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  • Dog attack

    On Friday my other half yelled at me when he looked out of the upstairs window and saw a Jack Russell attack our Brahma. I rushed out and yelled and the dog ran off towards the hedge at the bottom of the garden leaving a traumatised hyperventilating hen lots of feathers and another hen missing. She stood between my legs for ages while I stroked her and checked for injuires and when I went to see about the others she hid her head behind a plant pot - I presume thinking if I can't see you you can't see me.

    I went to a neighbour behind and he took me round his garden and his neighbour's garden to see if we could spot the missing hen and seeing lots of footprints in the grass said the gardening service must has been doing his neighbour's garden. I came home and reported the attack to the Police and was promised a visit that night. The neighbour came round and said his wife had reminded him that one of the gardeners brings her Jack Russell to work and it had bitten him a few years ago. She denied it was her dog when he went round. I emailed the gardening service and told them what had happened and that I had reported the attack to the Police. No response.

    Three hours later the missing hen returned and I told the neighbour she was back and that I had been in touch with the Police. He did not want to be involved with the Police.

    The Police came round and I said I had heard that one of the gardening service people takes a dog to work and that none of the neighbours have a dog. He keeps chickens and was about to suggest I increased my security when I suggested that without dogs living nearby it was clearly the case that a gardener did not have her dog under control.

    He called me yesterday and said he had interviewed 2 of the 4 gardeners who work for the service and they said it wasn't them. He came round today while I was working and said he had found the culprit and she a bit tearful saying she loves animals. She denied working near me on Friday and said that she thought her dog had gone off to do its business (clearly no problem if her dog poos in another garden as long as it isn't where she was working). She denied hearing the huge noise my hens kept up for some time. I find it odd that she denies working in a garden near me but admits it was her dog and says she will keep it on a lead in future.

    The question is do I keep the hens in all morning next Friday or trust she will keep the dog on a lead especially now it knows about the hens.

    Unfortunately the copper keeps bantams and has his whole garden fenced in and clearly thought I should do the same. We have walls on 2 sides of the garden and a hedge at the bottom and the only time we have had fox problems in all the years of hen keeping has been in the dead of night, so without neighbours with dogs, I don't want to fence the hedge further than it is already. He also has a Jack Russell so was probably more sympathetic towards the dog owner than I would have liked.

  • #2
    My advice is fence your garden, it may be another dog next time. The lives of your chickens are more important than "Why should I" Some bad dog owners let their pets roam round all day long, who know what they get up to.
    photo album of my garden in my profile http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...my+garden.html

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    • #3
      I think Bill is right, you need to protect your chickens, you were lucky this time you might not be next time.

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      • #4
        I have a completely enclosed garden and still have my chickens in an enclosed area for their own safety and did so long before we got our own dog.

        It is the dogs owners responsibility to keep their animal under control just as it is yours to protect your birds. Now you may think as I have a dog that I am also biased, but I think you would do well to look at some form of protection for your animals, you can't always be there to protect them.
        I'm only here cos I got on the wrong bus.

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        • #5
          Just because you haven't seen foxes personally in the day doesn't mean they won't come. And as you already know, dogs will still come in.

          I'd fence the garden.

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          • #6
            I agree. I'd fence it, even if it was just with chicken wire.

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            • #7
              I'd fence it too. Where a dog can get in, a chook can get out. Do you want your chooks wandering into next door's garden - and maybe into the next one etc?

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              • #8
                I commiserate Eliza, I know how horrible it is when dogs get onto your property, it is always happening here. Unfortunately the only answer is to try and keep as much of your garden as secure as possible and if you can afford to fence the bottom of the hedge then that is your best option. We lost 10 birds to dogs earlier in the year, they then came back a month later and attempted the same trick although I interrupted them before any damage was done. Then in the summer two different dogs attacked my broody coops (stout and secure) trying to get to newly hatched chicks, on my front lawn right in front of the window. The hen shrieking alerted me and I went out and bollocked the owners big time. It is a never ending battle with irresponsible dog owners and it makes my blood boil. Also can't believe that gardener you mention seems to think it is ok if the dog craps in someone else's garden while she is gardening in another, but don't get me started on that side of things.

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                • #9
                  How upsetting to have a dog attack your hens, awful. My friend lost nearly her whole flock due to a neighbours dog it was horrendous for her. I think it would be worth fencing your garden to ensure this doesn't happen again.
                  The best things in life are not things.

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                  • #10
                    There are some dog breeds which work really well with keeping chickens. I'm fortunate to have had a lifelong love of Border Collies. My 10 month old pup from working stock is incredibly protective of our hens, as was my last old gal. He rounds up any wanderers, sees off any stray dogs which occasionally wander up our drive and I'm pretty convinced that his scent around the garden and run deters the foxes. On the down side, his manic high speed patrolling of the run boundaries has turned that part of the garden to almost as bad a mudbath as the chickens have their own space, to a point where I've had to resort to astro turfing it. I toyed with the idea of using more plastic grass inside the run but can't imagine the hens would be overly impressed with it.

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                    • #11
                      Couldnt agree more, we used collies on our free range set up, they would even round up week old chicks. one of our dogs "Jyp" would carry an egg all round the farm until we got back to the egg building and never cracked one.
                      photo album of my garden in my profile http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...my+garden.html

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                      • #12
                        Ha! I have a collie and he also does the same, looks after the chicks, herds up and has made a racing track where he runs- several inches deep in some places!
                        As for fencing, chickens need protecting - foxes or dogs they can come any time, night or day. For peace of mind I would fence them in to keep them safe. Yes, owners should keep dogs on a lead but some dogs are natural hunters and they can and do run off and kill other animals.

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