# Dogs killed three of my goats



## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I had a disaster. Dogs jumped the fence into the pen and Fantin, Rio and Chunk are dead. Everyone else is okay in the other pens. Shaken of course. Fantin was my favorite and best buck. Rio was a pygmy and Chunk was their wether.

It appears there were two dogs. One was outside the fence this morning and the other still in the pen. It appears they ate so much of Chunk that that one couldn't jump back out. Or something anyway, it was still there. SSS. My neighbors helped me and hauled them all off to the mesa where they will be coyote food. Everything is done and everyone is fed and watered and Pip is milked and I am breaking down now. Those goats never did anything to anyone. The dog had a collar on but no tags and was a female. A female.

Daisy (house dog, great dane) tried to tell me, she went nuts around midnight. I stuck my nose out the door but didn't go far enough. I might have been able to save them. I feel so terrible. My friend Karla said I might also have been attacked, so it was better this way. My neighbor's border collie went nuts too, and they did the same thing I did. All the dogs around went nuts. We all ignored them. My other neighbor's dogs went nuts too. 

I have one buck out of Fantin, but his mother is Fresca, and she is my weakest doe. He would have gone to the butcher by now if the trailer I sold to my friends who haul them there for me had not gotten stolen. He gets a reprieve, at least until the new crop of kids are born. Maybe. I have one or two pregnant by Fantin, if Fresca is pregnant. Trude is bred to him, and she produced a really nice buck last year. I have no does out of Fantin. If everything works right I might be able to get very close to his genes. Maybe even better.

I'm going to do something to my fences. They are 6 foot chain link fences. It was only about 5.5 feet because of buildup at the bottom. I want barbed wire or some thing that will gut a dog who tried to jump them. And then I want something around the bottom so they can't dig under. There is one shorter place, we figured out how they got in, I am lucky they got in that pen and not one of the other pens. They didn't go over the chain link, they came over the gate into the back and then over the horse panel that is shorter and not sharp. That probably makes no sense.

There are four pens. Tonight we are shutting in the goats in three of them. The fourth one, where all my pregnant does are, they can't be shut in. It is very close to the house, and we are going to flood it with light. I don't know if the other bucks will batter their way out, there are five of them and they will be shut into an 8x12 space, where they have never been shut in before. 

Anyway, bad day.

I don't know if one dog alone would come back. I'm sure it was hanging around out there when the loud noises happened. 

I know electric fence would be good, but I don't see how you can do that with chain link. I have a call in to the fence guy, and I think I want to top them all with barbed wire, mounted on those outward facing brackets, and then do something so nothing can dig under them either. Don't think there is much you can do about gates, but we'll see what he says.

Sorry this is sort of incoherent.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

:hug: So sorry for your loss. 
You can get insulator clips that attach to the chainlink and then protrude a few inches out that hold hot wire. A run of hot-wire a near the ground and a run around the outside top would work to detur dogs.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

I am so sorry. You must be just heartsick.
I worry about dog attacks. My husband has shot a few over the years.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

How tragic Im so sorry! Glad you took care of the one.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

Oh no! I'm so sorry for your loss!

Electric fence might help, but unless the animal can touch it, it won't stop anything. Barbed wire would be a little better. A donkey or llama might help also.


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## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

Oh how terrible! Did you find out who they belong to or were they strays? Sorry for such a bad thing to happen to you and goaties.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

That's awful!    Your poor thing! Poor goaties! :hug: :hug: I'm so very sorry. :hug:


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

Oh I'm so sorry.. that is just shocking!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

OMG Jan I am so very very sorry  That is just awful  Did the dog looked well cared for? Or look like it could have been dumped/a stray? I would be going crazy if someones dog did that OMG so awful  

Maybe there is also a way to bury barbed wire? 
Maybe make a frame to go over the gate? Then possibly find a way to rig up a cattle/goat panel to go over the top of it - you know on some kind of hing that you can swing open with the gate, and then be able to close it and latch it so it keeps animals from going over the top?


