Neighbors Dog Massacred My flock

[Rise722]

The dog needs the fenced yard. Also, it seems like a cull....

 

[MandaRae]

The dog needs the fenced yard. Also, it seems like a cull....

He apparently does have a kennel but he was letting her out to pee the night before and she took off.
Which upset me more because he should have taken his lazy ass after her.
Atleast have your pet properly trained for recall.

 

[The Moonshiner]

It might also be helpful to run up an itemized list of how much you paid per bird, how much you spent on supplies and feed, how much time you invested in their care each day, etc. If you sell your eggs, you should also do a projection of income lost during the time it will take you to raise up a new flock. The idea is that this might have more of an impact on your careless neighbor than simply asking for $10 a bird, or whatever. It would also give you a real appreciation of the true costs involved in raising chickens!

BTW, we have a rat terrier who'd love nothing better than to get at our birds. But we made a large paddock for them (we have around 40) surrounded by 6' high dog kenneling. Kenneling comes in panels of 4 (I think each is 8' long), and those panels are easily ganged together to make secure perimeter fencing. A set of 4 retails for about $200 here.

Only a few of our chickens have managed to fly out -- and we've clipped their wings to prevent future escapes.

This sounds great for the OP but the neighbor will not think so. I'm sure you're saying so what?
What will most likely happen is then they'll become unlikely to do what is right. Then what? Fight it out with them? Take it to court?
Courts would very rarely award that unless you live in a nut job area.
They'll award the value of the birds lost at that time. They'll then expect you to use that to replace with birds that age.
You'll not be out any egg money or have to reinvest in raising them.

 

[swampfox440]

Sorry for your losses. A least he offered to pay for the damages. I hope you can get your issues resolved in a peaceful manner. As Robert Frost once said,
" Good fences make good neighbors". Best wishes for your situation.

 

[Alagirl]

It might also be helpful to run up an itemized list of how much you paid per bird, how much you spent on supplies and feed, how much time you invested in their care each day, etc. If you sell your eggs, you should also do a projection of income lost during the time it will take you to raise up a new flock. The idea is that this might have more of an impact on your careless neighbor than simply asking for $10 a bird, or whatever. It would also give you a real appreciation of the true costs involved in raising chickens!

BTW, we have a rat terrier who'd love nothing better than to get at our birds. But we made a large paddock for them (we have around 40) surrounded by 6' high dog kenneling. Kenneling comes in panels of 4 (I think each is 8' long), and those panels are easily ganged together to make secure perimeter fencing. A set of 4 retails for about $200 here.

Only a few of our chickens have managed to fly out -- and we've clipped their wings to prevent future escapes.

I think the purchase price of organic eggs from the store would suffice, around here it's over 4 bucks a dozen. At the cheap store.

 

[swampfox440]

I think the purchase price of organic eggs from the store would suffice, around here it's over 4 bucks a dozen. At the cheap store.

You hit that nail on the head, these prices have gone crazy! I sure am glad I don't have to buy eggs. I have 12 ladies working on that.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

So sorry about this tragedy!

On any hen 6 to 18 months old is worth $20 average each. On the Marans, depending on age and color: $20-$30 each. On a rooster in the same age group is worth $10-$15 average each, but because of his breed, $20. You should charge the price for all the fencing and materials. Go to the place where you'll be buying more, and ask for that price.

I will say this: I knew someone personally who had a Pointer sled dog literally tear a wall off their chicken coop just to go in and kill all the chickens. This breed is very dangerous near chickens. Thus saying, the dog might get loose again and it could happen again, so you might want to build a stronger fencing system. But on another note, because this has happened and the owner is acting responsible, I'm sure he'll pay close attention that the dog doesn't run loose again. Just be ready just in case it accidentally gets loose again.

 

[MandaRae]

So sorry about this tragedy!

On any hen 6 to 18 months old is worth $20 average each. On the Marans, depending on age and color: $20-$30 each. On a rooster in the same age group is worth $10-$15 average each, but because of his breed, $20. You should charge the price for all the fencing and materials. Go to the place where you'll be buying more, and ask for that price.

I will say this: I knew someone personally who had a Pointer sled dog literally tear a wall off their chicken coop just to go in and kill all the chickens. This breed is very dangerous near chickens. Thus saying, the dog might get loose again and it could happen again, so you might want to build a stronger fencing system. But on another note, because this has happened and the owner is acting responsible, I'm sure he'll pay close attention that the dog doesn't run loose again. Just be ready just in case it accidentally gets loose again.

We found out the dog killed a different neighbors flock last year. So they seem like they just don't care. It's so frustrating because I want a fence around our property but we just don't have the money right now.
This is the first time in the 3yrs of having the chickens here that anything like this has happened.

 

[FunClucks]

My own dogs ate my first flock of birds.
I built a dog proof coop.

Not trying to derail, but really interested and the search function isn't being helpful. How do you build a dog proof coop? Do you have pictures of yours?

 

[FunClucks]

We found out the dog killed a different neighbors flock last year. So they seem like they just don't care. It's so frustrating because I want a fence around our property but we just don't have the money right now.
This is the first time in the 3yrs of having the chickens here that anything like this has happened.

I've known a lot of dogs that climb and jump fences, regardless of height. So maybe a small electric fence around the coop would be a better deterrent than a whole-property fence?

I'm so very sorry this happened to you.