Should I warn neighbor that dog might get shot?

[mowin]

If possible, I would take it to animal authorities. I wouldn't kill an animal just because I dont know who owns it.

For sure, I dont consider a dog, fox or coyote any greater or more important than a duck or chicken.
I would defend my birds if being actively attacked. I wouldnt feel good about it, but I have already made it clear that this is my view. But a dog being on my property? Trying to get into the duck pen? No. I'd do my very best to catch or scare the dog away and then do what it takes to prevent it happening again.

What if the dog keeps coming back? It doesn't gain access to the coop and run, but you have injuries or deaths because the chickens are going ballistic and bouncing off the walls because of the dog doing it's best to gain access..

 

[BelovedBirds]

What if the dog keeps coming back? It doesn't gain access to the coop and run, but you have injuries or deaths because the chickens are going ballistic and bouncing off the walls because of the dog doing it's best to gain access..

Dogs are fairly limited in what they can or cant get through. A simple fence will keep most dogs in their yard. A modified fence, perhaps with a mesh skirt, around the coop/pen, would be a solution. But this is just to prevent the dogs consistent attempts, an even simplet solution is catching the dog and taking to authorities, or returning it to the owner.
Communication can go a long way. And no one needs to allow a domestic animal to terrorise their birds. Whether that means improving security or reporting the issue so that its dealt with once and for all. I would never kill or injur an animal for being near my birds, even if that meant losses. Actively attacking and killing is another story.
Of course there may be exceptions, but most dogs can be kept away/scared away/reported. And I am only arguing that we exhaust those more humane options before resorting to killing someones pet.

 

[SpiritWolf]

Two dogs came into my yard today and chased my chickens and killed one of my roosters. I kept them away with my next door neighbor with a stick and shovel. I wasn’t upset at first, but they came back and tried to get more. I think they belonged to two different neighbors because they kept driving by and one time I heard one car saying I don’t know whose brown dog that is. Then the other car kept circling the block. When the dogs came back one had bubbles all over its chin so my husband got the gun. The dogs ran away but when the neighbors drove by again I yelled, “if your dogs keep killing chickens they’re going to get shot”. I don’t want to shoot any dogs but my husband said I probably shouldn’t have told them that. I’m from a middle of nowhere small town where no one gave a warning. If there was a dog getting the chickens, it would just be a sad day for the dog. What advice or opinion do you have? I am a fairly new chicken owner.

Not something I hope I'd ever have to do, but I know that in the state I live in, if someone's dog's are harassing or killing my livestock I can shoot the dogs. If I know who the dogs belong to I would definitely let them know if their dogs are not controlled and they come back to my farm and go after any of my animals that I will shoot. Put the owner on notice that they need to take responsibility for their dogs. If their going after livestock, there's always the chance they could go after an adult or a child. Also I would contact the local police to find out what can be done.

 

[drdoolittle]

I would go and talk to the dogs' owners, tell them the dogs killed one of your chickens and,

1) If the dogs come back and go after your chickens again you'll have no choice but to shoot them.

2)They need to pay for the rooster that was killed.

Yes, the dogs are people's pets. BUT if they love them they would NOT be allowing them to run loose. Chickens can be just as loved and important to the chicken keeper as any dog is by it's family.

Years ago a neighbor's pet dingo got loose (their electric fence shorted out) and came to our house and killed ALL my birds except for a 1-legged buff orpington and a chick that hid in some bushes together. It was horrific and traumatizing for me and my children to find our birds, BELOVED PETS, all over our yard, just massacred for nothing but sport!!

We found out who the animal belonged to and they did apologize and offered to replace my flock. They wanted to go purchase leghorn chickens from an Amish man they knew. My husband said, "No. These are not just run of the mill leghorns, my wife had specific breeds she picked out. You'll need to write is a check so she can go back to the lady she bought these birds from and replace them with what she had." They wrote us out a check and my husband cashed it right away......just in case.

I did replace my flock, but the sadness of that day has never completely been erased. To me, each hen or rooster has it's own personality and even replacing them with identical breeds didn't make the pain my young sons and I were experiencing any easier.

