New neighbors dog killed 3 of our flock

[Suz13]

We do not have a fence of any kind yet. The ducks were free ranging right outside the coop / house / shop / garage area (the buildings sort of form loose u shape with one side totally open no buildings) - they tended to stay in a 1/2 acre area (we have 10 acres) they liked to be near us / their coop. The chickens were free ranging outside their coop and inside it - we would leave the main door open and they would roam about the same as the ducks - pretty close by in and out of the coop. We generally put them away if we left the property. The one time the neighbors dog came and chased the birds / ducks and some ran into the coop and she followed them my husband was close behind her. She killed two chickens and wounded a duck badly (duck died an hour later) he was shouting at her and trying to grab her - our coop is a decent size not huge - but she was fast. The second time and another dog / neighbor the ducks were right behind my house / garage and as i was stepping to the backyard (could not see but could hear) she attacked them. Luckily I yelled and she ran to the side of my house (away from ducks).

We have been keeping the chickens in their coop / run and they are adjusting okay. Trying to give them stuff to keep them busy / happy.

 

[Suz13]

Thanks and I read it in a different tone. And I wanted to be clear my dogs do not roam the neighborhood. Thanks ever so much for the reply. I am certainly emotional about all this - feeling like I am at the mercy of the neighborhood dogs and missing my morning coffee with my ducks.

 

[Suz13]

Sorry, thought I was being friendly, respectful, and making suggestions to try and help protect your family and animals in case the new neighbors hunting dog thought your pup looked like a fast moving rabbit or something else enticing to chase and then shake like a rag doll.....

I was actually talking about your neighbors dog being unsupervised. But that even though you thought your dogs wouldn't hurt anything, it is possible.

I understand you were already looking at options to contain your dogs before my post. I was trying to express that IMHO it might be better protection for your property if you were able to keep the other dogs out as opposed to keeping yours in, but would actually do both at the same time.

That's awesome that your dogs have good recall! Of course it is a relief to be able to let your dogs in your yard unsupervised without fear of them being ran over, attacked, stolen or anything else that could happen. Of course fences aren't perfect but the do help.

Maybe I didn't include enough happy faces to indicate I was sincere. I am sure your family has been through a lot!

I truly hope for the best for you and mean no harm to anyone on the forum.

Thanks and I read it in a different tone. And I wanted to be clear my dogs do not roam the neighborhood. Thanks ever so much for the reply. I am certainly emotional about all this - feeling like I am at the mercy of the neighborhood dogs and missing my morning coffee with my ducks. My apologies.

 

[JoshFig]

IMO if your dogs aren't causing anyone else trouble and your neighbors are not bothered by them, then let them run. If a dog kills someone else's livestock - it is their responsibility to contain the dog and the property owner has every right to both be compensated and to kill the dog if it is threatening their animals on their property.

 

[aart]

Thanks and I read it in a different tone. And I wanted to be clear my dogs do not roam the neighborhood. Thanks ever so much for the reply. I am certainly emotional about all this - feeling like I am at the mercy of the neighborhood dogs and missing my morning coffee with my ducks.

I kinda got the same tone you did at first.

Maybe I missed it but, have you considered a hard fence to keep those neighborhood dogs out of your yard?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thanks and I read it in a different tone. And I wanted to be clear my dogs do not roam the neighborhood. Thanks ever so much for the reply. I am certainly emotional about all this - feeling like I am at the mercy of the neighborhood dogs and missing my morning coffee with my ducks. My apologies.

Let's have a cup together!

Must have coffee.

It's also even harder to see our kids hurt.

Hopefully the worst part is over for you guys....

 

[speckledhen]

As someone who believes that the invading animal is always the one in the wrong (or the owner of said animal) and as someone who did free range the flock even before we began putting up the livestock fencing around 2 of the 5 acres we owned at the time, we still decided to put up that perimeter fence because of one hen, mainly. I had one particular hen in my original flock whose name was Ginger, but I called her Dora the Explorer. She would take one or two friends, truck down to the gravel/dirt road that surrounded our "land island" and walk down the road, defying all odds against them. I was trying as much to keep her in as I was to keep roaming dogs out. In fact, we had the entire thing except for 20 ft in the back corner done and guess who found her way out of that corner and down the hill and was chased by the dog next door? Yup, Ginger. She lost a couple of tail feathers before the neighbor grabbed the dog, who was very young at the time, but if she had been killed, I'd have had nothing to say about it. She was on their property, though we were frantically trying to complete the fence. After that final gap was closed, she never got out again. They did not decide to get chickens, I did. They deserve not to have my birds go down to their house to forage, whether or not they do any damage.

