Chicken Killer

JonLeonard · May 10, 2002

I see dogs in two different ways. The first is the curious type, they roam around, bark alot, poop in your yard, etc. If they are friendly, and dont make a nuisance of themselves, I leave them alone. If they aggitate/bark at my dogs, growl for any reason, etc. a paintball guns work very well to deter them from a return visit. About the worst that will happen is they will get a bruise, just dont aim for the head and you should be ok. I got a little paintball gun at Big Lots for $5, picked up a 100 pack of paintballs and some C02 cartridges as Wal-Mart. Total cost of about $10-12.

The other type are the ones that are openly dangerous. If they fight with my dogs, advance on my son in ANY way, or attack livestock, they are fair game. I have yet to have one return after the paintball treatment, but I wouldnt hesistate to shoot any dog that was obviously dangerous. They must be treated as "wild", even if they are supposedly someones pet.

I know farmers in the mid-west have to get together from time to time to kill PACKS of wild dogs. That one dog you feel sorry for today, might very well be part of a pack tomorrow that is dangerous to both animals and humans.

I have also heard the "shoot straight, bury deep, and keep your mouth shut" most of my life. Do it when its necessary and not just to be vindictive. Even a dog lover shouldnt have any trouble with that.

What you have to determine is just how many of your chickens have to die before you take care of the problem. In my experience, animal control rarely has any effect on how people take care of their animals beyond a couple of days.

Jon

mbsil · May 10, 2002

Shoot the dog dead or do not shoot it at all. If you try to shoot him with "rat shot" you will wind up paying for vet bills to have him treated by a vet.

Your only alternative is to raise 4 times the number of chickens that you really want, feed the dog 2 chickens a day until it is full and can't eat any more, then you will be assured that THAT dog won't eat any more chickens THAT day.

Once a dog has tasted chicken blood it will eat every chicken that it comes across from now on.

Anonymous Poster · May 10, 2002

For everybody using paintballs, I find that they have more of an effect when I stick them in the freezer before shooting them.

Boondox · May 10, 2002

<font color=blue>Once a dog has tasted chicken blood ...</font color=blue>

Afraid I have to second that one. Still, like RichZ, I have trouble shooting a dog. I have to be seriously provoked, like not only does it ignore our shouts but it snarls at us or our dogs when we try to warn it off. But the court thing has proven to be remarkably effective. Don't call animal control. This is not an animal control issue; it's a destruction of personal property issue. We ignore the dogs and hit the owners in the pocketbook big time!

Pete

patrickg · May 10, 2002

Rich, In my state, Oklahoma, it is a "fence in" state. You are responsible for fencing in, i.e. containing/controling your animals to prevent their leaving your property and causing problems for other property owners. Therefore if a dog comes on your property and does mischief (kills your animals or just frightens you or your wife) you are within your rights to shoot it if you are in an area where it is otherwise legal to shoot.

Using "rat" shot will at best train the dog to try to not get caught killing your chickens (not make it quit killing them) and could open you up to legal recourse as it may not be legal to maim, hurt, or torture an animal even if legal to kill it.

We do not live in a Disney movie. This is real life. Sometimes the best course of action is personally unpleasant and repugnant. Watch "Old Yeller" a couple times. It is more complicated but perhaps small claims court is a good alternative for you. It will take some of your time but the dog owner will lose some time and money. It is the dog owner you want to influence in the final analysis. If the dog just dissapears the owner may replace it with a worse example of the canine race.

Lest you think me blood thirsty for suggesting shooting the dog, understand I have two live traps going for about a week now and have made three racoon deportations of several miles each. It would be quick, easy, simple, and cheaper to just switch traps to a killing variety like connibear, which I use on beaver, or shoot the cute lil burglars in the live trap but I haven't a grudge against them for the grief they have given and are about to give (I have a garden)
If it gets to be just toooooo much I can get lethal later.

Now then about traps: Check the laws of your state, county, whatever and see if you can live trap nuisance animals. Most places permit it. Some humane societies will loan traps with a small deposit. If you could trap the roaming dogs and turn them over to an official animal control agency you would be a small step in the right direction. If any collar should accidentally fall off and get lost, it might make for real short odds on the dog being reunited with the bozo owner. Hav-a-hart (sp?) brand makes various sizes and styles of good long lasting traps that do no injury to an animal when sprung. Easy to use and not dangerous to the begining trapper. I am some frightened by my large connibear traps which would likely break something or do it a grivous hurt if it snapped shut on me.

