The mysterious disappearance of Taylor

One set of our chickens were out free ranging in the yard the other day and some got out beyond the fence. My son got the ones he saw back in. That night and the next morning we had a lot of rain, later in the afternoon when the rain stopped my son went out and came back and said one of the hens was gone. He thought she was there the night before, he said he counted them but could have counted one twice (we have 2 Australorps). We do have hawks and when they get beyond the fence they are in the open where hawks tend to get them. We lost a Buff O a couple of months back, we found feathers. This time however we can't find any trace of her. No feathers, nothing. Do you think it was a hawk or could something else have gotten her and wouldn't there at least be some feathers somewhere? She was one of my sons favorite, very tame so he is very upset.

I lost one last week that way.. she got outside the fence with her sisters & when i went looking to collect them i was one short, no feathers, nothing. They act like she never exsited. The neighbor saw a coyote come thru the yard tho & pick her up. He snatched her on the run & left no evidence. The same one that attacked her pen earlier that morning & hurt one of the others. I think its just how they catch them bc the coyote before that left so many feathers behind i could have made a feather pillow from Matilda. The stray dog that took two of my Buff Orps left no feathers either. I'm so very sorry. It is so very hard to lose one, let alone lose them with no understanding of where they went. You do need to watch tho. If its a dog or coyote or fox it will return at some point.

I can relate to what you are feeling. The other day I came home to find my favorite blue cochin gone!!!! No feathers, no evidence of anything, just gone!!! One of my neighbors who walks her dog every day said she saw the other neighbors dog at my house with the chicken in it's mouth. How can that happen with nothing left behind but it did. I went to talk to the neighbor because this is now the 3rd time his dog has been here.Last time he dug a hole in my horse stall and buried a bantom cochin. I was horrified when I looked under the pile of sand to have a head pop out!!! I'm at my wits end with this dog and can't seem to make it stop. The dog breaks it cable every few months and comes right over to Doggy Disneyland.

Our neighbor's dogs killed 30 birds in one swipe. There were very few feathers left behind. I didn't know what happened till I found most of the bodies just outside the pen. Most chickens have no fear of dogs as they see them so frequently. DOgs grab and break their necks quickly and rarely eat them or tear them to pieces. As for advice about what to do, I don't know. I called the dog warden and ended up in the biggest mess of my life with the neighbor.

I really feel for you here.

Sugarbell, as long as your chickens are permitted in your zone, your neighbor has an obligation to stop his dog from trespassing and hurting your livestock. Most areas have leash laws which would address the problem even in the absence of farm animals which might be threatened by loose pets. We had neighbors whose dog was always in our yard, and even though he never attacked a chicken or the sheep we kept at that time, we didn't know what would happen if he wandered over sometime when we weren't around to protect them and his prey instinct was triggered. After speaking with them numerous times and getting promise after promise, kept only a short time on each occasion, we finally took them to court. That stopped it. Of course, they kept harassing us in other ways after that - but they were harassing us before also, so it didn't make much difference. That's one of the downsides of country living. But in a rural area like ours, judges understand the dangers dogs can pose to helpless livestock, so the court was very firm with our neighbor and obviously made an impression on him, at least in terms of keeping his dogs off our property. Nails in the driveway were another story....

You know I hear this all the time, and I am soooo sorry for all of you! I too have lost chickens through the years, only one to a wild predator but many to neighbors dogs. there really isnt anything you can do but make sure your chickens are secure top bottom and sides.
I have been very lucky now for 4 or 5 years, no problem with dogs! I only have the problem of my 90 pound baby great Dane who thinks that chickens are his very own chase and grab toys. He has never hurt one but loves to chase them and carry them around .
I solved the problem by alternating hours of free time for the Chickens and "Diesel". Now the problem I am having is that the neighbors now have chicken too! these are totally free range with no fencing. So now I have to keep Deisel on a lead or inside his compound to keep the neighbors poultry safe from his wanting to play. It just makes me wonder, if I can keep my animals controlled with hardly any effort , why cant others?

Boy, that's a million dollar question. I think the best answer is RESPONSABILITY.

Eufaula, I always wondered that, too. My dogs have never left our property, and we know where they are at all times. But we have friends whose dogs wander all over and they don't see anything wrong with that. At least if someone's dog invades our yard we can point out to the offending owner that dogs CAN be kept on their own property, and we know that because ours ARE!

We had Danes for years but none of them ever lived past the age of eight, although I've heard of Danes that are much longer-lived than that. After the last one died we got a labradoodle; a lot smaller but hopefully we'll have her a lot longer!

I am trying to be patient with the neighbor and his dog only because we fear retaliation of some sort. We have a small horse farm and are afraid they may mysteriously get sick or even worse.I don't want a war with this guy but I love my chickens. Next time I feel I have no choice but to call the dog warden.

