New Member with a Question

[lera]

Hi. We are new to chickens and have a question.

Our neighbor's dogs are trying to dig under their chain-link fence to get to our chickens. They currently have 17 dogs (4 dalmations, 1 coon hound, some small loud dog, another neighbor's mama pit bull and her 10 puppies). Two of the dalmations and the coon hound are trying their hardest to get into our yard.

Our chicken coop is a few feet from the edge of our yard. The chicken coop is over 130 years old, but our chickens are just 2 months or so. We just built a covered chicken run for them from chicken wire (sides) and strawberry netting (top). I'm afraid it won't keep out determined dogs. (We didn't want to have to build another chicken coop on our property since we already have one.)

Is there any repellent that is safe to use (fox, etc.) that will not frighten the chickens? (Do chickens smell?) The neighbors seem to want to fix their fence by adding wood around the base, but they are only renters, so I'm not sure how much they are willing to invest in the fence. They almost seem annoyed that we have chickens, but we are homeowners and are kind of annoyed with 17 dogs. (We have 6 young children at home, so we are looking for a safe solultion.)

Thank you, in advance.

 

[Imp]

from Washington

Congrats on the chicks.

If the dogs get into your yard they will kill the chicks. You need to:

Protect the chicks by building fort knox for them or

Keep the dogs out of your yard, by any means possible.

Gosh, sorry there's no easy solution.

Good luck
Imp

 

[ranchhand]

Dogs are a pretty touchy subject around here. I will, however, suggest you check into the local ordinances regarding the number of dogs allowed. I would think they are way over the limit.

And yes, please be VERY careful about the children. I have scars all up and down one arm from someone's pet Dalmation.

Chicken wire won't work- you need some serious fencing, like hardware cloth, partially buried around the perimeter.

But

from South Carolina!

edited because I can spell- I just can't type!

 

[b.hromada]

and

from S. Florida.

 

[frogs n chickens]

I say electric fencing to convince the poochs to look elsewhere, and 17 dogs does sound like it is over the top-what have they got, a puppy mill
welcome aboard.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Electric fence- wish I had thought of that! Excellent idea, and relatively inexpensive.

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

from TN

 

[ChickenDogDuck]

from Oregon

Might want to dig into your local city and/or county ordinances. Some places don't allow electric fences and the way the crazy laws are anymore, you might get into more hot water for having the electric fence than your "lovely" neighbors would for having so many dogs.

The best of luck to you!

 

[vortec]

They currently have 17 dogs (4 dalmations, 1 coon hound, some small loud dog, another neighbor's mama pit bull and her 10 puppies).

I bet the Alpo, and Purina salesmen love to see them coming, lol!

Welcome to this site! It is a great place with A LOT of uselful info. Hope you learn as much as I have.

vortec​

 

[preppy*hippie*chick]

A warm welcome to BYC from the exact center of Ohio!