the neighbors dog killed one of my hens!

[bobbi-j]

not all dogs hate chickens , my dog gypsy thinks they are her babies and rounds them up like sheep , pics of my dog with my chucks

I'm not sure that any dog hates a chicken. I think it's more a matter of dogs finding those feathery, running, flapping, squawking toys fun to play with. I'm not saying this about ALL dogs, but certainly some of the strays and visitors who haven't been trained to leave the birds alone.

 

[speckledhen]

The fact that some folks' dogs get along with their own chickens is not even relevant to this thread, to be honest. This is about a neighbor's dog trespassing, therefore being a predator, on someone else's property and killing livestock. Not acceptable, period.

kay's chicks, if your dog, who does not bother your chickens, came onto my property with my birds, and was nosing around the pens or came bounding toward my free ranging flock, I would have no idea about how it behaves at your house. I would most likely end its life, then and there.

I'm sorry to say that, but if the dog belongs to you, it belongs at your house, not mine. I have had my own dogs for 30 years of my adult life (my childhood was with AKC Dobermans who were fenced as well) and managed to keep them at home where they belonged. It's not brain surgery-it's just simple dog owner responsibility.

 

[just me]

The fact that some folks' dogs get along with their own chickens is not even relevant to this thread, to be honest. This is about a neighbor's dog trespassing, therefore being a predator, on someone else's property and killing livestock. Not acceptable, period.

kay's chicks, if your dog, who does not bother your chickens, came onto my property with my birds, and was nosing around the pens or came bounding toward my free ranging flock, I would have no idea about how it behaves at your house. I would most likely end its life, then and there.

x2

 

[sourland]

The fact that some folks' dogs get along with their own chickens is not even relevant to this thread, to be honest. This is about a neighbor's dog trespassing, therefore being a predator, on someone else's property and killing livestock. Not acceptable, period.

kay's chicks, if your dog, who does not bother your chickens, came onto my property with my birds, and was nosing around the pens or bouncing toward my free ranging flock, I would have no idea about how it behaves at your house. I would most likely end its life, then and there.

X 2 Plain and simple to the point.

 

[Habibs Hens]

Every time? Are you serious???? I do NOT agree. My sole purpose in getting chickens was to free range them. If they have to stay penned and eat commercial feed only, I might as well buy those anemic grocery store eggs because that's all I'd have.

There is a law in almost every county in the U.S. (even when folks don't know there is or think there is not), no matter how rural, that says a dog off the owner's property MUST be under the control of that owner, i.e., on a leash.

I have a perimeter fence around 2 of my over 5 acres and my coops with attached pens are inside that perimeter. The flocks free range within that perimeter on a regular basis. A dog once climbed the fence and tore it off the tree it was nailed to. If I have to leave my driveway gate open for a delivery, every illegally roaming dog seems to have "gate radar". NO, it is not my fault if a dog comes into the perimeter and manages to kill my chickens after all I've done to protect them.

It is also not my fault if I shoot and kill the dog who breeches that perimeter and goes after my flock, which I will do, without a moment of regret. And I love dogs, but my birds are on their own property and the dog is not. See my sig line.

with all due respect SH what i ment to say was what you are saying in a round about way

a dog must be leashed and in the control of the owner at all times just as chicken should be cared for and in teh control of the owner at all times

there are many users here that will freerange chicken in dangerous conditions knowing its a potensial danger to the chiken

i.e open landscapes, coops not fit for security, land with broken perimiters etc etc etc

an animal in my opinion is an animal and yet here in the UK if a chiken is killed no one cares if a cat is killed no one cares BUT if a dog is killed you by law have to report it to the police and even can get procecuted for it

thats what i disagree with, animals are animals and they are living creatures and much be treated as such

the point i was making was exactly that, make your property secure enough that when free ranging your chicken then no dumb dog can enter if it is left free by a stupid owner who has no clue how to care for his dog.


I free range all my birds but only started doing so a month ago due to having to do extensive work to my property to make sure this sort of thing can never happen

Any dog roaming my street unleashed has NO WAY of entering my yard no matter how hard the dog tries

My chicken are safe so to speak

 

[MuckyPuppy]

I am sorry that you lost your hen.

In the uk it is also a dog owners responsibility to make sure their dog is behaving in public and not out of control.

