My Sister's Worried

[ponygirl]

My sister discovered her Lab chowing down on a newly dead chicken in the field at the bottom of her garden yesterday, and assumes that Lottie had caught & killed it herself. Now of course she's worried that if it happens again & the chuck owner catches her they'll shoot her. I think surely not, we're talking a few free range hens, one of which was unfortunate, not the mass slaughter of someone's livelihood. I'm right,yes? Would appreciate someone else's view so that i can hopefully put her mind at rest?! (Goes without saying that this weekend will be spent making the garden more secure!)

 

[*Lesley*]

I think it would depend on the individual who owns the chickens they may either see it as a one off incident or be totally p*****d off by it,if he didn't see it happen I'd just make sure it didn't happen again, but if he did see it happen if I were your sister I would go and see the owner apologise profusley and offer to pay for the chicken and explain that she will be making the garden more secure so it doesn't happen again because I think they might be within their rights to shoot a dog which they see to be worrying their livestock if it happens again :unsure: , just to cover herself, hens can be pets too thats the thing, ask Moriate what she thinks she's got poultry :thumbsup:

Hope it works out fine :luck:

 

[Mark Roberts]

The farmer would be totaly within his rights to shoot the dog if he caught it killing his chickens.

at the end of the day they are his livelyhood.

The Countryside Code says "dogs must be kept on a lead"

 

[Paula Roberts]

We have a farm right outside our back garden, he makes it clear to anyone with a dog if it goes on his land he will shoot it. Maybe i should tell him the same every time the dirty b*****d farm dog s**ts in my garden. Apparently they don"t have to be kept on leads because its a working dog. So he can roam wherever he likes. :rant:

 

[ponygirl]

Thanks to you all for your help, just to clarify the situation, my sis has only just bought her house and, not being familiar with the neighbours yet, is trying to locate the owner of the chucks but without success so far (way to make friends with the locals). I think they are a few pet free-rangers rather than someone's livelihood, however having bred poultry myself i know that this is no consolation when some bloody dog comes along and helps itself to your favourite broody for supper. Thanks again for your help all, will pass on your comments to my sis and hopefully all will be resolved soon!

BTW Paula, you don't have to be kept on a lead because you're a human, perhaps you should wander around his garden hosting tea parties, picking his flowers and sunbathing, see how he likes that!

 

[*Lesley*]

Thanks to you all for your help, just to clarify the situation, my sis has only just bought her house and, not being familiar with the neighbours yet, is trying to locate the owner of the chucks but without success so far (way to make friends with the locals). I think they are a few pet free-rangers rather than someone's livelihood, however having bred poultry myself i know that this is no consolation when some bloody dog comes along and helps itself to your favourite broody for supper. Thanks again for your help all, will pass on your comments to my sis and hopefully all will be resolved soon!
BTW Paula, you don't have to be kept on a lead because you're a human, perhaps you should wander around his garden hosting tea parties, picking his flowers and sunbathing, see how he likes that!

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If she can't find the owner I'd just leave it and forget it ever happened put it down to experience so to speak :- "

 

[Seraphina]

My sister discovered her Lab chowing down on a newly dead chicken in the field at the bottom of her garden yesterday, and assumes that Lottie had caught & killed it herself. Now of course she's worried that if it happens again & the chuck owner catches her they'll shoot her. I think surely not, we're talking a few free range hens, one of which was unfortunate, not the mass slaughter of someone's livelihood. I'm right,yes? Would appreciate someone else's view so that i can hopefully put her mind at rest?! (Goes without saying that this weekend will be spent making the garden more secure!)

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The question is was the chook in your sister's garden or in the field? I would crtainly let lotti know i am not impressed, i would get fences fixed/build. Chooks do not usually stray too far from their home and certainly not from their flock (they all follow ech other). Was the chook freshly killed? If not i would be more worried that it was a fox bait.

I would definitely look for where it may have come from and as it is not the best way to start a relationship with new neighbors, i would probably fib a little and say I have found the cook dead on your property, then appologise profusely and offer to buy a new one. but i would make sure my dog is securely confined to my property, for her safety as well as anything else.

 

[JAX]

We have a farm right outside our back garden, he makes it clear to anyone with a dog if it goes on his land he will shoot it. Maybe i should tell him the same every time the dirty b*****d farm dog s**ts in my garden. Apparently they don"t have to be kept on leads because its a working dog. So he can roam wherever he likes. :rant:

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I would catch his dog and take it to the local pound and say you found it straying . when he has to pay to get it out several times :- " he might be better at keeping HIS dogs under control :- "

Amazing how its one rule for him and another for you . You dont get Police dogs wandering about everywhere do you (w00t) and they work :thumbsup:

 

[Mark Roberts]

I would catch his dog and take it to the local pound and say you found it straying . when he has to pay to get it out several times  he might be better at keeping HIS dogs under control

Been there done that, The dog warden in the end started delivering it back to them when it was handed in.

Last year I rang the dog warden and asked them to collect it as it was chasing kids on bikes (and it chases cars as well i've hit it several times) the warden just said oh thats the farm dog it's a waste of time us doing anything?.

 

[~Helen~]

Thanks to you all for your help, just to clarify the situation, my sis has only just bought her house and, not being familiar with the neighbours yet, is trying to locate the owner of the chucks but without success so far (way to make friends with the locals). I think they are a few pet free-rangers rather than someone's livelihood, however having bred poultry myself i know that this is no consolation when some bloody dog comes along and helps itself to your favourite broody for supper. Thanks again for your help all, will pass on your comments to my sis and hopefully all will be resolved soon!
BTW Paula, you don't have to be kept on a lead because you're a human, perhaps you should wander around his garden hosting tea parties, picking his flowers and sunbathing, see how he likes that!

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If she can't find the owner I'd just leave it and forget it ever happened put it down to experience so to speak :- "

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I favour Lesley's approach. As Seraphina says, it's not a good way to start a relationship with a new neighbour. If the chook wandered in to your sister's lab's territory then it's just bad luck. That has to be considered an occupational hazard with anyone owning free range chickens :thumbsup:

 

[ponygirl]

Spoke to sister's OH today, and he says the poor old bird was pretty cold & stiff :x when he wrestled it out of the dogs mouth, so sounds like Lottie wasn't actually the culprit, rather it was likely she had picked up what a fox had left behind. Also Hayley managed to track down the owner this morning, gave them the full story and they were great about it. Perhaps their being Lab owners themselves helped a little. Anyway the weekend is being spent searching the hedge for possible escape routes, and securing the whole garden (rather them than me, there's 3 or 4 acres to go at!) Thanks to all for your advice!