Stray dogs and chickens

[Gary Fowler]

I thought we had fenced out all the dogs but I think my BIL has opened a gate to some adjoining property owned by a family member so his cows can graze it. Anyway, this morning about 630 am I heard his chickens making a fuss like something was chasing them but I didn't see anything.
About 8am I was leaving for a doctors appointment and saw two black dogs just having a time of it with my chickens. I saw dead chickens laying everywhere and they were after some of the others that were still alive. I quickly unlocked my gun safe and grabbed a 12 gauge pump with 7 1/2 shot. I penned them up in my garden fence where they had chased 3 more chickens, killing 2 before I could get to them. One got by me before I could shuck a shell into the chamber, but I dropped the other one. Found the other one up by the chicken pen trying to flush out some more chickens and dropped him too.
Someone must have dropped them off in the country because they didn't want them. I wouldn't blame a dog for killing for food, but just to kill for the pleasure is not going to give them much more life if I catch them.

We lost 8 of our best laying hens and brother in law lost 10. I don't know if any other neighbors lost any to them or not but all my neighbors have free range chickens. I wont be running around asking if any one lost 2 half grown black dogs though. Even though I was within my rights to eradicate them, it might PO the owner if they did happen to belong to some local.

 

[oldballs]

Sounds okay to me, especially with the chicken loss. Currently, some renters have a black lab that runs loose. The dog is a nuisance to me and the rest of the neighbors. Maybe my neighbor with chickens will take care of it. But I'd be afraid to shoot it for fear of having a felony arrest slapped on me. Calling the Animal Control has achieved nothing. The new renters seem like trash people to me with a sign in the front yard warning everybody that, "Nothing in their place is worth dying for".

 

[dave1949]

Bummer! Other people's laziness, like littering.

Maybe someone had a litter of pups and just turned them out like you say.

 

[OldMcDonald]

I wouldn't blame a dog for killing for food, but just to kill for the pleasure is not going to give them much more life if I catch them..

That is the problem with all canines. They do not just kill for food, they kill for pleasure. That is their nature, and nothing you do will change it. It is not the animals' fault, that is the way they have evolved. I do not condone it, I dislike them all.

 

[DennisArrow]

Around here.....it's a very private business and three S's rule.......Shoot, shovel, and SHUT UP!!!....................God bless.........Dennis

 

[whistlepig]

I kind of doubt that I would have just stood by and watched the dogs kill all my chickens either. And if had I think would have felt worse than you do now. I'm not into shooting the neighbors dogs. But sometimes things just happen.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I can feel your pain. I accept harvesting for food as necessary. But I really dislike killing because we can. But I too have had to put down a stray that was killing chickens. What really made me angry was having to be put in that position because some worthless sorry son of motherless piece of poop had dumped off a sick and abused dog in the country. I'm sure they did it because they were afraid that if they took it to the pound it would be put to sleep where as country folk love dogs and would give it a good home.

If karma kicks I hope it wears boots covered with cactus spines when it encounters the people that dump dogs on country folk.

 

[forgeblast]

My other dogs would have done that, they got a few of our chickens when the chickens went in the fenced in dog area. My current dog (golden retriever/standard poodle)(golden doodle) will stand over them making them cush down until I get to them. I though for sure she was going to pop them, but she just made them stay until I could come and get them. Shes a great dog.
We have people throwing cats out the window as they drive up the street, of course the cat is pregnant and no shelter wants cats. People have weird ideas about dropping off animals I wish they would just pound or shelter them.

 

[boblibido]

I applaud you for making such a tough decision. I have chickens in a fenced in area in a fenced in three acre yard. We had a dog get into the yard trying to get at the chickens. My first and only thought was to get the shotgun and deal with it. The only reason that dog is still alive is because my dog was too busy chasing it out of the yard to let me get a safe shot off. There was no way I was going to risk hitting my dog.

I live in the country though, and all of the neighbors understand that an animal that kills your Livestock will keep coming back until it is neutralized.

And I agree wholeheartedly the three S's from the previous post.

 

[oosik]

I don't think any logical thinking person would fault your decision or actions. And I completely agree with what DennisArrow says. Here we get the college students discarding the puppies they brought to college in the fall. Spring semester - I can expect to see at least a couple discarded dogs coming down the driveway. Over the 32 years here, I've taken in seven dogs that way. They all have turned out to be good animals and have had a good life out here. Nobody in this general area keeps chickens - the closest neighbor( 4.5 mi away) keeps peacocks - as an alarm system.