SSS...and then bury it deeper? Did anyone see this??

[Miltonchix]

I'm seeing a HUGE difference between city/urban and country farmer.

City folks are: "Can't we just get along? Lets hold hands and sing, OK?" Or, I'M GOING TO SUUUUUUUEEEEEEE YOU!!

Country folk: Take care of the problem, not try to "get along". We get along by respecting and helping each other out.

Farmer #1 says to Farmer #2 "see ya shot my dog today"
Farmer #2 says "Yup, trying to kill another chicken."
Farmer#1 says "how much do I owe you for the chicken".
Farmer #2 says "nothin'. lets get lunch"

 

[nzpouter]

Quote:
isn't it sooo much better when folks own their responsibilities and not having the atitude "my pets/ I can do no wrong"......

 

[Show Me Chick]

Faracas wrote:
I see a lot of chicken lovers on this thread, but you have to step back and view this from 30,000 feet. You cannot have it both ways. If the chickens are livestock, then they are not pets - they are property. Personal feelings about the chickens are moot. If, on the other hand, the chickens are pets, then they are not protected under this law. If a dog breaks into my yard and kills one of my dogs, I cannot shoot it.

Yes we can have it both ways. Livestock can be loved and can be a pet at the same time while still being protected under the law. My parent's are cattle farmers and have owned several cows that they got very attached to. One of the cows was broke to ride and she was spoiled! We kept her to a old age but then when she couldn't produce more calfs and was not looking great it was off to the slaughter house were she was enjoyed again by the general public at Mc Donalds. She was a pet and at the same time livestock. No difference if it would have been a chicken.

And I use to breed dogs (state licensed) for a living so yes I could shoot any dog that broke into my yard that was a threat to my dogs.​

 

[sekinkead]

I had a similar situation this week. My kids and I had just finished up in the garden and had let our chickens out to free range for awhile. The kids were playing ball and I was sitting in a chair watching the chickens and the kids. All of a sudden my chickens come running at me and a big dog comes running around the side of the house chasing them. I jumped up and screamed at the dog and chased it back around to the front of the house. There were 2 more dogs waiting out front. Now 2 of them have been on our property many times and the owners have been warned to keep them home. The last time they were told the dogs would be shot if they came after my chickens. They kept the dogs away for a couple of weeks but now they are out running loose again.

We are way out in the country but we live where 3 roads make a triangle so we do have some neighbors. Now most of the properties are 2-4 acres and if you go just a quarter mile down the road there are several pastures with cows and horses. So it's just this one section thats got a lot of houses. The neighbor 2 doors down is the one with the dogs. At first it was just the 2 that came over, but last night it was 3. I think they have been suffieciently warned and if I catch them in my yard again I will SSS. By the time I ran in and got the shotgun they were in the road and I felt that I didn't have a right to shoot. But, I won't tolerate it again.

I think if it's the first time they have been on your property and they don't try to chase anything, talk to your neighbor and let them know about it. After that, defend what is yours. Money is not compensation for the time and effort we have put into these birds. My kids will be showing these in the fair for 4-H in August and we have been hatching since December to get ready. No amount of money is going to make it right or better for my children if they have nothing to show at the fair. I should have the right to let my chickens roam on my property and not have to worry about a dog coming on my property and chasing and/or killing them.

 

[Ironmaiden]

This is the weirdest thing. I am new here, but had a similar experience this weekend. The owner is negligent if they allow their dogs to roam onto other people's property. Period. Dog? What dog?

 

[dsc6]

I live in suburbia and not 2 weeks after getting our 6 pullets, a dog jumped into our outside run and killed 3 chickens. I decided that if it's not that dog, it will be another, so we built a dog-proof run. When the chickens are outside the pen, they actually are pretty safe and will fly up into one of their favorite trees. Inside the old pen, they were completely vulnerable. A neighborhood hunting dog regulary comes around around 8am, but the chickens are always in their henhouse at that time.

There is always the risk of a loose dog.

It was really sad when it happened. Not much we could do cause BYC arn't completely 'legal' here yet.

 

[Menmyrc]

Quote:
You beat me to it! I was going to say the same thing regarding the difference between city/urban/and even suburban individuals and a country farmer. The laws that allow one to shoot a dog killing livestock is a law written for farmers and ranchers who depend on their livestock for their livelyhood. Yes, I imagine it carries over to "city" dwellers when they have livestock but that isn't the heart of the law. As to those who say they would wound the dog with a bb gun, rock salt, etc. or mark it with a paintball marker, from what I have read you may be charged with animal cruelty. Basically, you either shoot to kill or don't do anything at all. And in my state and county, the offending animal has to be attacking, threatening, or otherwise bothering *livestock*. Other dogs, cats, vegetable gardens and such are not livestock!

