Comments on: Time for a bb gun!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:23:27 +0000

When we had something getting in to our chickens, we set up a baby monitor at the coop. When we heard the critters, my husband went down to take care of them. He killed 3 raccoons in one night, after they had killed at least 6 of our meat birds.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:54:47 +0000

Many, many breeds of dogs will kill chickens, not just a bird dog. Some dogs are just hunters,and there isn;t much you can do to “train it out of them.” I would probably try toput some sort of deterrant around the coop, if at all possible. Most foxes will not come to an area with another dog, like Suki. I wish you luck!

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:23:15 +0000

A Paintball gun!!! I love it!!!

By: Shannon

Shannon — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:55:30 +0000

Definitely could be a dog. We recently moved and our old neighbor had a dog that was killing my ducks AND my cats. It was only when I caught the dog killing one of my dogs that I was able to put an end to the situation.

If dogs are not brought up around birds from the time they are puppies, many of them have that hunting instinct in them. It is purely a socialization issue, no fault of the dog. Plenty of fault with the owner tho.

Maria, my mom keeps a paintball gun on hooks in the rafter of her porch. She sits on her porch in the swing and will shoot dogs that wander up and the cats that like to hunt around her bird feeders. It does not hurt the animal but it STINGS. It is a bit more pricey than bb’s tho. I joke that she looks like Grannie Clampett when she sits and waits with a paintball gun across her lap.

By: Maria

Maria — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:59:25 +0000

Could be a fox, although we’ve not see any out here in 2 years. Definitely not a bird, ’cause it would have had to land and then tried to pull the chicken through the fence. Usually they swoop down and grab, and they can’t do that because we have too many trees and bushes in our coop. As far as the neighbor… well he’s currently in jail and I don’t think (considering some of his offenses) I would ever approach him!!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:12:26 +0000

What does your neighbor say about his dogs? If you’re down four chickens, the neighbor owes you four dogs.

By: Chris K.

Chris K. — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:57:29 +0000

You, my dear, have a Fox. Foxes are extremely quite, unbelievably smart, and believe it or not, have been shown to throw off their trail to other animals. In this case, your neighbors dog. Foxes know how to backtrack, and can even learn what time of the day to attack. In this case, it sounds like your fox might know that Suki goes inside to cool off. Ever patient as well. A fox will simply wait out Suki, who will never know that the fox is close. Foxes are smarter than raccoons. It could be a raccoon as well, but it sounds like a fox. I have a surefire way of getting rid of him. Call me.

By: Robbyn

Robbyn — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:48:43 +0000

So sorry about your losses! We’ll be following your decisions with great interest since we are seeing more and more bloggers mentioning how destructive neighboring dogs have been to their livestock, namely the chickens.

By: KathieS

KathieS — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:12:20 +0000

I have not seen roaming dogs, but that is not to say there are none. I have heard some strange calling in the woods, and we have not decided what it might be. Could a huge bird kill a chicken? I am willing to help you in any way I can. I hate that they are in danger.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:58:49 +0000

Perhap I underestimated the aggression of other types of dogs. Our spaniels will kill them in a second, our mutts leave them alone.
Well, we have a pretty strong pen for them. Made of thick metal something like a grate plus chicken wire around the bottom. But if the chicken is dense enough to stick his head out a hole when a predator is around there’s not much you can do but chalk one up for natural selection. They also have a shed to escape into and roost. It helps immensely if you’re just using chickenwire to bury it at least two feet into the ground so whatever it is can’t dig it’s way under.