Saturday 2 November 2013

A Dog Among The Chickens

*This post contains a picture of a dead bird*
Got home from work yesterday and I was greeted by the news from my wife that a neighbour had been walking his dog (there's a public footpath that runs along the top of our fields) and somehow it had got off the lead and killed three of my chickens.
 I trudged down the field a little grumpily to see what the damage was and which batch of hens had been attacked.
"Luckily" (although not for them) it had been my ex battery hens, who are kind of on the "green mile" stage of their life as a new batch are arriving in a month or so. They had lost a third of their numbers.
Our neighbour walked down the field to meet me and was very upset.
There were many ways I could of handled this whole situation and although I was annoyed I did feel sorry for the guy, it was genuine mistake. As he'd gone to go over the stile, with baby and dog, the dog saw a pheasant who bolted, the dog then chased it over two fields and ended up straight into the chicken pen. The rest is inevitable!
I do moan a bit about the dog walkers round here, as none seem to keep their dogs on a lead, even though there is a polite sign asking them to, but this guy does and is always courteous, although his dog isn't the best trained in the world.
He kept offering to pay for them, but I turned him down and told him that they weren't long for this world anyway and worth very little in money terms. We're neighbours (one of only 5 houses in our little hamlet) and so it's not something I'd want to fall out about. I made him shake my hand before he left to show no hard feelings, but he still seemed pretty shaken up about the whole thing. Like I said to him - who knows next time it might be something of mine in his garden - mistakes happen.
But...
Please keep your dog on a lead!

26 comments:

  1. What a shame! At least he seemed genuinely shocked by what had happened and you're so right about the need to have a good relationship with your neighbours, especially if there's only a few of you :)

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    1. Yeah, we do need to stick together. But he is one that has moaned about me working on Sundays to get stuff done so I imagine he'll keep quite about that for a while!

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  2. Over here, they'd blame it on the chickens.

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    1. Someone else might have tried the same but he was fairly straight about it!

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  3. So sad, but the main thing he accepted that the mistake was all his, and as you say, it's not worth falling out with a neighbour over. Who knows you might get a bottle of somethng nicefor Christmas off him.

    Hopefully his dog will be on it's lead a bit more often from now on!!

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    1. Hi s dog normally is on the lead it's just everyone elses! Thats why I couldn't help but feel sorry for him!

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  4. You can tell what a nice guy you are from the warning at the top!
    I get upset at pics of things that people have killed but not things that animals have killed. The chicken would have known very little as it's heart would have given out very quickly. A genuine mistake...dog was in 'pursuit and kill' mode and obviously couldn't tell the pheasant from the chicken. Perhaps your 'dogs on leash 'sign could also include "and have your dogs eyesight checked'.
    Jane x

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    1. The warning was for you guys! I don;t blame the dog. Its what they were breed to do, but a well trained one could have been called off. As it sounds like it was down there for quite a while before he regained control

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  5. You handled this very well Ken. Well done. Anyone else might have lost their temper, but you didn't. I think that we would probably have had the same attitude, and tried to remain calm especially if the owner of the dog was genuinely sorry, and was a neighbour as well.

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    1. In my experience getting angry doesn't solve much or makes things worse. I've a bit of a temper when I go but it takes me a long time to blow!

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  6. You were very neighbourly and civilised to each other in a difficult circumstance..

    Happened to us but the other way. We were out and my Mum was left in charge of the house - and son's dog. She let him out and he attacked two of our chickens - she was too scared to pull him off. I felt so sorry for her - she was of of her depth, and the fault was ours. Never put her in that position again.

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    1. Thats the trouble, some people can't handle an animal. we've got friends with pets and they have no control they're just trying to be too nice to them or treat them like a person and like you said when it does go wrong it's difficult to step in the middle for fear of getting bit

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  7. HATE THAT. But at least your neighbor did not run and hide. And as you said you now have a little bit of "insurance" should one of your critters walk into his yard and scratch the heck out of his car with his long talons...oh wait, that was us and one of our peacocks!!!

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    1. Yeah in the long run it might work out quite well as I'm sure I'll do something wrong at some point. We almost fell out the first day I moved here and my dad brought a tractor up the drive - he had a fit saying it was for industry - not sure what they think land should be used for? just looking at I guess!

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  8. Big gripe of mine too. I have a public footpath running up my driveway and the amount of times I have random dogs coming down to my house, when my children are playing out etc. Wish people would exercise some consideration in the countryside.

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    1. Yeah it doesn't take much to show a bit of control. The children issue is my biggest worry. I've plans to make it safer for them so watch this space!

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  9. At least my goose can hold its own against a dog. The guy was daft to let his dog loose but at least he tried to do the honourable thing. Hopefully you'll get a couple of decent pints out of him.

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    1. I think a goose to get rid of the walkers might be my best bet, I could tether him to the gate then it would only be the brave that would use the footpath!

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  10. We had a similar thing happen here on the public beach where up til recently dogs were allowed to run free after hours so long as they are under voice command. Apparently someone's dog got away and killed a nesting Pipping Plover a locally protected species. The incident was witnessed by others and the owner of the dog refused to own up to it. As a consequence the town was fined 20 thousand $ by the the Feds for not ensuring the protection of the nesting plovers and a new ordinance went in to effect where all dogs must now be leashed. One bad apple ruined it for everyone. Yours is a regrettable event but at least your neighbor owned up to it and did the right thing.

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    1. Thats the problem when one wrecks it for the few, which might be what happens here as now I determined to put up a fence and plant a hedge to stop it happening again!

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  11. I lost a few hens by a neighbours dog a few years back
    I made him pay
    Bad dog ownership kev

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    1. "I made him pay" sounds like a line from a movie! I agree it's bad dog ownership and I hope if I ever get a dog it will be far better trained than that!

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  12. Good attitude on your part... but whew I agree.... we see it here constantly dogs not on a lead. I know we live in the country...... but....... its just good neighbor and animal relations to keep your dog on a lead.

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    1. The trouble is people over here who walk their animals think they own the footpaths. Yes I have to give access to that strip of land but it should be on my terms.

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  13. Yep bad dog ownership

    Sorry about your chickens :(

    But yes it is tricky to deal with when it is neighbours ;)

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    1. Thats the trouble here but at least it wasn't some pure breeds that are worth a small fortune (although then I might have made him pay for them). This way means that at least if my animals do anything wrong I've got a bit of a head start!

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