Of Neighbors, Dogs & Chickens

I think I have to vent - a little. This is the THIRD time - the third, mind you, that our neighbors' dachshund has escaped their backyard and assaulted our chickens. Last week, he killed three of them and injured a fourth in a most gruesome manner (nature being what it is), and now, after finding yet another mini-explosion of feathers at the entrance to the barn (and witnessing said neighbor in our barn, trying to wrangle the dog), one of my new guinea fowl is missing. I don't know yet about the hens; they scattered into the woods and several were attempting to make themselves inconspicuous in the long grass on the hillside; I will have to wait to see who comes back to the barn later - and who doesn't.

Not being a redneck myself (but a true urbanite cast adrift on the hinterlands in an experiment in sustainable living that has been rather less about sustainability and more about renovating a dwelling that had myriad undisclosed issues), I am not inclined to seek the redneck remedy to a nuisance animal; however, my chickens and guineas are defenseless, so this can't go on, right? Our animals live here at our invitation, so to speak, so we owe them our protection.  I suppose something will have to be done. Maybe a call to animal control? Or maybe we should give our neighbors one last chance to keep the dog at home?

I don't know. I don't want, and have tried to avoid, feuding with the locals over anything, much less animals (in short, I have been patient), but really? You know your dog has predatory aggression, and yet, you are ever so casual about keeping him contained?

Update as I write: Guinea MIA has been found. She had flown up to the top of our front porch. As for the others, I won't know until they come in this evening. Yes, our chickens free-range, or rather, pasture range, in the truest sense. They live their lives in the sunshine and fresh air, running about here and there on our property, doing what they do best: Being chickens.

That's not about to change.

We have photos of the hens lost to last week's attack; we will document any further losses.

Back to my giant floor mosaics.