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To the people recommending shooting the dog, you should simply be ashamed of yourselves. Honestly. The dog is being a dog. It's the HUMAN'S responsibility to ensure that those under their supervision are behaving in the appropriate matter, be it "beast" or child. Are you going to shoot the son if he becomes a teen a poisons your chickens? Get a grip, people!
To the OP, have you actually witnessed the neighbor's dog killing each of your chickens that's missing? Is it not at all possible that it's the dog and perhaps another wild animal getting to your chickens (I had a fox take out my bunny - it's called nature). Get it on tape and take the dog owner to court. In the mean time, simply enclose the chickens in such a way that the dog can't get to them. If the neighbor's dog can get to the chickens, so can other wildlife. Are you going to stand there with a shotgun 24/7 and kill off every animal that tries to approach your ill-housed chickens?
It's not rocket science, folks.
Now, enclose your chickens, get a video camera, and take your neighbor to court. Oh, and remember to have a nice, non-slaughtering day.
P.S. Please do keep in mind logic, folks, if you kill the neighbor's dog, what is to stop the neighbor from getting another dog he won't control? Are you just going to knock off dog after dog after dog? It actually makes me ill that we even need to have this conversation, especially over some damn eggs. Honestly makes me sick. Really, the problem here is the neighbor. Since you like shooting things, why not shoot him? For the love of god, this is likely the most absurd conversation I've ever heard. GET A FENCE, A CAMERA, AND GO TO COURT, OR SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE AND JUST BUY EGGS AT THE STORE.
Yes you just keep shooting the dogs. Seriously you really don't have a clue to it. its five acres you know how many cameras you would need. bullets are cheap. fencing and cameras aren't.
Oh, and the neighbor's kid keeps running on my lawn. Guess I should shoot him vs just installing a fence to protect my lawn. After all, grass has died.
Bad comparison.
Better comparison: A neighbor's kid has a history of running on your lawn and has in the past killed several of your kids. You have called the cops and each time they said, "tough - take care of the problem youself." You have talked to the kid's parents several times and they have said, "not our problem." Kid comes running on your lawn again and is chasing one of your kids.
Yes you just keep shooting the dogs. Seriously you really don't have a clue to it. its five acres you know how many cameras you would need. bullets are cheap. fencing and cameras aren't.
So how then does the OP know the dog killed each chicken if they can't watch over all their chickens because they're allowed to go wherever they want?
You protect them by containing them, then you put a camera on them so you can prove the neighbor is responsible.
Better comparison: A neighbor's kid has a history of running on your lawn and has in the past killed several of your kids. You have called the cops and each time they said, "tough - take care of the problem youself." You have talked to the kid's parents several times and they have said, "not our problem." Kid comes running on your lawn again and is chasing one of your kids.
Shoot away.
I suppose that's where we disagree: I see far more options than simply shooting away.
have u ever raised chickens? and have u ever seen a dog kill a chicken?
When I lived with my grandfather, yes, we had chickens, among many other things on his acres of farmland.
Why is the suggestion of containing the chickens so hard for you to grasp? I'm not following your logic. I don't mean this in a snide way, but I feel like you're arguing for the sake of arguing, and not because you have a valid point. Am I missing something (which I very well could be, as I haven't yet had my coffee ).
When I lived with my grandfather, yes, we had chickens, among many other things on his acres of farmland.
Why is the suggestion of containing the chickens so hard for you to grasp? I'm not following your logic. I don't mean this in a snide way, but I feel like you're arguing for the sake of arguing, and not because you have a valid point. Am I missing something (which I very well could be, as I haven't yet had my coffee ).
chickens like to roam, and everyone I ever knew that had chickens let them out. You don't pen them up. They do have a pen, and a coop, but when your home they are in the yard, and nobody can stop a crazed dog from getting a chicken. A gun is very effective though.
chickens like to roam, and everyone I ever knew that had chickens let them out. You don't pen them up. They do have a pen, and a coop, but when your home they are in the yard, and nobody can stop a crazed dog from getting a chicken. A gun is very effective though.
My grandfather was the most avid hunter I've ever known, yet he never shot a dog to keep his chickens safe (or even the fox that ate my beloved bunny - we built an even better containment for the second bunny - live and learn ). There are other alternatives, as listed above.
And, if all of this is so the OP can eat free range eggs, it seems like a lot of headache to me (if they refuse to take the advice listed above), living next to the neighbor that they do, when they can just get free range eggs from the store.
The OP has failed to adequately protect their chickens from predators, and now their poor chickens are dead.
You protect farm animals from predators by killing the predator. it's been done this way since recorded history began. I think the OP had been more than fair to give the dog owner time and chances to do something about it his animal. It is not the OP's fault. I commend them for trying to resolve it with discussion. A simple tether on the dog owner's part would solve the issue yet the dog's owner seems to care less about it.
Free range chickens are just that free range and the OP has the right to raise such animals without taking elaborate measures to keep other animals off the property. The OP purchased a 5 acre plot of land for this and chickens don't normally stray from their nesting & feeding areas. So if the dog shows up again, it's completely the owner's fault that it happened and it's that owner who bares the full blame for the demise of the dog. That dog could just as easily wander into the highway and get killed and it certainly wouldn't be the fault of the driver.
Is it a shame. Yes it is, but don't blame the victim.
You protect farm animals from predators by killing the predator. it's been done this way since recorded history began. I think the OP had been more than fair to give the dog owner time and chances to do something about it his animal. It is not the OP's fault. I commend them for trying to resolve it with discussion. A simple tether on the dog owner's part would solve the issue yet the dog's owner seems to care less about it.
Free range chickens are just that free range and the OP has the right to raise such animals without taking elaborate measures to keep other animals off the property. The OP purchased a 5 acre plot of land for this and chickens don't normally stray from their nesting & feeding areas. So if the dog shows up again, it's completely the owner's fault that it happened and it's that owner who bares the full blame for the demise of the dog. That dog could just as easily wander into the highway and get killed and it certainly wouldn't be the fault of the driver.
Are you saying that dogs are the only animals that eat chickens? By not protecting the chickens, the OP's chickens are not in harm's way from any other predators?
Yes, the OP has the right to raise their chickens however they see fit, but nature will take it's course. And, if the OP hasn't protected their chickens, well, someone is going to eat those chickens. It's called the circle of life. If the OP doesn't do more to protect their chickens, the OP should get used to the idea of the circle of life now.
Also, I have yet to hear valid proof that the dog killed the chickens. All of them. Oh wait, no one can prove that because no one is monitoring the free range chickens. Got it.
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For the love of god, this is likely the most absurd conversation I've ever heard. GET A FENCE, A CAMERA, AND GO TO COURT, OR SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE AND JUST BUY EGGS AT THE STORE.
- we built an even better containment for the second bunny - live and learn 
). There are other alternatives, as listed above.
