I got some chickens in my backyard in a large fenced in area. a few weeks ago they were attacked by raccoons when I let them out of their area to eat some grass, one died and another very much hurt but still alive. The next day these horrible weiner dogs came in our yard and attacked the hurt one. It really shook me up to witness my poor birds attacked twice. We never take them out of their cage now except when were there with them, a couple days ago those horrible dogs came in and chewed through their cage and attacked my remaining three. They all survived and I made the irresponsible neighbor (who owned the dogs) to to take them to the vet. Now I am always on the edge, I feel very stressed out about the saftey of my birds (even though we have secured our yard and the cage they are in). Every little noise I think it is my birds being attacked. I just can't get over it.
I hope your birds are okay and the dogs stop attacking them! Have the dogs been back since your neighbor paid for the vet bill? If nothing else, having to pay for the damage the dogs cause might be motivation to keep an eye on them. It seems that a lot of people are more concerned with money than animal welfare. You should try talking to your neighbor again. How long has s/he lived nearby with the dogs? You should say that you've done a lot to make sure your birds are okay... mention that you've made your yard and their cage extra secure, but the dogs have chewed through your cage. Is there a certain time of day the dogs are allowed out, or are they free to roam? If they're only out at certain times, you could ask your neighbor to inform you so that you know when to keep an eye on your birds. Also, look into your local laws/ordinances. Are there any laws that say the dogs must be on a leash? You could threaten to call animal control if the situation is bad enough... I definitely do not suggest that you actually call, cause they would probably euthanize the dogs, but the threat might make the owner take you seriously. As for the raccoons, the best thing I can think of is some sort of tamper-proof lock on the cage. Maybe you could elevate the coop somehow? Like build one on stilts, just a few feet off the ground. You could put something sticky on the legs so animals can't climb it. I don't really know how realistic this is, since I don't know how large the cage would need to be. Whatever you end up doing, good luck. I hope your birds remain safe!
hey, well...I live in a neighborhood, so technically it is illegal for me to have chickens, I have only lived here for a few months. The dogs just recently became a problem. he lets them out in his fenced in yard all the time but their diggers and dig out and into my yard. I'm affraid they will dig into the chicken coop. Since we are moving in a month or two and we'll have to take down our cage we made anyways...but when we get to the new establishment I will definately do that raised cage idea. the lock isn't a problem, it was kinda my fault because I cheaped out and got that plastic chicken wire stuff instead of the metel stuff I should have gotten, and they chewed thru that. so now, hopefully nothing will happen to them. it just breaks my heart to see my little birdies hurt and limping.
when i was a kid, there was an old guy in my neighborhood who had a goat and totally wasn't supposed to.. but he was real chill, so nobody cared. i guess it's kinda like that with your chickens (aside from the old man being present). if you weren't moving so soon, i would suggest having a fence-building party with your neighbor... you know, he helps you build a cage/fence, and you help him drop some cinder-blocks around the bottom of his fence (so the dogs can't slip through the holes they've dug). but that could end up being a lot of work for such a short amount of time. i had a raised cage for my old rabbit, and it worked out pretty well. the cage floor was at about 'boob level' for lack of a better discription... so it was real easy to reach your arm in and clearly see your little buddy (or buddies) but high enough so that nothing could jump up there. our neighborhood had a ton of rats at the time, and they never touched my bunny. i hope your birds are okay and heal quickly. worry can be really draining, so i hope things are positive with you, as well.