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I am sooo very sorry to hear that! :hug:


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Thanks everyone. I actually have a fence guy, and these pens are pretty new that I want to strengthen. I am coming back to barbed wire also. All my neighbors are on alert now, and the lights will be on, and the pregnant girls will be right outside my bedroom door. 

They were strays. Or I have no idea whose they are and I don't care. My neighbor said she had seen them around the ditch bank. They all helped me this morning he has his shotgun by the door. We won't ignore all the dogs going off again. They have goats too.

We think they were hungry. They hung around for hours eating the wether. That's why they were still there when I went out this morning. Also probably might have protected the rest of my herd.

Jan


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2012)

The dog left in the pen wouldn't have lived, those dogs will be back, soon. May as well dispatch them with haste before the wipe you out. You have no time to get a protector now and no amount of fence is going to stop them from coming and tearing things up to get what they want. Shortly after sundown I would be in the barn waiting with my shotgun, I might even leave the gate open and have a rope strung out to close it after they got in. But I wouldn't put up with that. IT is cold tonite bundle up they will come knocking, they have had blood.


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## crgoats (Nov 8, 2011)

OMG, I am so sorry. You know, my great dane barks at night when she sees animals outside, and it drives us crazy. I guess we should learn from you and go check what she is barking about. All of our animals are closed into the barn at night, and unless they break the window, nothing can get in. Still very scary. One evening, I had not locked them in yet, and my oldest son heard a pack of coyotes outside, and close. He ran out and closed everyone into the barn right away.


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## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

Wow that is aweful, I am so sorry. Really scary to hear too, I think I will be locking all my kids in the barn from now on.


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

I am so sorry  :hug:


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## SandStoneStable Farm (Dec 8, 2010)

Oh that is terrible, I'm so sorry.
I agree with Sideplaner, the dog knows where an easy meal is now. It may not be right away, but could come back.
I use insulators to keep my electric lines a few inches out from my fence. Your story makes me wonder if I could raise one hot line up high...
again I'm so sorry :hug:


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## kikocross (Apr 3, 2011)

saw in a mag where 4 bull dogs killed 30 goats in one night. a guy i sold goats to last year called this week to buy a LGD pup from me. his friend had 3 dogs get in his fence and kill the only LGD he had and 6 goats. i have 2 LGD and a hole cut 4 ft high in all my sections so they can go from place to place. some dogs love to kill goats for some reason, but wouldnt own goats without atleast two dogs. LGD are a rather cheap ins policy. sorry about your goats


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## Mandara Farm (Sep 12, 2010)

Oh man, that's just horrible! I'm so sorry to hear of your loss! Poor goaties! I always lock my goats in at night because we have coyotes -- a lot of them -- just across the street in the fields there. I feel we also need a LGD... I hope your goats will be safe from now on, whatever you decide to do (fencing, shotgun, LGD, etc)


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## Crazy 8 Farms (Feb 5, 2012)

So sorry to hear about this! It is just awful!


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Sideplaner - The dog that was inside the pen is no longer with us. We think there were only two of them. That is what SSS means. I learned it here. 

Some of them are shut in, but I couldn't get the five yearling bucks in their house.

The pregnant girls have no place I can shut them in, but they are really close to me and I have lots of lights on and I hope they will be all right. Two pens worth are shut in houses. If the dogs go off tonight we will not be ignoring it. My dog had never done that before, and she is 5 years old. 

We are all on guard.

Thanks everyone.


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## mommaB (Oct 1, 2009)

SO SORRY.......that is aweful.....I can't imagine going out to find such a scene :hug:


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

:hug: Good luck tonight!!! I'm so sorry you are having to go through this... :hug: 
M.


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## Devin (Feb 6, 2011)

I am so sorry! we have dog problems here as well. We haven't gotten a good shot at one yet, but we get a lot of strays and we also have an irresponsible neighbor.  I always pray my 2 jewl fencer with predator control spacing on my high tensil fence will be enough to keep out the strays. We have a dog in our yard that goes nuts whenever anything is out of place. Sometimes she is annoying lol! But she does a great job!


