I need your opinions and some direction ... please try and keep expression of anger to a minimum in this post. I am already angry enough for everyone ...
I started with 75 beautiful hens... mostly production reds, some Ameraucanas and 2 dozen Partridge rocks. I am a hobby farmer with a dream of providing organic eggs to the community. My flock was on average 36 weeks old, and I was selling eggs to regular customers at my work.
Over the past months my chickens were vanishing. I allowed them to free range as they pleased and over a short period my flock dwindled from 75+ down to about 40. Nothing was working ...I assumed a serious predator moved in despite multiple predator traps, larger livestock (cows & horses), and a resident guardian donkey, the hens kept disappearing. I secured all my birds in their "condo" and put up chain link panels, surrounded by corral panels... it looked like a military blockade when I was finished.
I received a call on Wednesday from the neighbor... dogs in the corral area, but they could not get to the birds. I arrived with rifle in hand but they were gone ... my neighbor said "I didn't shoot them because they are someone's pet" ... The scene looked like a mess... but my barriers worked. I viewed video and pictures my neighbor had taken ... the neighbor's dogs.
I went to feed, water and collect eggs yesterday ... as I walked toward the coop I noticed it was very quiet. It had rained ... I noticed clumps of overturned pasture everywhere as if the animals were running ....and then I saw bodies everywhere. The dogs must have run circles around the coop like indians circling the cowboys. There was a muddy path where they had run the grass into the ground. Muddy paw prints allowver the building, twisted fencing, holes dug under the fences, and under the foundation ... They clawed their way under the building and dug out the foundation from under the building. The girls had nowhere to hide. Some escaped into the fields as I found bodies as far as 100 yards away. Not one was damaged except for feathers on their backs ... many are still missing. The donkey sustained a skull fracture ... we think he was running from the dogs and ran into a tree. He died struggling to get up.
The dog owner arrived as I was picking up bodies ... She said, "I need to talk to you, I owe you money" .... Money? Money?
I spent 6 months of my life raising chicks from an egg ... I fed them organic feed and watched them grow. I was out in the rain and the mud making sure they were safe and dry ... they talked to me when I came to feed them and would come running from anywhere in the field to follow me around. I told the neighbor these were special chickens, but she did not understand. In Georgia, a chicken is a chicken. Sentiment and emotion aside, the dollar value to raise an organic hen is about $21 ... at least thats what my system costs. The loss of the birds, time, labor, and lost egg revenue adds up to thousands of dollars. The police documented the event, told me this is a "Civil matter" and to take them to court ... and they told me if I had to shoot the dogs to protect my livestock to call the police afterwards. End of story ... my chickens are gone, my donkey is buried on the hill, my little business destroyed and I am hurting.
What would you recommend?
I started with 75 beautiful hens... mostly production reds, some Ameraucanas and 2 dozen Partridge rocks. I am a hobby farmer with a dream of providing organic eggs to the community. My flock was on average 36 weeks old, and I was selling eggs to regular customers at my work.
Over the past months my chickens were vanishing. I allowed them to free range as they pleased and over a short period my flock dwindled from 75+ down to about 40. Nothing was working ...I assumed a serious predator moved in despite multiple predator traps, larger livestock (cows & horses), and a resident guardian donkey, the hens kept disappearing. I secured all my birds in their "condo" and put up chain link panels, surrounded by corral panels... it looked like a military blockade when I was finished.
I received a call on Wednesday from the neighbor... dogs in the corral area, but they could not get to the birds. I arrived with rifle in hand but they were gone ... my neighbor said "I didn't shoot them because they are someone's pet" ... The scene looked like a mess... but my barriers worked. I viewed video and pictures my neighbor had taken ... the neighbor's dogs.
I went to feed, water and collect eggs yesterday ... as I walked toward the coop I noticed it was very quiet. It had rained ... I noticed clumps of overturned pasture everywhere as if the animals were running ....and then I saw bodies everywhere. The dogs must have run circles around the coop like indians circling the cowboys. There was a muddy path where they had run the grass into the ground. Muddy paw prints allowver the building, twisted fencing, holes dug under the fences, and under the foundation ... They clawed their way under the building and dug out the foundation from under the building. The girls had nowhere to hide. Some escaped into the fields as I found bodies as far as 100 yards away. Not one was damaged except for feathers on their backs ... many are still missing. The donkey sustained a skull fracture ... we think he was running from the dogs and ran into a tree. He died struggling to get up.
The dog owner arrived as I was picking up bodies ... She said, "I need to talk to you, I owe you money" .... Money? Money?
I spent 6 months of my life raising chicks from an egg ... I fed them organic feed and watched them grow. I was out in the rain and the mud making sure they were safe and dry ... they talked to me when I came to feed them and would come running from anywhere in the field to follow me around. I told the neighbor these were special chickens, but she did not understand. In Georgia, a chicken is a chicken. Sentiment and emotion aside, the dollar value to raise an organic hen is about $21 ... at least thats what my system costs. The loss of the birds, time, labor, and lost egg revenue adds up to thousands of dollars. The police documented the event, told me this is a "Civil matter" and to take them to court ... and they told me if I had to shoot the dogs to protect my livestock to call the police afterwards. End of story ... my chickens are gone, my donkey is buried on the hill, my little business destroyed and I am hurting.
What would you recommend?
