What is this come one, come all!?? THE PACK CAME BACK!!

[Luna9]

Grrr!! In the past couple weeks we have had a black lab, a stray tom cat, a stray beagle, a group of 3 stray mutts and a group of 5 or 6 hound dogs after our birds!! Thankfully after putting a $100 into our coop they can no longer get into the birds when they are up but now I cant even let them out because these animals are visiting in broad daylight as well as at night. I have 1 hen that I have to leave out because she will kill the other birds if she stays cooped (shes been a free range bird her entire life...before I got her) and thankfully she knows to get up high or get into the horse pasture and she is safe...but I cant help but worry about her. I have no where else to put her but thankfully she has been staying in the horse pasture more than ever because she knows she is safe in there because of the hot wire and the protection of the horses. But seriously its like once 1 predator finds you its like they add you into a directory and you have multiple predators showing up regularly.

 

[dawg53]

Can you put the others in the horse pasture where it's safe?

 

[Luna9]

The others are fine in the coop...the coop is safe now. Its just my loose hen that I worry about because I cant put her in the coop.....or do you mean to free range?? They wont stay in there and because the 1 hen is aggressive she will most likely chase them out.

 

[schellie69]

Call animal control and trap or see if you can shoot. I am not a shoot first type person but I would look into finding the owners and telling them if their dog comes back I will shoot and sue for damages that should put the fire under the owners on the stray call animal control or trap and take to the animal shelter. Good luck sounds like your one hen knows what she is doing.

 

[Luna9]

Yeah the 22 in now sitting on my dining room table and loaded waiting for those stupid dogs to come back. Im not one to shoot first either BUT I WILL do it to protect my animals in a heart beat. I wasnt home when the pack of dogs came by but my husband was and caught them all running around the coop trying to find a way in. He chased them off this time but if they come back they are in for it!

My 1 hen is an older bird and being that she has always been free range I do feel confident that she will be fine (the 2 that I have already lost were younger birds and not used to free ranging like her) but I still cant help but worry.

 

[schellie69]

Hang in there, it seems predators come out when they think they can get an easy meal. When they find out they can't then they will go away hopefully.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Quote:
Unfortunately, the owners of those dogs probably let them go because they could not afford to take care of them any more. Why they don't take them to a shelter is beyond me.

That is terrible that your animals cannot even be reasonably safe in their own backyard. I agree with schellie about calling animal control to see what can be done about them. They should be able to come and trap them & see if anyone claims them. It is not a good idea to have dogs running around for anyone's safety. What if one bit a child? I wouldn't go shooting them either, though. That could bring on all sorts of other troubles.
I think your one chicken should be ok. It sounds like she has lots of "street smarts".

 

[hennyannie]

Anyway you could put up some electric temporarly to give the visitors a warm welcome?

 

[Luna9]

Thanks everyone. I cant put up any temp fencing unfortunately. Animal control has told us that we do have the right to shoot to protect our own, but I will be placing a call come Monday and let them know about all the loose and possibly abandoned animals. Its really unfortunate

 

[Luna9]

Just caught that big pack of dogs all over my chicken coop again! They were barking and jumping all over the coop like they had treed a squirrel or coon or something. I took the 22 out and fired 2 shots and I think that I got someone on the second shot. Hopefully they dont come back!! Ive lost 2 birds and thats enough!! Im not playing with these darn dogs anymore!! There are like 6 or 7 dogs in this pack and a couple looked like 6 month (or so) puppies!!

Ive already spoken with animal control and they told us we have the right to shoot at and/or kill a dog if its endangering "my own". He actually said if the dog is just peeing on my tire I have the right because its doing harm to my property.

This time I wasnt shooting to kill, though next time I will. I was just firing shots to give them one last warning to stay away. I shot low but I think one of the dogs got hit by a ricochet or got hit in the leg or something. One dog was wearing a collar that I saw, but...Im going out there after Wyatt goes down for his nap to see if I find a blood trail or not to make sure and if I did I will call and notify AC that I did shoot and injure a dog that was after my chickens so hopefully it wont suffer.

ETA: fixed spelling