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

It's raining. That is an event here, and everything hides. Dogs too. Hopefully I will be able to sleep. I had to unplug some of the lights. But there are still a lot of lights where my girls are. I will never ignore my dog again.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I am so sorry...praying that you catch them..... :hug:


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

So sorry for your loss. I have my fencing set up in a kidding lot with electric top and bottom. I hope your fencing guy can get you set up. I do know they have the chain link clips for electric. We just run the solar fence charger from the horse field over to the goat field. We also have a LGD for the goats and a Llama for the sheep. I hope they don't come back!


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## iddybit acres (Feb 18, 2011)

So sorry to hear this :hug: My lab just went off about a half hour ago and sure enough the wolf was back! Hubby shot in the air and he ran to the edge of the field! All mine are locked up and not very happy about it!


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## dixiegirl3179 (Jan 20, 2010)

I am so sorry! I had almost the exact thing happen to me twice since right before Thanksgiving, the only realy difference was the number of goats lost. The second time we had added hotwire, but it got shorted out by the goats pushing the fence against it. It's such a horrible feeling. My outside dogs went nuts as well and I ignored them for a while because I had just been out there and thought they just wanted me to let them out of their pen. When I finally checked I found the dogs in the buck pen but didn't know they had killed anything and they were gone by the time I came back with my brother. That's when we discovered the does had been killed. The came back the same night and killed my bucks and my calf. We never found them or who they belonged to, but 2 months later we woke up to 4 more dead goats. Sigh. I'm making sure I have Fort Knox out there before I put the new kids in the pen.


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## TexasRanger (Feb 2, 2010)

RIP, poor goaties.  :angelgoat:


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

Oh how terrible that must have been when you found them!!!   I am so sorry, and I wish I could give you a big hug. :hug: I have zero tolerance for other people's dogs near my livestock, and I stick to the SSS tactic. Glad to hear that one of the dogs has gone that route.


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## LuvmyGoaties (Mar 9, 2010)

OMG I am so sorry for your loss. I know just how you feel - it was almost a year ago that something (dog or coyote) jumping into my goat pen and killed my 2 goats. Whatever got my 2 just ripped their throats out and then left them. :veryangry:

The breeder that I got those 2 from gave me 2 does and 2 wether to replace them but before I brought them home we built goat Fort Knox to keep them safe. Our fence is 5' high no climb fencing the angled extentions with strands of electric braid on top that bringing it up to 6'. The angled top makes it very difficult for anything to climb over. We also have 3' of chicken wire under the fence to prevent digging. Just some ideas for you. I knowyou can easily get angled brakets for the top of chain link.



























Jen


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## Goat Song (May 4, 2011)

I think I swoon every time I see those pictures...  :wink: Now THERE'S a goat pen for ya'!! LOL.


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## citylights (Jul 3, 2009)

OMG, I am so sorry. That is the worst nightmare I can imagine...


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Amanda I am so sorry. That is much worse than what has happened to me. I have my girls right outside my bedroom, and I am going to crack a window so we will hear anything. My hearing is not that great anymore, but the dogs will be with me. They will hear anything. The hell with the cold, it probably won't get below freezing anyway. I will just pay the bill. I got the farthest out bucks shut in because of the rain, I just went out there and they were all snuggled down in their shed and I shut them in. So if anything comes around it will be close. I think we will be able to get to it before it gets inside the fence. And it's only one dog.

Citylights, I was cold as ice until all the chores were done, everyone was fed and watered and my one little girl was milked, and the neighbors had hauled off the bodies, and then I came inside and fell apart. It was all about Fantin. He was very shy because when I needed to be socializing him my mother was very ill, and it didn't happen. He had just started to let me scratch his shoulders. He was the first buck I bred that I intended to keep til he died. I guess I did that. But I wanted it to be years from now.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Luv my goaties - I just saw that. I remember those pictures. What you did was terrific. Angled extensions, that is the phrase I needed. I'm, thinking the metal ones top and bottom with barbed wire. I think it would do. That is where I am starting with my fence guy anyway. 

I am so tired. I am going to try to sleep.


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## LuvmyGoaties (Mar 9, 2010)

Honestly, I think you would be better off with a really HOT wire than barb wire. There are a lot of people who fence with barb wire around here and dogs run right through it like it isn't even there - especially if the dog has a thick coat. For electric you would want good strong fence energizer that plugs in (the solar ones don't work as well, especially in the winter).

