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Barnyard Buddies:  Help! Our Dog is Stealing Eggs!  |
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KansasConnie
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Connie
Atchison County
Kansas
USA
69 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 08:19:27 AM
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Anyone know how to "nicely" break a dog from stealing eggs from the henhouse? Our little beagle isn't hungry...I think she got a taste whenever one of the kids would accidently break one. I've tried tellling her she's a "bad dog" but she's not buying it!
My 7 yr-old son heard stories (from his great-grandpa) of his great-great grandma using salt  to break an "eggsucking dog" and swears we should try it. Anyone else heard of this? |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4291 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4291 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 08:48:21 AM
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I always heard the story of once an egg sucker, always an egg sucker? Other then making the coop break in proof, I don't know.
Michele |
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ruralfarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
4309 Posts
Rene'
Prosser
WA
USA
4309 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 10:17:51 AM
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Connie, my dog wont stay out of the tomatoes.. can you believe that.. it is so frustrating~ he doesnt eat them... He grabs them off the vine and throws them around the yard until they are smashed and then goes to grab another..... Did I say the dog is my sons.. who is in the military? Oh happy day when he can take him home,they can run on the beach together and stop plucking my garden dry :)
Oh I digress... No.. no hints for the egg natcher.. I am guessing that the first time one of your hens gets ahold of his snout.. that'll help! :)
Rene~Prosser Farmgirl #185
"Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~Michael P. Garafalo
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JudyBlueEyes
True Blue Farmgirl
657 Posts
Judith
Spokane
Washington
USA
657 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 10:24:43 AM
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No help on the egg-stealing. But I will share a story about my mother's father who had a grocery store and a German Shepherd Dog was his security system. Each night the dog would take one egg and eat it, as his reward for guard duty.
Some dogs don't like hoses, they think they look like snakes; you might put a hose across the entry to the coop?
Good luck.
We come from the earth, we go back to the earth, and in between, we garden! |
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KansasConnie
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Connie
Atchison County
Kansas
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 10:39:56 AM
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I've heard the saying and I'm hoping we can figure out a way to make it not true! The coop is predator proof...but I hate to shut them up all day. I think my girls deserve to roam...
If she would just take one like the German Shepard I wouldn't mind so much...maybe our little beagle thinks it is her reward for being such a sweetheart to my kids!
And the tomato picking dog is clever...too bad you couldn't employ him to just pick them for you and not squash them!
Maybe we'll try the salt...yuck.
Kansas Connie |
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ruralfarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
4309 Posts
Rene'
Prosser
WA
USA
4309 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 10:53:54 AM
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Connie~
"clever" wasn't the word I was going for to describe him..... :), but I love him even tho he is such a tease and a pill.
Here is a picture of the precious one stealing my water bottle this spring while planting the garden....
Rene~Prosser Farmgirl #185
"Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~Michael P. Garafalo
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Edited by - ruralfarmgirl on Sep 10 2008 10:54:27 AM |
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doglady
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Tina
Howard
Ohio
USA
435 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 11:20:48 AM
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Hi Connie,
There is an electric pad called "scat mats" that you can purchase to keep dogs out or off whatever you have. They don't hurt the dog other than a very low quick static shock. You can purchase one from the link located on my website. You would need to place an egg or two behind the pad so that he would need to touch it and wait to see if the "little darling" grabs it. Some of the mats run on power and some on batteries. Good Luck.
Tina
You can tell your dog all of your secrets and they'll never say a word!
www.kennelcreations.com |
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KansasConnie
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Connie
Atchison County
Kansas
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 11:30:27 AM
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Thanks for the idea Tina! I bet that might just do the trick!
BTW--Your dogs are adorable!!
Kansas Connie |
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ruralfarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
4309 Posts
Rene'
Prosser
WA
USA
4309 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 12:00:20 PM
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Tina,
OHHHHH!!! I love your puppies I wish I were closer. I lost my mini Schnauser last year her name was ABBY and she was 13.. We got her when she was a cute little pup (looked so much like your little ones), she was a joy (she would never have picked on my tomatoes :).. anyway, so cute!
Rene~Prosser Farmgirl #185
"Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise. ~Michael P. Garafalo
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acairnsmom
True Blue Farmgirl
1319 Posts
audrey
cheyenne
wy
1319 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 9:15:45 PM
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I always wondered how my dog would be around the chickens. Never dawned on me he might go after the eggs! We have to watch him around the carrots in the garden, loves to dig them up and eat them. And pumpkins you would swear were his mortal enemy. Go figure!
Audrey
Toto, we're not in Kansas any more! |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2008 : 9:55:54 PM
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My dogs (bassets) won't chase chickens, but they will sure eat their eggs if given the chance. Stella is 11 now..so I know she won't change her ways and Maggie is 4 and does whatever Stella does...sigh. SO>>>> we have a fenced area of the backyard that the dogs are allowed in unless supervised..that way the hens can be out sometimes...and the eggs can make it into the house every afternoon. Right now the grasshoppers are so bad that I love letting the hens out for the day. My dogs don't "try" fences at all though...wouldn't maybe work with a perkier or taller dog. Good luck.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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Nigella
True Blue Farmgirl
386 Posts
Nigella
Chimacum
WA
USA
386 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2008 : 07:40:49 AM
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I wonder if you could spray some 'training' eggs with Bitter Apple?
