Chicken owners?

Question

ok i have a dog that seems to be killing chickens, but heres the problem

she wont touch them when we are around

ive sat around corners watching and everything else i can think of and i cannot catch her in the act, she didnt seem to go for th bigger 1s untill today, however the largest are only a couple months old, we had 2 now we have 1, the others are still chicks, barely feathered out now and then we have some of those mutant meat chickens which if she was going to kill any id wish she would go for those things but they are getting pretty big so im assuming its maybe the size that steers her away from them, those are basicly the size of those mini basketball things

but i need to find a fairly fool proof way of detering this and shooting the dog would be a bad idea as my wife would avenge the dogs death..lol

as far as the coop goes i have to do a bit of fencing a bit better to keep her out which ill do today, but she seems to be the most persistant dog i have ever dealth with

Answer 1

The first poster is right, it may not be your dog. I think you need to make sure your chickens are securely fenced in to stop predators getting in. To answer your question re: the bark collar - these work on the vibrations from the voice box, not the noise. So no, it wouldn't work.

Answer 2

Check her mouth for feathers to be sure it's your dog and not some wild animal. Even rats will come in for spilled grain and kill a small chicken. The only two ways I know if it is your dog it to get rid of the dog or really fix that coop. Mine is a complete wire cube, floor,walls and roof. It was the only way to keep preditors out. Too many animals could dig under at night without the wire on the ground as well. Some people have had luck with a hot wire just off the ground,but it's hard to keep it from shorting out.

Answer 3

Generally once a dog gets a taste of killing chickens they will continue to do so when around chickens and once they have found the source of the chickens. . . . .they WILL be back.

  They don't always do it for food but as a stalking game.

  You may not be catching your dog at killing the chickens when you are around as the dog knows you would disapprove and would get scolded/punished so when you are around the dog is on it's best behavior.

   What I would do is narrow down the time that this seems to be happening and during that time period I would be quietly watching out a window where the dog would not see me. . . . look out a window and even if you suspect the dog has spotted you,stay perfectly still as the dog may think they see you but can't see movement and will dismiss the situtation and will move on to it's main mission. . . to kill a chicken.

   IF you determine that it is YOUR DOG that is killing the chickens you may or may not be able to stop it in the future unless you put the chickens in a coop/pen.

   I have 11 chickens,13 chicks,5 Pekin ducks and 6 Mallard mix ducks which I keep away from my dogs so as to not tempt them to bother them BUT have lost chickens/ducks in the past due to stray cats/dogs getting into my pens during the night.    On one ocassion I had a skunk. A skunk will eat the head of a chicken and literally suck out their insides. . . . next morning I found a headless chicken with a huge hole in her side with nothing but an empty cavity.

   I have recently had rats that come in to eat the spilled grain the birds scatter. . . they have actually robbed nests and eaten eggs.(they break open one end and eat the whole egg,leaving an empty shell behind)  I now have rat traps set to resolve that problem.

  In the State of Texas it is a felony to kill cats/dogs BUT if they are a threat to myself or my property I have the legal right to kill cats/dogs.  

  I would not even tolerate my own dogs if they were to kill my birds and that is why they are kept seperate. . . . I don't even allow that temption.