Neighbors dogs!

[glassdragonfly]

We have the same problem right now. Sweet young huge back and white Great Dane mix. Wants to "play" with the chickens. We have tried running him off,throwing rocks,yelling and to him it's all play! So out with the gun and pest shot. He's be hit several times,but the last one was close up and he has not been back! Pest shot hurts them a bit but will not kill them. He would be such a good dog if the owners would fix him and train him.
Hope you find a fix that works for you.

 

[aart]

Do I just accept this as a negative of free ranging? He did apologize but I feel it will not be the last time.

If bird was killed on your land, then dog owner should pay for bird.
Agrees, may not be the last time.

 

[hayley3]

We have the same problem right now. Sweet young huge back and white Great Dane mix. Wants to "play" with the chickens. We have tried running him off,throwing rocks,yelling and to him it's all play! So out with the gun and pest shot. He's be hit several times,but the last one was close up and he has not been back! Pest shot hurts them a bit but will not kill them. He would be such a good dog if the owners would fix him and train him.
Hope you find a fix that works for you.
[/QUOTE]
I did that for 10 yrs but now I've moved, so I'm going to electric fence to ward off any trouble with the new neighbors but what is "pest shot"

 

[cmom]

Sadly no matter how much land you own, free ranging your birds is going to be a risk. I no longer free range my birds due to losses in the past from predators but the birds do have large pens. I do have electric wire around my coops and pens and the predators know it's there. Here we have mostly coyotes. Recently a neighbor did allow some coyote hunters to go onto his property and hunt coyotes. He has found a few dens on his property. Here nothing preys on coyotes but they will prey on other animals such as fox, bobcat, dog, cats, whatever they can catch. I have noticed a lot fewer coyotes around lately. I have 10 game cameras around on my property. I live rural on a dead end road. Most nights I have seen coyotes on at least one of the cameras and often times more than one camera. During the last three weeks only a couple of times I have seen a coyote on a camera. I did see one last night. I did hear some shooting so maybe the hunters got some.

 

[cmom]

I looked up pest shot. Here is one of the websites I came across that explains it.
https://godgalsgunsgrub.blogspot.com/2012/03/cci-22-lr-shotshells-for-pest-control.html

 

[glassdragonfly]

We have the same problem right now. Sweet young huge back and white Great Dane mix. Wants to "play" with the chickens. We have tried running him off,throwing rocks,yelling and to him it's all play! So out with the gun and pest shot. He's be hit several times,but the last one was close up and he has not been back! Pest shot hurts them a bit but will not kill them. He would be such a good dog if the owners would fix him and train him.
Hope you find a fix that works for you.

I did that for 10 yrs but now I've moved, so I'm going to electric fence to ward off any trouble with the new neighbors but what is "pest shot"
[/QUOTE]
We get pest shot at wal-mart. It is like a bullet but you can shoot them up close and not break skin. Sure makes them yelp and run!

 

[centrarchid]

Sadly no matter how much land you own, free ranging your birds is going to be a risk. I no longer free range my birds due to losses in the past from predators but the birds do have large pens. I do have electric wire around my coops and pens and the predators know it's there. Here we have mostly coyotes. Recently a neighbor did allow some coyote hunters to go onto his property and hunt coyotes. He has found a few dens on his property. Here nothing preys on coyotes but they will prey on other animals such as fox, bobcat, dog, cats, whatever they can catch. I have noticed a lot fewer coyotes around lately. I have 10 game cameras around on my property. I live rural on a dead end road. Most nights I have seen coyotes on at least one of the cameras and often times more than one camera. During the last three weeks only a couple of times I have seen a coyote on a camera. I did see one last night. I did hear some shooting so maybe the hunters got some.

I no longer even use the term risk. I build the losses into my management system. Some chickens will be lost to a variety of causes. Work to minimize those losses and have resources set aside to replace losses. If replacement costs or predator management cost become to high, then look a changing management systems or cease free-ranging.

 

[David61]

If your chicken is not a pet and just a stock animal, its just a matter of him paying for your chicken, time and trouble. A good neighbor would gladly pay and try not to let it happen again.
If you're chickens are more of pets than barn yard stock I would be sure he knows that as well.
How well you are friends and a few other factors would largely be in how to play this out, But SSS can put a stop to hurt feelings, more loss of chickens and retaliation if you press the issue to trespassing and having animal control putting his dog down.
Anything hurting, killing or damaging my things on my land is not to be around for long. I have shot service rifle competition for many years.
Act responsible and lawful even when others don't.
And its none of their business when you do.

 

[Folly's place]

In many/ most places in the USA, intentionally injuring an invading dog is considered animal abuse, with consequences. 'Pest shot' is in this category. If you do shoot, plan to kill, or don't shoot at all.
Find out ahead of time what laws are in your state/ county, so you aren't the one at fault.
Electric fencing is your friend!
If it can be done safely, taking the dog to AC may help a lot. Don't try if there's any possible risk to you!
Mary

 

[Matilda Belle]

I really like to free range my girls but my neighbors dog recently killed one of my flock. Do I just accept this as a negative of free ranging? He did apologize but I feel it will not be the last time.
Has anyone else dealt with this?

Yes. My neighbors have a dog that likes to come onto my property and growl/bark at me and my family. When they first moved in, the dog liked to run around my chicken coop/run, barking and growling at my poor chickens. Unfortunately, because my neighbors can't keep their dog on their property, I cannot free range ever. It's unfortunate, but I want to keep the peace in the neighborhood. I've never confronted them about the issue for that reason.