Case in point, I live in the country. Neighbor across the road has dogs that roam. Neighbor to the south of me has a fenced yard with livestock and ranch dogs. One of the roaming dogs broke into the other guys property, harrassed the livestock and impregnated his dog. He did warn the owner that if the dog gets on the property again he will kill it. Shortly after the pups were born, the dog broke onto the property again. The property owners little girl yelled out that "that *%*%#* is back on the property", she grabbed her little girl 20 ga. and killed the dog. No charges filed as they were within the law.

Not long after that, one of the pups escaped, but while the owners disabled son was with it. As this boy was chasing the pup, calling it by name, the neighbor to the north came out of his house and shot the pup. He didn't kill it but severly injured it to the point that it was more humane to put it down. There was not reason whatsoever for that shooting - that neighbor has no animals and, even though he told the officers that the puppy "lunged" at him, he was never in danger because he left the security of his home and his lazy-boy chair specifically to shoot the dog. He has now been charged with 2 misdemeanors related to animal cruelty and felony unlawful discharge of a firearm due to the proximity of neighboring houses.

Point is, if you are in favor of shooting to protect your livestock (which I am!) by all means, know your local laws and cover your bases with photos, evidence, etc!

 

[smith2]

We were having trouble with neighbor's dogs. We took the following steps:

1) Went to talk with owner and had clipboard in hand and told the neighbor we were documenting the conversation, date, time, his responses, etc.

2) Talked with our local sheriff's office and was told to make sure we had pictures of dogs on our property and that we were within our rights to shoot and kill said dogs ON OUR PROPERTY; took notes for future reference

3) Got pictures, shot dogs in behind with pellets

4) Went back to neighbor with clipboard and explained our position, showed pictures and said next time they are DEAD!

No more problems with dogs. Neighbor's dogs now have a nice, big, fairly new pen. I only lost one chicken in all of this and she didn't die but lost a wing, and I to cull her.

Neither fighting nor sueing appeals to us and we do want to be good neighbors, but TN law does allow a property owner to kill dogs if threatening livestock (chickens are considered livestock in this state). If the dog owner wins in court it would surprise me. It may come down to burden of proof. Hope the chicken owner has some!

 

[Faracas]

Huh. How about you just adequately protect your chickens, since they are food for everything. Take the time to predator proof your enclosure?

If the dog owner is letting their mutt run all over, sure, shoot it. Obviously they didn't care about it anyway. I don't care if you shoot chicken-killing dogs - but you might try another option first. I understand that you can't always know if a dog has just escaped unexpectedly and without negligence, and you have to protect your property. I hope you show discretion and error on the side of prudence; I have to assume that if an escaped 8 wk old lab puppy with a collar and tags blundered onto your property and was checking out the coop that you might just pick it up and find the owner rather than shooting it in the head. Of course, that could just be my city sensibilities talking.

Here's my point. People would be better served predator proofing their coop than shooting the neighbor's dog on a first offense. Maybe the difference between city and country folk is that we city folks know our neighbors and their pets, and that if any of my neighbor's dogs got into my yard and somehow got through my defenses to eat a chicken, my neighbors wouldn't hesitate to compensate me for it. If they had an issue with it, the boys in blue would be more than willing to help me out. Let's agree that there is a reason for city ordinances, and that outside the city limits you prefer to shoot rather than call animal control. Question tho - if my car breaks down on a country road, would it be better to NOT walk onto anyone's property to ask for help? With my shaggy hippie hair-cut, if I get too close to a cow and I might wind up in a shallow grave LOL

P.S. You guys are fine if your chickens get out, into your neighbor's garden, and your neighbor kills the chicken, right? Same darn thing. Some people need their garden to survive like you need your chickens.

P.P.S. and I am not just a bleeding heart - I process my own rabbits and birds and have capped my fair share of varmints.

 

[nnbreeder]

I got a call from the wife a few years back and she was calm but I could hear the emotion that she was holding back. "Hotshot is hurt and Doc is waiting on us." I asked how bad and all she could say was "I don't know, I can't get the blood to stop but he is on his feet and standing still for me"

I rushed home, hooked up to the trailer and loaded the horse. The bleeding still hadn't stopped so I rode in the trailer applying pressure on the way to the vet. It took 150 stitches to close the wound that was made by the wire and "T" post. Just inside the right front leg from the back of the leg to halfway up the chest. As luck would have it the post went between the hide and meat and really did very slight damage but bled heavily. A foot to the left however and I would have been borrowing a backhoe to bury a horse.

When we got home the tracks in the pen told the story, at least two dogs got after Hotshot and got him into the corner where he turned and tried to jump the fence coming down on the post and causing the injury.

I really don't think that it was coincidence that the next day my neighbor was building new pens for his dogs and they have never been back over here.

Hotshot is about 8 now and made a full recovery. After he healed up though he would never turn his backside to a dog ever again and every now and again I have to go get one out of his pasture that he has dispatched.

You know there are a few dogs around here that cross our place going from one place to another, never cause trouble and they are left alone. But one that goes after the birds or other livestock will not get a second chance if either of us are home.