[Celli]

Next doors dog got into my garden today, one hen had to be culled sadly ( my favourite too ), she got in along the stream where it goes through the stone walls.
Neighbours are very very sorry and are making sure she can't get through again and paying for loss of hen.
But it got me wondering is it my responsibility to keep their dog out, or theirs to keep her in ?.
My current dog has never attempted to go through, but when I had a dog that did like to visit the neighbours, I rigged up a grill over the gap assuming it was my responsibility to keep my animals in.

[lord flynn]

its up to them to keep their dog in. some will say that its up to you to keep your hens safe and that it could have been a fox but I don't hold with that POV personally.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Hmmmm veru difficult this one.... It depends I would think on who's property the hole is, if it is both properties then you could both pay to have it fixed so that it benefits the both of you. Hope this helps?

[Celli]

It's a shared boundary.
I've always assumed it's everyone's responsibility to keep their animals contained, was just curious really there's no dispute, they're going to get someone in to secure it.
I did have a grill in place but had to remove it as the stream was getting blocked by stuff getting caught on it.

[Celli]

Is there anything I can give the other mauled hen for stress ?, I had to remove her from the dogs mouth but she's got away with just a few grazes.
She's already getting a gut flora powder and I'm expecting some Herban in the post soon anyway, not sure if that's any good for stress ?.
She's a new bird too, poor thing will be freaking her frock off.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

TLC and lots of it would help and calm her down, no doubt she will be traumatised by the experience, but she should be fine in a week or so.  Company might help her a little, but plenty of loving attention should make her well again, after all love is the best medicine  All the best with her and could you keep us updated on how she fares?

[Penninehillbilly]

Would it be possible to put a grid on the downstream side of the gap, which can open with the flow when blocked?
I've always belie Ed it's any animal owners responsibility to keep their animals / stock under control, apart from cats apparently.

[Celli]

Will do WBF, she's back in the spare coop and pen with her two chums so I can keep a close eye on her.
I forgot she was also given a B vit supplement and a dose of Metacalm on advise from vet, never realised you could give Metacalm to hens.
Yeah the neighbours side is on the downstream side of the wall so the grill will open when anything pushes against it but stay shut if it's pushed from the other side

[Fleecewife]

For your initial question, if your neighbour's dog gets onto your place and attacks your stock, it's no good saying 'but it's their responsibility'.  It doesn't really matter whose is the legal responsibility, the bottom line is,  it's your hen that's died, so you should have made sure the dog couldn't get in.  In addition, they should have made sure their dog couldn't get out....

I know in this case you have settled it amicably with your neighbour - which is great, and so unusual!  We settled a similar problem with our nice neighbour when his cows flipped up their heels and jumped into our field to demolish a load of newly planted hedging plants.  We went halfers on costs to add extra height to the fence so the cows, and the steers which are often in there, can no longer jump over.   We would never have been able to come to such an agreement with the nasty neighbour on the other side, so we just make sure that fence is now secure ourselves.  Who cares really if he should have done it?  It would be our livestock which would suffer if we didn't do it.


I hope your little surviving hen is ok.  They can die of delayed shock unfortunately.  I'm reading everyone's suggestions on this as we had an attacked hen (by grandchild  ) which did die several days later, even though she had only been chased and not hit, as far as we could see.

[devonlady]

Bach's Rescue Remedy, a drop or two in her water may help.

[Celli]

Yes I take your point FW, I should have erred on the side of caution , we've never had any of their previous dogs come through, and it never occurred to me we'd have bother with the new one.
I'll be putting up a grill again temporarily until they get something sorted, I don't trust that Meg won't dash out the door past them.
The survivor is still with us and eating this morning, I'm cautiously optimistic.

I think I have some Rescue Remedy if I can find it, I'll try her with some.

[Marches Farmer]

We have a stream boundary and have found that putting a length of telegraph pole over the stream at the maximum height it reaches over the Winter and hanging a length of fencepost horizontally from it with chains to block the gap in Summer works reasonably well, as the lower pole will float on top of the stream when the water rises, rather than blocking it and causing a build up of detritus behind it.  You need to drive uprights well in on the downside of the main pole, to stop it being swept away too.  Our stream can go from 60cm wide and 15 deep in Summer to 4 metres wide and  2 metres deep in a bad Winter and the poles will have to be rescued from downstream when that happens, though.

[Celli]

That's a really smart solution, I'll look into that further, ours goes from ankle deep as it is now to about three feet in the winter, it won't be a problem at all in the winter as its so fast flowing Meg wouldn't get up it.
Got something rigged up in the mean time.

[Eve]

I think legally the neighbours are responsible, a comparison to a fox doesn't hold as a pet is not a wild animal, and nobody is required to fence in their property against passing dogs or any other tresspassers.


You're very lucky with the neighbour's reaction    many people are so selfish / stupid to claim that it was the dog's nature so therefore they are absolved of any guilt, especially walkers who let their dog run around free just anywhere including into our garden  We fenced in our garden to keep our chickens safe because of this, at rather great expense, though legally it's still the dog owner's responsibility to keep their dog under control.
Apparently legally I'm not allowed to shoot these <beep> owners 




Hope the injured hen is doing well. 

[Celli]

Neighbour has just phoned to get an update and was genuinely sad that one had to be dispatched, the husband is a retired shepherd, I think they feel mortified that this has happened.
They're also getting the blacksmith in to secure the stream both at our end and the other end, the whole thing seems to have been a real shock to them, and they're making damned sure it doesn't happen again.