Dogs and Chickens

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Dogs and chickens

Dogs and Chickens

I think we all know that a chicken is food for just about every mammal that isn't a strict vegetarian. I do know that if you are in a somewhat developed area with a few houses around and you like letting your chickens range some you will sooner or later encounter a problem with a neighbors dog.

I put this short section in here, as I believe it to be the biggest single problem I have encountered in all my years of raising chickens. Because it is natural for a dog to chase and kill chickens I really don't blame the dog. Most states have leash laws so we know where the blame lies when a dog gets your chickens. Fortunately there is no leash law for chickens but someone will probably come up with one.

Cats will only be a problem if the chicks are very small. After about 4 -8 weeks the cats don't usually want to tackle anything that large. Also most of this time the chicks are in a brooder and you can't let them out unless you are right there with them anyway. Normally a mother hen brooding a bunch of chicks will deter any cat around unless of course, the hen is penned up and the chicks are small enough to get through the wire. This scenario happened to me. The poor mother could do nothing although she kept jumping against the fence. I didn't get there in time and the cat got one of my chicks.

My Neighbor's Dog

My neighbor came up one day and told me he had found one of my chickens, dead in his driveway. I was upset but one chicken wouldn't end the world so I let it pass. This was in the summer and the girls were in their yard most of the time. The dog would come up and go over by the pen when my neighbor came up but I figured the fence would hold them and when someone was out there it wasn't a problem and never had been.

It wasn't long and I lost another one. I was a little more upset and I walked over to my neighbor's house and in his driveway was another of the girls. It is best to understand that we get along super. We are about the same age and do many things together. Anyway, we talked about it and the dog was then on a run and nothing happened for a while.

One sunny afternoon I was sitting in the house when I heard a noise coming from outside. By now I was very well aware of the different sounds the girls made in different situations and I knew something big was happening. I looked out the window and watched as my neighbor's dog ran toward the fence, back away then run at it again. Each time the girls would all jump into the air. Well this, I found out was the tactic the dog was using. By doing this over and over eventually one of the girls would land outside the fence instead

More Dogs

Dogs by far, are the largest problem when raising the chickens and letting them range. Cats seem to be a bigger problem with most wild things like birds, squirrels, and small rabbits but will normally only bother chickens for the first few weeks. After that I guess the chickens are larger than what they want to tackle.

I drove in the driveway and heard a commotion in the back yard one day. I looked out to see a golden retriever with my pet Wyandotte, Wilma in his mouth. Wilma was obviously dead. I got my shotgun and stuck it out the window. For some reason I decided that a dog was probably some child's pet and I couldn't shoot it. Not far away was another black dog that appeared to be some type of lab but there were no birds around him so I put the gun down, went outside and drove the dogs out of the yard. The final count was 5 dead chickens. The dogs seemed out of breath and were wet and muddy and I might be wrong but I would guess they had been running deer in back of the house. When they came up to the road they just happened on my flock of chickens and had some fun.

I could go on with dog stories but over the years I don't believe I had a year without at least one encounter with a dog. I don't have a lot of faith in the leash law in Maine.of back inside. Once this happened the hen was meat. On this occasion I managed to get outside quickly enough to drive the dog off without losing any hens. My neighbor then let his dog permanently on the dog run unless he was outside with the dog and I had no more problems with it.

The Latest Dog Problem

It seems that some people across the road some 500 or more feet up in the woods moved here and rented a house from the people that own the property. They have 2 Labrador Retrievers. From the conversations we had later I learned that one is female and one is male. The male being younger and more aggressive.

I went up and explained that I had chickens and that I let them range in the yard and that in Maine we had a leash law and that I would appreciate it if they kept their dog away from my chickens. That night, I had talked to the wife, the husband stopped to talk to my wife so I called him when I got home and explained the same thing to him. He was a little upset and tried to say things but the bottom line was that he wanted to let the older dog run but would put the younger male on a dog run. I merely said that I didn't care what he did as long as the dogs were not in my yard after my chickens.

Another chicken disappeared and I called again, plus I called the dogcatcher. Supposedly the dogcatcher called and I called and he said he would put the dog on a run. He was told that a person with poultry or livestock in Maine had a right to shoot a dog if the dog was bothering this poultry or livestock. This time he assured me that he had to and would put up the run for his dogs.

I began missing chickens so I knew it was probably a dog but I was never around when it happened. Then my wife and I started seeing them. Normally it was just one of them, the male, walking up and down the road occasionally stopping in the yard in front of the house. After one more chicken we knew it was the black dog plus we had the neighbor who had seen the dog in our yard.

A week or two passed and another chicken disappeared. My wife called and told him the problem and he said again that he would have to put the dog run up. She asked, "you mean you didn't already do it?" then the conversation got somewhat nasty but I wasn't on the phone so I don't know exactly what was said. I know when I did pick up the other phone we have that he was speaking and when he heard my voice he calmed right down using a totally different tone of voice with me. He agreed to take care of the problem. I was now down to 4 chickens from 13 and I have to admit I was getting somewhat angry. I explained that I just wanted the dogs away from the chickens and it wouldn't happen again. He also said that I had been very understanding about this.

A short time later two more chickens disappeared. My wife called and he answered. As soon as he heard her voice he hung up. I ended up with two chickens and a moron for a neighbor that won't take care of his dog. This one is still pending. J

I don't consider it a real problem as I have been told that a person with livestock or poultry has the right to shoot a dog that is molesting it. Naturally I feel that the owner is more of a problem than the dog but I suppose I have to take care of the problem as I will not give up having chickens and letting them range after nearly 30 years. I just have to decide if I can live with myself if I shoot the dog. I feel sure that I can if it means I can still have chickens.

This shows a few mature birds in the yard. The exercise area is about 20’ x 25’ and somewhat oval in shape. It provides more than enough room although I stress the fact that chickens can’t have too much room.

To contact me:

Kelly@kellys-stuff.com