Best of luck to you and please post an update when there are developments.

Patrick

Youare · May 10, 2002

I had a similar problem once. I would let my hens free range, they never left sight of the barn. We had a dog and the guy across the road had a dog the next house was 1/2 a mile away, and thye had two dogs.

We came home one day and found several dead chickens around the barn but didn't know what killed them. A few days later the guy across the street told me he saw the dogs down the road in the yard. A few days later some more dead chickens were found around the barn this time I saw the dogs as they ran away.

Called the animal control officer told him the story and identified the owners of the dogs. He told me he would talk to them and that they were responsible for paying a certain price each for the chickens killed.

The dogs owner paided a visit to my house and told me he had killed one of the dogs that caused the problem and was willing to pay for the damages. I told him he didn't owe me anything and was sorry that he killed the dog. He told me the dogs had been bringing dead chickens home for a while.

Then he told me if they were my dogs he would have shot them, which the animal control officer told me I had the right to do. I told him I didn't want to do that but I don't want to loose any more birds. Up to this point I had lost around 25 birds out of 70 hens I had at the time.

On my way home from work one day I was just past their house and their dog was coming down the road with one of my chickens in it's mouth. I paid the owners a visit with the dead chicken in my hand and asked if the dog was in the house. They said he was but just as they said that he was standing next to me looking at the dead chicken. I asked them if they could keep their dog home so I wouldn't loose any more chickens.

A few weeks later his dog returned and started grabbing hens and killing them one after another. I went in the house and got my 22 pistol and shot at the dog several times which caused him to take off for home. I called the animal control officer and told him the story.

The owner showed up a few hours later with his teenage son wanting to fight because his dog died on the way to the vet. Well, he left before any harm came to him and his son.

It was a terrible situation with me loosing 6 more chickens and his family loosing their dog. I figured 1/2 a mile was a long way for a dog to stray away from home. I was also worried that if my small children were outside when the dog was in the killing mode if he would grab them too.

Some times you have to do things that you would rather not to protect your animals and family because other people will not take responsibility for taking care of their pets which they say they love.

Randy

Taz · May 11, 2002

Came home from work just before dusk to find a half dozen plus dead chickens around the barn. While in the barn I heard some wood banging outside. Looked accross the field to find a bear tearing into one of my bee hives about a hundred yards away. I stood there yelling at him and he didn't even notice me. Went into the house, got the shotgun, came out and blew a couple of shots over his head. That got his attention and he took off. So now I've got do put the hive back together and trust me on this, putting a hive back together at night after a bear has torn through it is not fun. Bees get very mad and are more than happy to take it out on you. So I head off to the house to suit up and get a lantern and the phone rings. "Hi, Mike. Sally up the hill. I've got some bad news for you." I say, "Bad news, I don't need any, got plenty of my own right now. Got a dozen dead or missing chickens and a bear just nailed a hive. I'm not having a good night." She added "Well about the chickens, it was MY dogs. One of them came home with a live chicken hanging out of his mouth. He's really bad and needs a vet." "How bad?" I ask. "Well, he's missing feathers and there are holes and such." "Just put it out of it's misery." I tell her "Snap his neck." "Oh, I can't do that, I'd rather take him to a vet." She says. "Come on over, I'll take care of it!" So she did. She brought it over all wrapped up in a towel for me to do the dirty work. "I can't watch this, sorry" And she drove away. Not a good night!

manganos · May 11, 2002

Ahhh how is life in Louisa? I'm in Dinwiddie and have 10 Buff Orpingtons. I've killed 3 raccoons, 7 cats, and two dogs for trying to get the chickens. One was killed by my German Shepard but I just gave her a warning

Boondox · May 11, 2002

Manganos -- How do you like those buff orpingtons? We usually raise RIR or light Brahmas, but this year ordered a straight run of 25 buff orps. I've heard they are big, calm birds that do well in cold weather.

Pete

Youare · May 11, 2002

That's a bad night for sure. Looks like your are about 50 miles from the Keene area where I live. A man that works for me told me a few weeks ago that his father lost a few hives to a bear. My brother lost one a few years back just north of Keene also.

I don't know if there is much you can do to persuade a bear not to bother a hive. If I remember right my brother strung an electric fence around the hives he had left. Don't recall hearing that lost any more after that.

I've used pine tar on some chickens that were pecked to the bone and I didn't think they would make it. The tar keeps the others from pecking it any more. It should work on any type of wound.

Once a dog starts taking chickens it's hard to braek them of the habit. Good luck.

Randy