 

[mowin]

Dogs are fairly limited in what they can or cant get through. A simple fence will keep most dogs in their yard. A modified fence, perhaps with a mesh skirt, around the coop/pen, would be a solution. But this is just to prevent the dogs consistent attempts, an even simplet solution is catching the dog and taking to authorities, or returning it to the owner.
Communication can go a long way. And no one needs to allow a domestic animal to terrorise their birds. Whether that means improving security or reporting the issue so that its dealt with once and for all. I would never kill or injur an animal for being near my birds, even if that meant losses. Actively attacking and killing is another story.
Of course there may be exceptions, but most dogs can be kept away/scared away/reported. And I am only arguing that we exhaust those more humane options before resorting to killing someones pet.

You think a dog that's actively trying to gain access your coop is going to stop and let you grab him? Your going to be yelling and screaming, waving your arms. Fido isn't going to sit and stay. Your not going to walk up to him, or them, talking in a calm voice and offer them a cookie.
It's easy to say just catch them and take them to animal control, but it realistically doesn't happen like that. You obviously haven't been through this before. A medium size dog can do serious damage to chain link fencing or welded wire. Your birds a freaking out and bouncing off the walls. Fido is not a pet at this point, it's a predator. Why should I have to spend money on additional fencing, security for my livestock when I'm not breaking the law, but fido's owner is.

 

[Geena]

It's easy to say just catch them and take them to animal control, but it realistically doesn't happen like that.

Actually it can and I have done exactly that, many times.
You guys keep going round and round because there is no one situation or solution. If there's a loose dog on my farm, I can be sure that it is someone's escaped pet, there are NO feral or packs of dogs where I live. Others in different areas obviously have vastly different experiences with loose dogs and may need to take other measures.
I don't really get why you so actively and adamantly oppose everything Beloved says, it's her prerogative to deal with these issues as she wishes, as it is yours to do as you see fit. To each his own.

 

[Toothpick]

If there was a dog getting the chickens, it would just be a sad day for the dog.

Yup. That’s how it is around here. I had one a few years ago that I saw actually eating a chicken. I shot at it, but not to kill. Just to scare it. It took off. Never saw it again. If it would have came back then as you said….sad day for the dog.

Since these dogs keep coming back they gotta go. They won’t stop otherwise.

 

[mowin]

Actually it can and I have done exactly that, many times.
You guys keep going round and round because there is no one situation or solution. If there's a loose dog on my farm, I can be sure that it is someone's escaped pet, there are NO feral or packs of dogs where I live. Others in different areas obviously have vastly different experiences with loose dogs and may need to take other measures.
I don't really get why you so actively and adamantly oppose everything Beloved says, it's her prerogative to deal with these issues as she wishes, as it is yours to do as you see fit. To each his own.

She quoted me. I responded.
A loose dog just wandering around would be relatively easy to catch, as long as it's willing to come over to you. One that is actively attacking is a different critter entirely. We don't have feral or packs of dogs either. Once in a while we might get a stray that is lost and I'm more than happy to help the poor pup out. However, if one is attacking my livestock I'll help out in a much different way.

 

[Geena]

One that is actively attacking is a different critter entirely.

Possibly, but not necessarily, most of the dogs I've caught here were actively chasing, attacking or attempting to get at our livestock. On one memorable occasion it was two English Mastiffs chasing deer through our fields. I was rather hesitant about them, being as they were enormous, but they were actually very easy to catch because they were so played out their tongues were practically dragging the ground

edited to add-
But we always grab a gun first because you never know, and better safe than sorry.

 

[kodster]

I've killed dogs attacking livestock. I've never been charged or arrested. Never had any legal issues. First person I call is the local DEC officer. Most times the owner of the dog ends up receiving few tickets.

Law is on the side of the livestock owner.

Usually, if you've established a precedence, and you have by doing due diligence... contacting the DEC officer, first. That allows them to attempt to intervene, first. And if the owner doesn't learn, financially, then you're justified in taking the final steps to protect your livestock. That's what protects you from harassment by the DA or state attorney.