Dog attack...

[pdblake]

Just a thought. Our pet insurance covers third party. Perhaps he has some too?

[Flummery]

Oh Birdie, what a shock for you. I don't know how you'll stand on compensation - but I'd definitely ask.
It always makes me cringe when people say they don't fear a fox attack becasue their dog 'guards' their flock. Most dogs will turn when something fast moving startles them and of course terriers are only doing their job. The dog shouldn't have been unsupervised.

So sorry to hear it was your lovely rare breeds.

[frias]

Sorry to hear about your loss. My sister's Jack Russell got one of her neighbours hens and she had to compensate. It's a bit difficult if no-one saw the culprit though. My mum's dog often visits us and she's a gentle guide dog and doesn't take any notice of the chooks. I still wouldn't leave her unsupervised though, if the girls were spooked and went into a flap who knows if the dog would get into a flap too.

[di]

So sorry for you...and Mr Birdie!
No idea what to suggest,I guess if nothing can be proved then it comes down to his good nature & whether you feel up to challenging him about it.
{{{{x}}}}

[digthatchick]

So sorry to hear of your trauma Birdie, and as others have said , proof is the stumbling block.
Although, I must say, my money is on a fox attack especially with the missing cockerel.

We had an attack on Saturday at 2.30 pm luckily I was in the garden and none taken or injured.

[kevnsue]

I have just been to lottie to let my 6 warrens out and found 5 missing,found 1 body and a pile of feathers from one,i think there is a mink on the loose the one body i have as had it's neck eaten,i had had them 1 year last friday,i am gutted.

[TPeers]

Oh! so sorry for you Birdie and you Kevnsue

I was going to ask how a mink got in - but it's a mink the answer is self evident. You will have to try and trap it - could try asking the water authority or the RSPB for advice? I know both organisations have ongoing mink problems.

[Suechooks]

I have just been to lottie to let my 6 warrens out and found 5 missing,found 1 body and a pile of feathers from one,i think there is a mink on the loose the one body i have as had it's neck eaten,i had had them 1 year last friday,i am gutted.

Oh kevnsue that's awful. Nothing I can say will help but I do feel so sorry. I hope you can find and dispose of the predator.

[RichmondHens]

Sorry to BW and kevnsue for your losses.

[MaureenHall]

OMG Kevnsue, I know exactly how you're feeling now having experienced facing the remains of a fox attack earlier this year. There's little comfort in words and sympathy and I just want to give you a huge hug, let you have a good cry on my shoulder and help you to clear up the mess. There's nothing at all like the feeling you experience when these things happen to you no matter how well prepared you are. I'm so so sorry {{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}. I do hope that the mink problem can be solved

[stanlypolecat]

think you need to ask the owner for the replacement cost and comp to. plus the suffering and anguish you have sufered and get the russel put to sleep
he will be a meanace all the time and come for more so keep your wits about you

[Polly Fouracre]

Elecric netting is the thing to keep dogs out, expensive initially but you only have to buy it once. How awful to find your hens like that!
As to mink you can buy humane mink traps and dispose of any you trap as you see fit or ask your local authority to help. They are a bigger problem than foxes in some areas.

[Birdie Wife]

Sorry to hear about your losses Kevnsue, it's awful to find bodies lying around. If it was a mink then live trapping and humane dispatch is probably your only realistic course of action...

Some good news though - the cockerel came back!! With a bit of a limp, and a few missing feathers, but he's walking around and feeding fine, so that's brilliant! He must have run off as fast as he could and got himself lost.

The dog is owned by one of the fencing contractors so I'm not too bothered about staying in his good books if it was someone I had to live next to it might be different. The sporting estate next to us keeps on top of all the foxes and with guys working close to the house, it would be extrememly unlikely to be a fox. HTe guy might be denying his dog is to blame because of fear of repercussion - I don't want to have the dog put though, I know dogs like to chase things but it doesn't mean they are a danger to anyone - mine loves to chase rabbits and all sorts of tings but she knows the difference between a rabbit and a small child

[bluemoon]

It's unlikely the dog would be put to sleep, the law seems to think that killing is natural instinct - I know this from years ago when a greyhound killed our cat, I didn't actually want the dog destroyed though, but it was being walked at the time by two very young children who obviously had no control over it, what I wanted was the (adult) owners spoken to and forced to take some responsibility over the dog, and even that didn't happen. As for them seeing little children as rats, Janeyo, all I can say is that there were two exceptions with our terrier, people were not rats, she adored our kids and would have protected them to her last breath, and horses, with which she seemed to have some sort of mystical bond! Birdie Wife might have more luck as chickens can perhaps be classed as livestock and the law on dog attacks seems different when it's farm animals rather than a cat. Like me though, she seems more interested in bringing the real culprit (the owner) to account.
I'm so pleased your cockerel returned and seems O.K., Birdie Wife, I'd continue to push the owner of the dog, if nothing else you might give him a few sleepless nights, and perhaps he'll take greater responsibility in future.

[Bramble-Poultry]

i was always under the impression (being a dog owner myself) that all dogs allowed outside of their dwelling had to be on a lead by law. the law also states that the dog must carry a dog tag with owners name and phone number upon it.

if the fencer had the dog runnig around him whilst fencing, then the dog should have been on the lead. therefore, technically, it is a prosecutable offence (assuming Plod can lift his nose from his paperwork). it might be worth mentioning to the fencer that the dog (even by running by the owners legs) has broken the law, even before we accuse him of flock murder, and that it might be best in all interests if he were to consider providing you with compensation for the loss of your birds, otherwise you would need to make a claim on your insurance and they would automaticaly investigate his dog, possibly bringiong about a prosecution.

it might be a load of bull, but it might urge him to help you???