 

[speckledhen]

with all due respect SH what i ment to say was what you are saying in a round about way

a dog must be leashed and in the control of the owner at all times just as chicken should be cared for and in teh control of the owner at all times

there are many users here that will freerange chicken in dangerous conditions knowing its a potensial danger to the chiken

i.e open landscapes, coops not fit for security, land with broken perimiters etc etc etc

an animal in my opinion is an animal and yet here in the UK if a chiken is killed no one cares if a cat is killed no one cares BUT if a dog is killed you by law have to report it to the police and even can get procecuted for it

thats what i disagree with, animals are animals and they are living creatures and much be treated as such

the point i was making was exactly that, make your property secure enough that when free ranging your chicken then no dumb dog can enter if it is left free by a stupid owner who has no clue how to care for his dog.


I free range all my birds but only started doing so a month ago due to having to do extensive work to my property to make sure this sort of thing can never happen

Any dog roaming my street unleashed has NO WAY of entering my yard no matter how hard the dog tries

My chicken are safe so to speak

And with the bolded part, I still disagree. You may think it's impossible, but unless you have a roof over your entire property and heavy gauge fencing with dig barriers all the way around, a determined dog can find a way in and eventually will do so.

Did you not read that a dog climbed my perimeter fence and ripped it off of the tree where it was hammer-stapled? I mean the heavy duty steel staples, not the lightweight ones. My DH came out with his pistol and was ready to remove the dog when it got back out to run with its companion. He fired into the ground at their feet, which didn't even phase them, then within two seconds, what we assume was the owner was whistling for his dogs. If they had gotten closer to the pens, they would not have been able to go home.

You are in the UK where laws are different. The OP, however, is here in the U.S. so that is what we are discussing.

Even if my chickens were free ranging on my property without a fence (which I did not for the first couple of years)--that is not against the law. Roaming dogs are against the law. I have the right, by law, local county law, which echoes our Georgia State animal laws, to shoot any dog harassing my chickens. The dog doesn't even have to kill them, just harass them, and I cannot be prosecuted for that.

 

[Habibs Hens]

And with the bolded part, I still disagree. You may think it's impossible, but unless you have a roof over your entire property and heavy gauge fencing with dig barriers all the way around, a determined dog can find a way in and eventually will do so.

Did you not read that a dog climbed my perimeter fence and ripped it off of the tree where it was hammer-stapled? I mean the heavy duty steel staples, not the lightweight ones. My DH came out with his pistol and was ready to remove the dog when it got back out to run with its companion. He fired into the ground at their feet, which didn't even phase them, then within two seconds, what we assume was the owner was whistling for his dogs. If they had gotten closer to the pens, they would not have been able to go home.

You are in the UK where laws are different. The OP, however, is here in the U.S. so that is what we are discussing.

Even if my chickens were free ranging on my property without a fence (which I did not for the first couple of years)--that is not against the law. Roaming dogs are against the law. I have the right, by law, local county law, which echoes our Georgia State animal laws, to shoot any dog harassing my chickens. The dog doesn't even have to kill them, just harass them, and I cannot be prosecuted for that.

in all the years i have ben living here (31 years) first of all i have never had a dog in my yard that should not be there and second of all i am yet to see a dog that can jump a 8 foot fence (and thats the minimum hight some are higher)

i think thats where it differs a little we cant kill dogs so we protect so dogs cant enter wher as in US as you say you can so thats the aproach you aim to take

but still i see you have very valid points and i do also have valid points

so i think it would be best to agree to disagree

 

[brahmakid11]

my house is on 7 acres so that would be allot of money to get a fence

 

[speckledhen]

my house is on 7 acres so that would be allot of money to get a fence

If you read my post, we didn't fence our entire 5.37 acres, only 2 of them, one 330 ft roll of livestock fencing at a time, as money permitted. Dogs can still climb it if they are motivated enough-it prevents them from easily just running across our mountain acreage and snatching a bird along the way, is all, plus it keeps the birds contained, for the most part. The bantams have their own covered pen because they are good fliers. We live on military pension, but we managed to get it done in phases.

Few folks in the United States can afford an 8 ft fence, silverfox. And we do need to keep it to the United States on this thread, considering the difference in laws and customs. You didn't mention the size of your yard. If it's postage stamp size, then maybe that is doable. We certainly cannot that type of fencing, not to mention, wire fencing cannot even be bought in that height around here without special order and extremely high cost. Fencing comes in 4', 5' and if you're lucky enough to find it, 6' in wire of any gauge. Wood privacy fencing is prohibitively expensive if you are doing acreage and a fox or coyote can scale it. And just because my fence is 5' high doesn't mean that it's MY fault if a dog gets in and kills my birds.