it in the front yard from its tongue with a sign "keep your dog off my land"?
Or better yet. Maybe she should build a 20' tall fence around her whole property.
Or maybe she should go buy a boat, and live on the water so she doesn't have to worry about dogs

Say you get into a car accident. Not only can you get what was damaged, but lose of income. Well who's to say you were not going to be fired from your job in two days? Nobody.

If she sells eggs, and makes money off those eggs. Then she is allowed to collect for lose of income, just as you would with any other animal.

 

[Wisher1000]

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[dainerra]

in the cow scenario, you have to provide proof that the cow was pregnant with a viable calf, at least in the states where I have lived. Otherwise, everyone who owned a heifer that was killed would say "Oh, I had her bred a few days ago"

In my experiences (AR, WV, and FL) you are only allowed to charge the REPLACEMENT cost of the bird - if a POL hatchery bird, then that is the cost comparison. Here, that means $5-10. The same goes for cattle, dogs, horses, whatever. Now, if you have show stock, then of course it would be the replacement cost of an identical bird. You would have to provide receipts and proof that it would cost $XX to replace it.

In the car accident scenario, the insurance company will often consult employers to get "your salary history" But, if they find out that you were scheduled to be laid off or fired, then they will NOT pay you for lost income.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

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[BigDaddy'sGurl]

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[Johnn]

Dont listen to any of these saying $35 is not fair, it is more then fair anyone with a brain can see that all teh food you spent money on the bedding all the time and effort you put into them.

 

[dainerra]

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I wouldn't say that it is "unfair" I would say that, depending on your area it is more than you are legally allowed to ask for. But, until you reach the court system, I could ask the dog owner for $75 a bird. If they pay it, good for me. If not, there is no way that I could ever get it legally.

 

[kgdubois]

BigDaddy'sGurl :

Again, though, I am confused. Say you asked 15.00 each (what I consider acceptable for a production point of lay pullet in my area) and you used that 15.00 each to buy a new bird... that new bird is going to also lay eggs. So if you in turn asked for 35.00 based on lost income, how is that fair? Aren't you getting the "merchandise" in the form of eggs from the new bird? So you're getting repaid twice, in my opinion.

When I asked her for the $35, that was only for the cost of the lost birds (at $20 each, for my area) plus what I've spent on their feed to get them to the age of 7 months. I only charged $15 for the RIR rooster, because they are cheaper to replace. When I worked up all the other costs, it was only to illustrate to her what she *might* be required to pay, should things advance to the point of a civil court case.

I live in a small town in Far West Texas, and the closest place I've found with point-of-lay pullets is two and a half hours away...so even if I did purchase them to get my flock back, it would still cost quite a bit in gasoline and time for me to get them. Also, I'd have the added headache of trying to integrate the nine new birds with my remaining thirteen, and all the problems that go along with that...I've never tried to blend flocks, but I've read horror stories about the possibility of having ALL of them die from disease. For this reason, just as a personal choice, I'm going to go with day old chicks, but I'll have to wait until spring to get them.

I checked the laws in my area, and I would be entitled to the cost of replacing the birds, feed & equipment, and all lost income for the life of all the birds (which would be the 700 eggs each). This total was HUGE, and if the dog owner had been nasty about it all, I'd have pursued this course with her. Since she was very contrite, and is willing to work with me, I feel like the $35 per bird is reasonable. This amount allows me to replace my birds and recoup a little of what I put in to them for feed.

If I had never owned chickens, I agree that this amount would sound a little crazy. But knowing how much time and effort I've put into getting my flock to the point of laying, I think $35 each is a very decent price. My egg business has been set back hugely by this, and I will not be able to get back to my previous production amount until the new chicks arrive (probably in Feb or March) and are raised...so i'm looking at a year minimum until I can start supplying my egg orders again (if they're still there).​

 

[TinyChickenLady]

I checked the laws in my area, and I would be entitled to the cost of replacing the birds, feed & equipment, and all lost income for the life of all the birds (which would be the 700 eggs each). This total was HUGE, and if the dog owner had been nasty about it all, I'd have pursued this course with her. Since she was very contrite, and is willing to work with me, I feel like the $35 per bird is reasonable. This amount allows me to replace my birds and recoup a little of what I put in to them for feed.

It was nice of you to work with her like this. She could have made it much worse if she wasn't willing to also work with you. I agree that when you lose not only a pet but an income as well, it should be compensated by those responsible.
Kudos to you for being a grown up instead of throwing a legal tantrum.
If it doesn't work out, Anarchy and I will bring Rambo and Chuck down there for some dog butt kicking!​