New neighbors dog killed 3 of our flock

[gmfwlbrdr]

Fences make great neighbours, build a big tall tight one ,good luck.

 

[Millworker26]

Can you keep the chickens locked in their run when the dog is there? It may have to be a temporary solution until you can get a fence up to keep the dog out of your yard.

Should read "can you keep the chickens locked in their run until THE NEIGHBOR puts up a fence to keep their dog out of your yard."

Why don't you just have a conversation with the neighbor and rattle off all the things you COULD do to them or the dog and suggest they just leave it at their other residence when they come out to work on the new property? Tell them the unfortunate incident with the chickens means it is mandatory that they include a dog containment solution in their building plans.

 

[kysilkies]

Any animal caught on my property, from a bald eagle to my sisters dog, will be killed if they harm any of my birds.

About 2yrs ago we were losing almost a bird a day to predators, acquired a Great Pyranees, haven't lost one bird since and haven't had to shoot anything.

 

[Hopperkiller]

I have 5 dogs on 10 acres either penned or leashed. Neighbors' dog killed one of my chickens. I issued him a warning that my dogs, calves, and chickens were on my property. All other dogs on my place were nothing but fancy coyotes and treated as such. Apologies dont cut it with me. I then set up some targets and take practice shots on a regular basis. They finally penned thir dogs. They havent spoke to me since but no loss. Killing my birds by their negligence didnt set well. Texas law allows landowner to shoot stray domestic animals that harass or injure livestock of another. My son has 5 dogsnext door that are controlled as does the neighbor on the far side of him. S et the rules now and s8ave later problems

 

[TheLazyBFarm]

I had my first chicken scare yesterday. Fortunately, everything worked as planned.

I was working in my shop and took a small break. As I stood in my shop door, I saw something coming down my driveway about an 1/8 mile away. I couldn't make it out and didn't have my binocs with me, so used my Ruger 10-22 with 4 power scope. It was some sort of dog, one I had never seen before. One thing was clear, it was headed directly for my chicken coop!

I swapped the 10-22 for my Colt HBAR and stood in the doorway watching the whole thing unfold. Dog kept coming, stopped to take a pee against a tree (it was a male given that it lifted it's leg) and that's when my kenneled dogs (the dogs inside the fence with the coop) got wind of it and started barking. Yea, and it was their "Intruder Bark" as well! Dog took off over my pole barn field and I lost sight of it. The bad news is that my so-called faithful watch dog, Molly, was still taking a nap in the shop and pretty much wasn't aware of anything going on... Oh well, we love her anyway.

About 3 minutes later, I went up to my pole barn field in my RTV (Molly being the passenger, as usual), never saw the dog, but did jump a deer that was hanging out in the brush of my Poplar grove, not 50 yards from where my chicken coop is located and then saw my resident turkey as I went down the road to my neighbor's house about 1/4 mile away. My neighbors saw the dog going towards my place, but didn't see it go back. Haven't seen it since.

Bottom line: If you don't have a means, in your hand, to protect your chickens, then all your left with is wringing your hands and hoping for the best.

Get a gun, protect your chickens, kill the dog when, not if, it trespasses, use the tractor to bury the remains or turn it over to the sheriff, your call.

 

[bobbi-j]

Should read "can you keep the chickens locked in their run until THE NEIGHBOR puts up a fence to keep their dog out of your yard." 

Why don't you just have a conversation with the neighbor and rattle off all the things you COULD do to them or the dog and suggest they just leave it at their other residence when they come out to work on the new property?  Tell them the unfortunate incident with the chickens means it is mandatory that they include a dog containment solution in their building plans.

It would be nice if it worked that way. I just tend to go on the assumption that it's MY responsibility to keep my birds safe. It doesn't matter if it's a neighbor's dog, raccoon or coyote. If any of those (or other assorted critters) are prowling around, it's my duty to keep them safe until the situation has been resolved. If the neighbor is willing to put up the fence or otherwise contain the dog - great! Something to keep in mind, though - if the neighbor's dog can get in, so can any other stray that comes along. As can fox, coyote, etc.

 

[angelsun]

I disagree!

Animal control will pick up all loose dogs for 1. For 2... theft.... Please! 3, when it comes to protecting your livestock, family, and property... do whatever it takes except following them off your property! That's what it says in California. The dog was trespassing. It does state here that we cannot detain a dog though. No jurisdiction is going to charge you for detainment or theft of an animal that just killed your livestock. At that point animal control, not the owners, can come pick up the dog or in MOST locations you can dispense of the predator in any manor you chose EXCEPT relocation.

 

[speckledhen]

Sadly, in many, many locales, there is simply NO Animal Control to call. And in others, they are only of minimal use, as they are here in my county. We all need to decide BEFORE something like this happens how we will handle it.

Dog owners frequently refuse to believe their dog did anything, thought they'd have zero way to know what the dog was doing since they allow it to run wild all over the area. A neighbor has a Boston Terrier she swore would not bother chickens. I caught it running down the driveway and rushing the fence early on in its life but since she would probably not believe it, I just let it go. My birds were penned, they were a little startled was all. She did later get a couple of hens and the dog learned to leave them alone. She later put up a very expensive and large chain link area attached to her house. Guess where the dog stays? Not in the fence, that's for sure. In fact, here it is on my game camera coming down my driveway on a day I had to leave the drive gate open. Game cameras pointed at your coops are a good idea and quite inexpensive. They can take photos or video, usually. So, culprit caught on camera. That's not the only dog I've had words with owners about around here. Mostly, I have no idea who any of the dogs I see belong to. Some have collars, some do not.




And late last year in the pasture behind our perimeter fence, two dogs were scavenging around. Never saw them before and they look long-legged enough to clear the livestock fencing. But, if that was a chicken killer, the owner could not deny it had been here, IF I could find the owner, that is.



This Stealth Cam was $128 but others are less expensive and would be just as useful, as long as they took decent night photos.

 

[WPFarmstead]

Did the dog owner ever get back to you about compensation?

 

[Suz13]

Update ******

The neighbor offered to cover any cost but we declined as we chose not to replace the 2 dead chickens. I did go the next day and get my daughter a new pet Roan duck. It was nice for about a week until our OTHER neighbor's dog came over and took a chunk out of my Peking drake. Had I not walked out just as she did it - I am sure she would have killed him. The neighborhood we moved into (6 houses on a u shaped street) general mentality is "well, dogs roam and they kill birds what can you do"? Everyone has dogs and everyone lets them roam.

So after many tears from both my kids and myself we gave our beloved pet ducks away and have been keeping the chickens in their coop / run attached to the coop (no more free ranging). It is a far cry from what we planned for OUR property but since our neighbors have no plans to stop their dogs from coming on our property I decided it was best for now. I KNOW the laws are on my side but I just cannot engage in a war over this right now and I am not confident I can shoot all my neighbors dogs w/o traumatizing my children and damaging my relationships with all my neighbors. At the moment we are looking into underground invisible fencing for our dogs since they also on occasion step over property boundaries (although would never kill anything a Golden-doodle and a Chihuahua) . We do want to be responsible with our dogs and certainly cannot demand they keep their dogs on their own property if we are not doing the same.

Thanks for all the advice!