That 2+ acre perimeter fence we installed in stages was in addition to the picket fence attached to the back of the house we put up even before we were moved into the house to contain our two dogs. That cost about $1100 but we considered it a cost of moving, as we always did. Only one house we ever bought had a fence already in place. The rest, we had to fence ourselves. Would rather have spent $$ on something else at the time, but the fence, though it's been breached by dogs a couple of times, is peace of mind for us. We've done all we can to protect them as well as allow them to have time outside their large pen to run and forage.

Though we put up a fence, well, several fences, I believe it's my right to allow my own animals to go anywhere on my own land that I want them to go. If an invading predator comes (and a domestic dog is a predator, make no mistake) onto our property, it is illegally trespassing and the owner of that animal is at fault. We do not try to catch it and endanger ourselves. We see if it's crossing over on the way to elsewhere and if it shows interest in the birds, we prepare a lead sleeping pill, just in case.

Never, ever has an owner been right behind ANY dog that came up here onto our property, looking for it because it just escaped its fence. In fact, unless it belongs to one of my two immediate neighbors, I have no idea who the owners would be and consider them all strays, collar or not. Once after DH fired shots toward two dogs who literally climbed the fence and tore it off the tree, dogs we had never seen before, someone began whistling for the dogs. Never saw them again. I'm sure they heard us yelling at the two dogs to get out of there before they heard the shots. They're darn lucky those dogs made it home that day.

ETA: many folks mistakenly believe that in rural areas, there are not leash laws. In most, there are. If not the local area, there is probably a state leash law that will apply. I do not believe ANYONE should allow dogs to escape their property, city or country. If the dog disappears, well, they'd never know what happened to it. Might be some chicken owner had to shoot it, but they'll get another dog and again, let it run. My best friend has had to shoot 4-5 of the SAME neighbor's Rottweilers. He got one after the other, they go down the road and growl at her on her own land, attack her birds. Once, a sheriff's deputy shot one with her chicken in its mouth. Deputy was there talking to her about something else and it got into her coop on the opposite side of her house, killed several birds. He delivered the dead dog to the owner with a warning not to retaliate.

 

[Suz13]

We have been here just under a year and we are pricing out fencing options now. We have 10 acres that includes a pond. I think for now the focus will be on a permitter fence for the dogs (our dogs to keep them in). We have kiddos to protect as well and we want the dogs to be able to stay with them as they roam on our property - the underground fencing is by no means cheap but for fencing several acres it seems a good option to explore. We are planning on looking at several options and will also consider fencing a small area for the chickens to roam a bit. The coop and coop run are a decent size and they are setting down in it - our plan was to let them free range which is no longer an option. The coop is not exactly in an area where we can fence around it - we would essentially have to herd them into a fenced in area nearby if that is possible. We are looking into it. We have a friend who has kept various livestock and is helping us with options. I am also considering some of the options others suggested here. If funds were not part of the consideration we would put an attractive but serious fence around our entire property! As a side note when we mentioned putting physical fence up ON OUR PROPERTY when we moved in one neighbor suggested we don't as things look nice the way they are. (chuckle).

I kinda got the same tone you did at first.

Maybe I missed it but, have you considered a hard fence to keep those neighborhood dogs out of your yard?

 

[speckledhen]

...... As a side note when we mentioned putting physical fence up ON OUR PROPERTY when we moved in one neighbor suggested we don't as things look nice the way they are. (chuckle).

Hahaha! You know, there's always at least one neighbor who thinks they must tell everyone else what they can do on their own property, even w/o an HOA present. Good grief. As far as being able to afford fencing your entire place, if I had the $$, I'd have a 6' stone wall surrounding my entire acreage with an electronic driveway gate and intercom, but alas, livestock fencing and u-posts it is.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

@Suz13 I had a couple of thoughts I wanted to share if you don't mind.

I was gonna say with my (ugly) livestock type fencing that the chickens seemed to only go over where the gate was solid. But one had to prove me wrong and land on the fence anyways.

The other thing I wanted to express was that, even if you do have to confine your birds for their safety doesn't in any way mean they are suffering. Especially when compared to the pain your family suffered from the previous loss.

I am sorry for that again. Birds can be happy in their coop. Mine hang out in theirs many times even when the weather is perfect and with an acre of lushness to forage. I even go in there and do chores while they are there just to spend time. They actually perch in different locations than where they roost. I know you will do everything you can to make them comfortable and safe. My point here is to be encouraging!

Because even if it may be nice to range, not everyone has the same situation. For me the outrage about not being able to range your animals is more about the impact you neighbors' behavior has on you. Frustrates me when the innocent pay the consequences of the guilty and OUR rights are threatened!

I both wish I had but am thankful I don't... 10 acres. That is a lot of maintenance and cost. And my dreams WAY over ride my wallet and energy level. But congratulations to you! Bad neighbor experience aside, I hope you enjoy living there and making the property work to fit the needs and desires of you and your family.

Best wishes!