How does your neighbor respond when you talk to him? Does he know that his dog was seen carrying your cochin? Can you try explaining that you have a responsibility to animals that you pen up so they can't escape, to keep them free from harm, and you don't know what more to do to protect them since his dog gets through your fences and kills your poultry but there are laws about keeping dogs away from livestock? And that furthermore that cochin was also a pet, just like his dog is?

i went thru the same thing when people moved in down the way..they figured they lived by a farm and they cou;d let their dog do his business where he wanted to..well one warning and were told that if its seen again, it wont ever be seen again!! needless to say the dog has been tied ever since..

Some people just don't "get it". I have a neighbor who apparently stood and watched (I wasn't there) while his dogs were in the fenced pasture heading towards my chickens (after getting a roo the day before). He was asked if he knew who's dogs they were, and said no, he didn't. A few weeks later, I went to return a wandering Shih Tzu from across the street. I hadn't talked to him before, so didn't connect him to my chickens attackers. He said yes, the Shih Tzu belonged to his parents, that he was there just cutting the grass for them. I asked if he knew of any dogs that matched the description of the marauders, and he said yes, they were his. I told him what had happened, and he told me of it happened again, I should "Thump" them. Didn't ask what he meant, but I can guess. He also mentioned that his dogs had been running with another, who killed another pet of his parents, and he "took care" of that dog. Really annoyed me, but now, next time someone (like Animal Control) asks me if I know the owner, well, I wouldn't want to lie...

Still, why is it MY responsiblity to control HIS dogs?

Oh, and the Shih Tzu was back in 15 minutes.

This message was edited Oct 24, 2009 9:48 AM

Well, when we talked to him he was very nice, apoligizing and offering to pay for the birds.We told him we didn't want money, we wanted his dog to stay off our property.He said that if we saw his dog over here and shot it he wouldn't blame us. We live on the back side of 6acres. The front is all wooded with trees on all sides. You cannot see any neighbors.All my birds are free range ( chickens, guineas, peacocks).I just raised a batch of cochins and brahmas, there very tame ,eat from your hands and follow me around the yard.He had a hold of 2 of the brahmas but they somehow got away,(no injuries this time) but he took 1/2 of the tail off a frizzle hen and I don't mean the feathers!!!!!!!!!!!Thank god she's healing ok.

At least he seemed to understand. But he still wants YOU to solve the problem, rather than taking steps himself to keep his dog off your property, and I can imagine how difficult it would be for you to shoot someone else's pet. I also don't know if it's legal where you live, even if the animal is caught killing your livestock. A friend has told us it's legal here, but I'd still check on it before I went that far, just to make sure.

I don't think it is legal here, but I could never kill a dog!My husband says when you see him with your chicken in his mouth you will, but I know I can't. I spend more time rescuing mice, rabbits and birds from my cats. I don't have it in me.

I rescue the mice, the rabbits the chipmunks the birds from my cats.. even the snakes. I will doctor & repair any animal I find hurt that won't hurt me first. I've bottle fed Raccoons, opposums & nursed injured chipmunks back to health But i sure can shoot the dog that's running away with my chicken in its mouth. I said for a long time that I couldn't' do it either but when i saw was the only way to save my chicken I found that I could do it. That doesn't mean I didn't feel badly, i felt awful, i cried for the dog & my chicken & cursed the humans that didn't take care of thier own animals so that I was put in that position (& i was taught to shoot so they are gone before they hit the ground, not to let them suffer) but once you've heard those screams, chased the dog & realized you were totally helpless as your chicken was dragged away you may change your mind. You may not & if you don't its not a bad thing. I sincerely hope you find a better way than shooting the animals that are harming your chickens. If you do, please share bc i know i'd like a better way but as long as live trapping & rehoming doesn't work I am still stuck with just disposing of the animals.

Wow, I've been out of town the last couple of days so I am catching up on these posts. So many have neighbor problems. We have no neighbors real close that can even see our pproperty or animals but there are dogs that roam the area. Every now and then one makes his way back here. Not sure if a dog would have done this since we have a dog and she usually cuts up when there is something outside the yard and we didn't hear her. Our neighbor has problems with coons getting his chickens but he has no dog. The only reason we haven't had coons get ours is because we have a dog that keeps them away. I haven't seen any dogs wandering near or even on the road the last week or so so I'm not sure what may have done this. We do have woods to the back of us and side. Most dogs come wandering in from the front or the side that has an open pasture just beyond the trees. Sometimes I see dogs wandering out on the road when I go somewhere. Sad how no one seems to know how to keep their dogs on their property.

It is so sad how people just can't seem to keep their animals under control and then don't want to take responsibility when they do harm to someones property. I feel for all of you that have had to deal with neighbors or are dealing with neighbors. They just haven't been taught resposibility and that seems to be getting more common.