My neighbor!
Over the last two years my neighbors dog (cocker spaniel) has gotten ahold of 5 of my chickens. Only two of them have died. I understand that if I let me chickens free range that I put them at risk. However, that doesn't mean I have to accept the fact it's my neighbors dog coming into my yard.
This last episode was the final straw. Our chickens were out walking around the backyard. I was on the other side of our property in the garden. The kids were in the back with the chickens. My wife was in the back watering her plants. All of a sudden I hear yelling coming from the backyard. I start running up to the house. I meet my neighbor calling his dog back and saying, "Did you get one? Did you get one? Way to go Rider!". I go back to the coop to see what happened. I meet my 7 year old in the backyard crying. He tells me, "Rider got Jackson! We can't find her. Dad you need to find her." My heart sunk! Jackson is the kids favorite easter egger that they hand fed from day one. By this time the kids were visibly upset. My wife is yelling... "I'm going to poison that dog!" As I'm consoling everyone telling them I'll find her. My wife tells me... "You better take care of this problem!" As my wife and kids are walking back to the house I just yelled, making sure my neighbor heard, "Don't worry! This will never happen again. I will be prepared the next time he comes back."
So I finally found Jackson laying under the apple tree. She was only missing tail feathers and a patch of feathers on her back. By this time my wife comes out to see if I found her. She picks up Jackson to comfort her. At the time I thought, "Weird!" The strangest thing I have ever seen. This chicken almost clung to my wife like a cat. She buried her head into my wifes neck and started clucking softly. When my wife put her down she ran right back to her wanting to be held.
The next day my youngest son (5 yrs old) said something to my neighbor which started the feud. My 5 year old is not very social and doesn't really like people. He's sort of like me... I'm not biased, I hate everyone. He yells across our yard to the neighbor in his garden. "If Rider comes over here again I'm going to have my dad shoot him!" I start laughing out loud. My neighbor yells, "That makes sense! You'll shoot a $400 dog over a $2 dollar chicken." My wife by this time walks into the house because she has no filter. I yell back at him, "Well considering your dog has come onto my property to kill my chickens, came into my garage and ticked on my sons baseball bag and came into my garage and crapped on my floor... he's not a $400 dog. He's a pest that needs to be exterminated."
After about a half hour of cooling off my neighbor comes over to our house. He apologized to my son for his dog peeing on his ball bag. He apologized to us for the chickens. The part that left me shaking my head... He says, "Well we have the same problem. He goes into my sons room and pees on his floor." I just said, "Well that's inside your house and he's your dog. That doesn't mean I have to accept him doing it in my house." He just says, "well we'll work on it."
Final Solution:
Everyone is on dog watch! If their dog comes into our yard the kids are instructed to grab the closest object they can find and hit the dog. Do whatever they have to do to get rid of him.
I know it's not the dogs fault. However, if he's not going to train his dog then I will assist in anyway possible. Last resort is SSS!
Over the last two years my neighbors dog (cocker spaniel) has gotten ahold of 5 of my chickens. Only two of them have died. I understand that if I let me chickens free range that I put them at risk. However, that doesn't mean I have to accept the fact it's my neighbors dog coming into my yard.
This last episode was the final straw. Our chickens were out walking around the backyard. I was on the other side of our property in the garden. The kids were in the back with the chickens. My wife was in the back watering her plants. All of a sudden I hear yelling coming from the backyard. I start running up to the house. I meet my neighbor calling his dog back and saying, "Did you get one? Did you get one? Way to go Rider!". I go back to the coop to see what happened. I meet my 7 year old in the backyard crying. He tells me, "Rider got Jackson! We can't find her. Dad you need to find her." My heart sunk! Jackson is the kids favorite easter egger that they hand fed from day one. By this time the kids were visibly upset. My wife is yelling... "I'm going to poison that dog!" As I'm consoling everyone telling them I'll find her. My wife tells me... "You better take care of this problem!" As my wife and kids are walking back to the house I just yelled, making sure my neighbor heard, "Don't worry! This will never happen again. I will be prepared the next time he comes back."
So I finally found Jackson laying under the apple tree. She was only missing tail feathers and a patch of feathers on her back. By this time my wife comes out to see if I found her. She picks up Jackson to comfort her. At the time I thought, "Weird!" The strangest thing I have ever seen. This chicken almost clung to my wife like a cat. She buried her head into my wifes neck and started clucking softly. When my wife put her down she ran right back to her wanting to be held.
The next day my youngest son (5 yrs old) said something to my neighbor which started the feud. My 5 year old is not very social and doesn't really like people. He's sort of like me... I'm not biased, I hate everyone. He yells across our yard to the neighbor in his garden. "If Rider comes over here again I'm going to have my dad shoot him!" I start laughing out loud. My neighbor yells, "That makes sense! You'll shoot a $400 dog over a $2 dollar chicken." My wife by this time walks into the house because she has no filter. I yell back at him, "Well considering your dog has come onto my property to kill my chickens, came into my garage and ticked on my sons baseball bag and came into my garage and crapped on my floor... he's not a $400 dog. He's a pest that needs to be exterminated."
After about a half hour of cooling off my neighbor comes over to our house. He apologized to my son for his dog peeing on his ball bag. He apologized to us for the chickens. The part that left me shaking my head... He says, "Well we have the same problem. He goes into my sons room and pees on his floor." I just said, "Well that's inside your house and he's your dog. That doesn't mean I have to accept him doing it in my house." He just says, "well we'll work on it."
Final Solution:
Everyone is on dog watch! If their dog comes into our yard the kids are instructed to grab the closest object they can find and hit the dog. Do whatever they have to do to get rid of him.
I know it's not the dogs fault. However, if he's not going to train his dog then I will assist in anyway possible. Last resort is SSS!
