Neighbor dog killing my chickens!

[ranchhand]

Sheesh, I cannot believe some of the sneaky and hateful responses I've seen here. It very disappointing.

Go across the street and talk to the dog's owners. Tell them. Your chickens are valuable to you, they owe you for the dead ones and they need to contain their dog, it's the law. Period.

If they want to discuss or debate it? Nope. Keep your dog on your property or it will no longer be your dog. AC will be called or your dog will be dealt with as the situation at the time calls for. I have my chickens fenced, you need to fence your dog. Don't back down, be polite but very firm.

Immediate hostility leads to a feud. Straightforward response leads to a better friendship, if it's a friendship worth having.

 

[kemclaughlin]

You could also mention to your friends what happened with their family members and try to get an idea of how they are going to feel about how you handle it. Preserving the friendship means that you need to talk to them about the situation so that you can take their feelings into account when you deal with the dog. If they take a firm stance against the dog, then you know that if the guy can't or won't contain his dog, you know that you will still have these friends even if you have to get animal control involved.

I would not kill the animal unless it is being aggressive toward humans and you have no choice.

 

[Kinniburgh]

I won't be killing any child's pet. I did see the dog in the yard again today....but following hot on his heals was his owner yelling and running! He is making a REAL effort and I see him leashed most of the time now. I now know he is less then a year old (a puppy) and hope and pray he can be broken of the habit. I also know, that if he isn't they are willing to "take care" of the problem themselves. PHEWWW! OH, and THANK YOU, for all of your good advice. It made me look at the situation differently and gave me the courage to ACT.

PS BunsNChicks your post cracked me up!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I am glad that the neighbors are trying to control the dog and do realize that it is a problem.

One thing I want to add here is to leave your friends out of it. It is not their dog and there isn't anything they could do about the situation even if they wanted to. If they bring the subject up, now that's a different story.

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

Unfortunately we've had this problem going on for 10 months now. Last evening the neighbor's dog came over and killed 3 before we could run her off. I was absolutely furious. This morning my apologetic neighbor came over with checkbook in hand after I left a message that it was time to talk restitution. I did warn him that I've told the boys they can shoot her with a bb gun. I also told him I don't want her over here ever again.

It doesn't completely take away the pain but I do feel a bit better looking at the $300 check for the 15 chickens killed over this last year. FTR, I only told him $10/chicken. Good luck. This is definitely a frustrating and sticky situation.

 

[mumbleypeg]

Sigh, we have the same problem in our little community. We're a little reserved up here, so don't like to bring animal control into it, rather deal with it 'in house'. I was surprised by a number of old timers up here suggesting we tie the carcass to the dog. Apparently it scares the bejeezus out of them when they can't get away from it. Attach the deceased chicken to a rope and tie it around the dogs neck. They swear by it. We just haven't been able to retrieve a carcass to do it yet.

I have two dogs that roam freely with our chickens, lounge in the coop and truly guard them. They were trained to ignore the chickens by a nip on the back of the neck (three fingers as though the disciplining of the momma dog) everytime they stared at the chickens with interest. You have to do it just as they're getting the 'What's that?' thought in their head, and keep doing it until they look away. But once the behavior has already settled in.... you have to rely on other means.

Good luck with your situation. It's so heartbreaking to lose a chicken, no matter if it's the first or the 30th.....

 

[Saltysteele]

tying the dead chicken to the dog never works; wish it was that easy. they are not scared of it, and if it wasn't hanging around their neck, they'd probably be rolling around in it.

people seem to think that because you pay 2 bucks for a chick, that's all it's worth. you need to remind him if he has a problem with a large sum of cash per bird, that you have been feeding them for several months, have a significant amount of your time and effort in raising them and building your fenced in area, and that 20 bucks is on the low side for a bird.

i would also tell him that if he was unable to keep his animal on his property, that you would be forced to start placing small animal traps (and i'm not talking live traps, i'm talking foot traps like for muskrats if his dog is small enough) to protect your animals. you need to remind him that HIS DOG is no more valuable to YOU, as YOUR chickens are TO HIM. he needs to relate the care, love and effort he has put into his dog with that you have put into your animals.

 

[WooingWyandotte]

Shave the dog, paint a bullseye on it, tie a dead chicken around it and send it home. IF it was a real ranch it wouldn't get a second chance. No offense intended

 

[Saltysteele]

Quote:
lol, that would be funny to see their reaction

 

[bywaterdog]

I would fix the fence better before anything else. If a "little yippie dog" can get into the chicken area then the yard is way under protected.

Talking to the new neighbor in a calm but firm tone will get better results than poisoning, screaming, shooting or shaving the dog. The O.P. stated that the neighbors are
new the puppy is young, and it is a child's pet.
Whenever a bird is lost for any reason I remind myself that 1.2 billion chickens eaten per day worldwide.

Good luck with your chickens and neighbors.