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If the ways is long
Let your heart be strong
Keep right on 'round the bend
Though you're tired and weary
Still journey on to your happy abode
Where all that you love
And are dreaming of
Will be there at the end of the road.
-Laura Ingalls Wilder |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1404 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1404 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2008 : 07:53:15 AM
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Is it possible to make the opening to the henhouse laying area smaller so your dog can't get in?
Just a thought.
Betty in Pasco |
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KansasConnie
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Connie
Atchison County
Kansas
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2008 : 11:36:30 AM
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Everyone has such great stories! And thanks for some great ideas! I wish a smaller door would work--but our dog is a little beagle and I have some hens that are nearly the same height! I thought about putting something across the bottom of the doorway and letting the hens fly over, but like Aunt Jenny says our little beagle is "perky" and can clear about anything she wants to!
Jenny raises another point--maybe it isn't the dog that needs to change her ways! I guess I'll just have to be more vigilent and gather the eggs several times a day!
Kansas Connie |
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doglady
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Tina
Howard
Ohio
USA
435 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2008 : 7:56:23 PM
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Thanks Connie for admiring my babies. I did think of another option though. I wondered if you mix up a solution of egg white & tobasco sauce and dipped a few eggs in it if that would work too. Or what about a baby gate where the chickens could jump/fly over. I do think a scat mat placed in the doorway might work the best. They have many sizes. Best of luck.
Tina
You can tell your dog all of your secrets and they'll never say a word!
www.kennelcreations.com |
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MaryP
True Blue Farmgirl
58 Posts
Mary
Coeur d'Alene
Idaho
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - Sep 12 2008 : 11:57:59 AM
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| If the hen house has a human sized door I would cut a 1x1 hen door about 3 feet up with a narrow ramp that a beagle would have trouble navigating. I would also try leaving some spicy or bitter eggs out for her to try. |
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babysmama
True Blue Farmgirl
931 Posts
Elizabeth
Iowa
931 Posts |
Posted - Sep 12 2008 : 12:06:27 PM
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My grandma says they had this problem with a dog when she was younger. She took an egg, blew the yolk out and put pepper inside the egg. The dog never stole an egg after that.
-Elizabeth |
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5 acre Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1007 Posts
~~~*Terri*~~~
WA.
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2008 : 8:11:20 PM
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Hey!,,,That sounds like my livestock guardian dog..She's is an AkBash and has done that since I can remember...She is so skinny(shes 1/2 Pyrenese and 1/2 Greyhound)..she squeezes sideways through our chicken door, which we thought she could not get through...she is 12 years old and still does it, she goes into the chicken door(I watched her with binoculars one day! ) and carefully stands on her hind legs to get an egg out of the laying boxes, then carefully(with egg in mouth)...squeezes back through the chicken door on her side...walks up to the front barn and gently lays it on the grass...she then "bonks" it with her front teeth, just enough to lick the egg out...As I watched, I was amazed and laughing at the same time, for a dog to be that smart, now when I see her, I call her and she just wags her tail and goes on, my Husband and I figure, it keeps her coat silky soft..Just my 2 cents worth....
Terri
Farmgirls are Farmgirls no matter where or how we live.....
frocksfrillsfurbiloesandmore.blogspot.com |
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KansasConnie
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Connie
Atchison County
Kansas
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Sep 14 2008 : 2:11:57 PM
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Like Terri's LGD, our little beagle is pretty resourceful and sneaks in there when we're not lookiing! Guess that is a good point with it keeping her coat silky...
Ironically, since I've been gathering the eggs more often and we've all been talking about her on the MJF site, she seems to have avoided the hen house!
All-in-all, I'm very thankful for her. She's so patient with my DS who is 2 1/2. He "walks" her by her collar (which I find comical, since she is a free-roaming farm dog) and she allows it...even if her food pan is waiting.
Guess I can allow her a little pleasure for being a part of our family!
Kansas Connie |
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5 acre Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1007 Posts
~~~*Terri*~~~
WA.
USA
1007 Posts |
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KansasConnie
True Blue Farmgirl
69 Posts
Connie
Atchison County
Kansas
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2008 : 10:12:26 AM
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Well--my 7 yr old tried the salt trick and it may have worked! He caught her stealing eggs, grabbed the salt shaker off the stove (I had to keep quiet on that one!) and poured about a tablespoon of salt in her mouth! She laid around for a while after that--it seemed to make her a little sick...so it may work due to taste aversion...we'll see...but so far, so good. A few days ago I watched from the house as she went toward the chicken coop...but she went right on by it! Thanks for all your input! It is nice to get so much help from all you farmgirls!
Kansas Connie |
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Barnyard Buddies: Help! Our Dog is Stealing Eggs! |
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Help! Our Dog is Stealing Eggs!
