NEED HELP WITH COSTS>>>>>Neighbors dog killed my whole flock ....

[Blammmo]

 

[Blammmo]

The energizer is inside of the coop, then as you can see I ran a strand of elec around the bottom of the pen and the top (in case anything wants to climb) I have 4 African geese that police any weasels that slip through or any hawks/owls.
I had a great rooster that also helped out with protection but lost him to disease this winter. There are a bunch of dark brahma chicks currently brooding in my coop along with 2 new roosters, I plan on keeping two from now on in case I lose one again. I usually have around 15-20 chickens and the 4 geese.

 

[carnivore]

Don't electrocute the chickens......

Technically, the welded wire fence is already grounded through the t-posts. The chicken wire panels are tied to the welded wire fence, so are already grounded also. I see in Blammo's pics above, he used the insulators that attach to the t-posts, I used the type that clamp to chain link fence. This is a metal bracket that is clamped to the fence and secured by a large cotter pin. Then a plastic insulator screws in to the end of the bracket. I went this route so I could put the insulators closer together than the t-post spacing would allow, because the welded wire fence is not pulled tight, and has waves in it. Since the fence is grounded, it's necessary for the live wire not to touch the fence at any point, or it would short circuit and you would have a section of "dead" wire.

 

[Spongegirl]

your post read like I could have written it myself. I was soooo devastated! so I feel your pain for sure. My kill happened two years ago, and I was like "that does it, im getting a livestock guardian dog!" 2 years later, here come the dogs, luckily I was home and could let my dog loose one em, chasing em down the lane with quickness. So the first kill two years ago, I let the neighbor know what had happened. Didn't hold them accountable because my horse used to get loose and no one got me in trouble. But this year when those dogs came here! grrrrrrr! I had a talk with the woman of the house instead of the husband like before. A real woman to woman "don't let this ever happen again, or else we are BOTH gonna loose our animals!" She understood and was sorry. Just thought id share my story...great thread! The neighbors dogs are my greatest predator...well that and my OWN pup!

I explained the love, time, care, energy, and expense we put into this for an expected return, all to lose that because she cant keep her dogs home. I have learned the most with this hobby because what I have lost and what I have screwed up, well and of course accomplishments too. Neighbors have no clue sometimes why its so important to be responsible pet owners.

 

[DaveOmak]

Nice install.... Thanks.......
Dave

 

[carnivore]

Well, the electric fence seems to be working as advertised. The older chicks have been in the run since Friday morning. My dog must have discovered the wire early on, there have been NO further excavation attempts.

 

[duceedee]

The dog came over on the 9th....I saw him scoping the yard out...chased him.....he came over again tried to get my chicken I called the police let them know as we have a leash law here....later that evening one of my meat birds was dead.....My meat birds were in the coop and they had a run....My layers were in the garage just a few days until the meats got butchered...the dog then came again after she was told by the police to keep her dog restrained and did NOT...the dog jumped the gate in my coop killed all my meats dragged 2 out and ripped into the breasts....killed a few layers in the yard then went in my garage and killed all the remaining layers.....

 

[sbhkma]

I'd have shot the dog on the spot. If I didn't catch him in action, I'd make sure it WAS him and then I'd be calling the police, filing a report and insisting on payment from the dog owners plus discussion of a lawsuit. There's NO excuse for dog owners allowing their dogs to run loose like that. I have 3 dogs and they are never allowed to just run free except in their 1/3 acre dog fence for playtimes. Otherwise they live in the house with us.

 

[Stiggy]

I agree, the dog needs to go, once is once to many times. especially after theve been warned. if you can catch the dog get it off the property and shoot it/ dispose of it. or just shoot it like the above said. Sorry to hear that you've lot more hens, its such a shame. maybe you will need an electric fence which would also be a shame.
@ sbhkma I agree, my dog is always contained on my property unless he is out with me, however he shares his run with the chooks, they don't bother him and he protects them from cats and other dogs. I am lucky that he is not interested in them, as he grew up with them. however even he would get one chance, he touches them and he wouldn't be trusted again, and they would be moved to a secure run which would be a shame because they love to free range, and he loves stealing their fruit.

 

[ChickenExplorer]

duceedee, this is terrible.

Where I live in the Mountain West, full grown chickens can be bought for $10-$15 each depending on the breed and time of year. So your neighbor is already going to be giving you enough money to make them have a long talk with themselves about what to do with the dog. Since there is also a time commitment that you have now lost and will want/have to start over on a new set of chicks, I don't think it would be too much to ask for the cost of a bag or two of medicated chick feed to help the new flock get off to a good start.

My neighbor and I both keep chickens and we both have dogs. We have an understanding that if ever there is an incident, whoever's dog it is will replace the lost birds and, IF need be, put down the others dog. So I don't think the above would be asking too much.

That being said, I realize you are upset (who wouldn't be?), but asking for much more than that would just be asking for ongoing problems with your neighbor. It happened and its terrible, then happened again which is worse. But you still have to be neighbors.

P.S. A little over a month ago, a dog got into my yard and started chasing my chickens. I went after the dog with my ax (I keep it handy

). The dog ran from me and through the fence into my neighbor's yard. Turned out it was one of his dogs. When we saw each other we had no ill words, even though I was still holding the ax over my shoulder. It helped so much that we had an understanding before hand.