Why is it so hard to just say "Sorry"?

I would report them to the authorities every time I saw them running loose. Every time.
I agree. I think at this point I wouldn't be worried about causing a nuisance for them by reporting it. Their dogs have already caused you a nuisance and they don't seem to care.
 
I may not be understanding something because I am a born and raised city dweller....but am I understanding that at the time your chickens were not behind a fence at all? You say you have a fence in their area but they were outside it...is there not a fence around the larger property? If so that would be my first step...keep the dogs out and the chickens in. How is letting them run wild outside of a fenced in area any different than would the owners of the dogs are doing? How are you going to guarantee they stay in your property? As I said I may not understand correctly, but I have a hard time understanding how you could let chickens out without ensuring that they are contained then be upset when something occurs.
I think the chickens are going to be unlikely to eat the dogs so that could be a factor
 


sweet little broody girl

Oh, this hit me hard. I'm sorry for the loss of your sweet girl. We've had a small backyard flock for a few years now, and we lost our first girl a couple weeks ago (natural causes). They are such great pets...and what they leave in their nest is a far sight better than my other pets' "leavings"!
 
Well of course not. But who is to say the chickens don't get onto the dog's owner's property? I understands this incident occurred on the OP's property but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen the other way around another time. I would just get a fence to make sure my animals stayed where they needed to be and kept other animals out.
I guess if you've never had chickens, it does seem weird, but they stay close to the coop area. We do have another fenced in large yard area where our dog is let loose to run, other than that he is leashed or in the house.
 
I'm sorry. Lots of livestock, including chickens around here. We don't have any critters, except a cat. But, the general rule seems to be, if the chickens' owner can't figure out who's dog it is, they post a warning on Facebook. The next time, or maybe second next time, the dog may get shot.
 


My guess is that they are actually not sorry, at least not in the way you would like them to be. They are probably sorry they have to replace your birds. They are probably not sorry they've caused you some grief and have made neighbor relations more awkward and maybe hostile. Some people are just jerks and you just can't control their feelings or what they do. If it's something you can't let go of or something you think is going to be an ongoing problem you should at very least file a report with the police.
 
I would report them to the authorities every time I saw them running loose. Every time.
I do want to be a good neighbor stll, and while we prefer to keep to ourselves (and these are not people we would socialize with regardless) I don't want to cause WWlll either.
 
Well of course not. But who is to say the chickens don't get onto the dog's owner's property? I understands this incident occurred on the OP's property but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen the other way around another time. I would just get a fence to make sure my animals stayed where they needed to be and kept other animals out.

If the chickens start leaving the property, then you look into the fence. It's the person with animals straying off property that are obligated to look into fencing.

We prize our children even more than livestock - but even so, we'd never suggest that a homeowner should be expected to erect a fence to prevent others' dogs from entering the property.
 
Some people are just jerks and you just can't control their feelings or what they do.
He falls into the jerk category. He just called here *****ing me out because he heard I called the dog officer. Wanted to know what kind of neighbor I was, if I wanted to be ****ty to let him know and that was fine with him, he'd be ****ty back. I told him the reason I called the dog officer was I had called him to talk about it and he never called me back, so I figured he was being pretty un-neighborly himself. When he found out his daughter never told him I called, he clammed up a bit. Still, I mean he knew what happened so him not calling me is still inexcusable in my book. His BIL is paying for the birds, so I think he's giving the BIL the shaft too by not paying half. Whatever, he's a jerk.
 
you should have called the cops and let them deal with these people
Sigh...great in theory, not great when you live in a small town next door to these people. They aren't evil, just...jerks. Actually, he is a tad criminal. He's a contractor that steals/scams, files bankruptcy then reopens under a different name. Really don't want to have bad dealings with them, and just on principal I try to be a good neighbor. Just venting :)
 
Sigh...great in theory, not great when you live in a small town next door to these people. They aren't evil, just...jerks. Actually, he is a tad criminal. He's a contractor that steals/scams, files bankruptcy then reopens under a different name. Really don't want to have bad dealings with them, and just on principal I try to be a good neighbor. Just venting :)
you need to make them buy you a new chicken
 
They are paying for the chickens that is saying they are sorry to me.. I think as the owners of the chickens you need to ensure there safety a little more. They could have just as easy been dragged off by any animal that came inot your yard.
 
my DH told the guy who came to get them they better not come in the yard again or he would shoot the dogs. Which is legal if they are killing livestock.

I think your neighbors are totally out of line to let their dogs run free. However, I can't blame someone for avoiding talking to you and not apologizing to you after your husband's reaction was to threaten shooting--not something more normal like reporting them but, shooting them.


If we report them the dogs will be declared a nuisance (for killing livestock) and that makes a mess for them and I'd rather not do that, but it peeves me that they won't just say "I'm sorry that happened. We will do better keeping our dogs controlled". Is that too much to ask?

I know you came back later and said you would not really shoot the dogs, but how are the neighbors to know this? I find it very odd that you are willing to threaten to shoot and kill the dogs, but not willing to report the illegal behaviour and let the authorities deal with it.

Reading on, it seems once you did report that the neighbor was a complete jerk. That'S too bad, living near such people is always trying. It just seems like your husband was also quick to be aggressive and unneighborly as well---both sides making the situation worse than it has to be.
 
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As someone who has lived on a farm before I understand your husband's threat.

Heck reading this I thought maybe you lived next to my father in Texas! I have no clue where he lives now but I'm certain he definitly wouldn't have called and appologized. He would have came and got the dog and that would have been the end of it. Of course he probably would have shot the dog once he got it home because he is one of those old guys that believes once a dog (that is not a hunting dog) has tasted blood it is useless and will only continue to attack animals. It was very hard growing up around that.
 
I think your neighbors are totally out of line to let their dogs run free. However, I can't blame someone for avoiding talking to you and not apologizing to you after your husband's reaction was to threaten shooting--not something more normal like reporting them but, shooting them.




I know you came back later and said you would not really shoot the dogs, but how are the neighbors to know this? I find it very odd that you are willing to threaten to shoot and kill the dogs, but not willing to report the illegal behaviour and let the authorities deal with it.

Depending wherr you live the threat to kill a dog for killing livestock is pretty common. I'd heard it from more than one neighbor in the 6 years I lived on a farm. If it was legal the go to was to take it into their own hands then let the law deal with it. Kind of sad but it is the way of life still in some areas.
 

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