Jen


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

Oh how terrible! I'm so sorry for your loss. :hug: 

I agree about the barbed wire vs electric. The barbed wire is meant to fence in cattle, not keep canines out, I just don't think it will do what you want. Go with the electric. 

We have out pet dogs, that bark if something is amiss. But, they aren't out all the time. I do have mini horses out in the back section. They don't like dogs...are very aggressive toward them. I think they keep the back safe. But, I don't have a stray dog problem. I've seen someones pet out once or twice...but...they get caught and held till owner comes around looking for them. I worried about the two labs that moved in across the street, they kept getting out of their pens. I warned the woman that I don't "put up with aggressive strays very long", but problem solved when they were killed by a car on the road.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

There is already 6 foot chain link. The barbed wire would be at the top and bottom. 

Really quiet last night. I was up all night pretty much. Of course.

Jan


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I am so sorry for your loss. That is just horrible. I hope you are able to get the other dog soon. :hug:


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I hope the other dog never comes back. The farmer in my family thinks it won't. It's alone now and there was gunfire. I think I have figured out a way to shut in my girls at night, if that works. So if I can get the boys all into their spots everyone will be pretty secure.


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## Frosty1 (Jul 12, 2011)

I'm so sorry! That has to be absolutely devastating...  :hug: We were going to buy a LGD yesterday, but they had sold them all already. :/


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Dec 14, 2009)

I am so sorry


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Shutting them in ...would be wise.... I hope... you don't have to go through anymore loss.... :hug:


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I can not explaine how sorry I am! I do hope the dog will not come back, but I think it will. If it is a stray and cant find food any where else itll come, the only chance it wont come back is if it is someones dog that gets fed and just joined in with the other one. I shot a dog once 5 times in the head with a 12ga. shot gun and came back a month later with back up, but I had something bigger that time. Im just saying dont let your guard down from now on. Good luck, and again soooo sorry.


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## winky (Jun 19, 2011)

Oh no! This is so sad. I'm so very sorry. I can't even imagine how devastated I would be if this happened to my goats. I'm glad you were able to dispatch the one dog. Those must have been really hungry dogs, not just killing for sport. Makes me worry the other one will come back, driven by hunger. Have you considered setting a trap? I would consider a big trap like this

www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/Merchan ... Live_Traps

placed in the pen where they killed the goats, bait with goat meat if possible.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Jan I'm so sorry :hug: How horrible for you to have to endure such tragedy :hug: Sounds like you have a good plan and many suggestions too :thumbup:


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Very sorry to hear of your loss 

I think you should consider a very hot electric wire ... our macropod facility at work has 6 foot chain mesh fence with a 'T piece' on top, it points outwards from the pen, has chicken mesh over the top which is floppy and two hot wires underneath the chicken wire, and then at the bottom we have buried chicken wire and another two hot wires. I'll take a picture for you this weekend. But its designed to keep dogs and foxes out, with the hot wires and the T piece which is virtually unclimbable. If the power goes out it is supposed to stop them climbing in for up to three days. 

The main reason I suggest electric wire vs barbed wire is that I myself worry too much with barbed wire, if the goats get caught in it I've seen some nasty injuries on goats due to barbed wire


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

So sorry for your loss-that situation is a fear of mine (I guess that is true of every goat owner). We saw 2 cyotes way out in our pastures just this weekend. I just pray they never decide to hunt our goats. 

We do have an LGD and she keep me "sane" re: night time fears. She sleeps alot during the day :greengrin: but man that girl rocks through the night. She barks up a storm most nights. I usually hear her in the distance if I awaken at night. That to me.....is a sweet sound, allows me to go right back to sleep.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I am so sorry for your losses. :hug: Just now seeing this thread.

I would recommend going around the outside of your fence with t-posts and 2 or three strands of electric wire. You can get clamps that fit right on the t-posts and point out away from the main fence.


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## BillyMac (Nov 3, 2011)

Poison the dogs. Hungry dogs are vulnerable.


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