37 chickens dead

[TennesseeTruly]

Sometimes I wish that he would just listen to what I say. And because he THINKS he knows it all, I have now lost 37 chickens and 5 guineas to my own dogs.

First of all, our dogs have been able to dig out from under our fence. I've told him to correct the problem but until he does, the dogs are NOT to go outside without being on the run lines.

Yesterday, I finally went to bed around 9am after being up all night long with a sinus infection. Hubby decides he's going to crawl back into bed too. Fine. Sometime while I was sleeping, he got up, let the dogs out and didn't put them on their run lines.

I woke up at 1:30pm, went outside and found the bodies of my favorite chickens. They were the first chickens I ever hatched, my Gold Laced Cochin bantams, Lil Boss, Truly, & Cissy. I collapsed into a pile on the lawn holding onto the three of them.

Running towards me were the culprits, my own two dogs! Honestly if I had a gun with me I would have put the two of them down right then and there. My husband heard me and grabbed the dogs. I ran to the back of our property. There were dead chickens everywhere. My husband mustn't have secured the gate and the dogs got in there. All the chickens were dead! All of them. Bodies were all over the place. My guineas were all dead too.

I ran to see if they got to my ducks or my layers. They hadn't!

I haven't talked to my husband since this happened yesterday. I haven't decided what to do with the dogs. I also haven't decided what to do with my husband.

I'm just sick over this. I haven't been able to sleep or eat since yesterday when I found the carnage. I don't even know if I want to start over again. I honestly want to just curl up in a corner.

Laurie

 

[Soccer Mom]

I'm so sorry.

 

[Hoosiermomma]

I'm so sorry you lost your chickens and guineas. That's just heartbreaking! Husbands......

if they would only listen. I lost a kitten once b/c of my husband. Our dogs got it b/c he put it in the laundry room with them. Hello.....wth? They wanted a live play toy. Anyway hopefully he will listen now and do what is needed so your dogs won't get anything else.

 

[chrisf]

Wow............I lost all my chickens of a certain breed too, but luckily I had eggs in the barn and hatched out all of their eggs, restoring my araucana stock. You need to kill someone or something.

 

[eggsforsale]

I'm so sorry.

What a nightmare...

 

[WisconsinChick]

Thats so terrible. Please remember the dogs arent to blame.

 

[AkTomboy]

Im sorry for your losses. I understand that this is full of pain for you but please take a bit of time to think for a bit. Then decide what to do.

Just my thoughts but if they were my dogs and I know they are not used to chickens I would not do anything to them as far as punishment. I would keep them on chains and or fix the fence so they cant dig out. The dogs didnt do it to hurt your feelings. They were just taking advantage of what was in front of them.

Again I am sorry for your loss.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I am so sorry about your babies.

Was your husband apologetic or defensive about what happened?

You can't change what already happened but you can prevent it from happening again and I think you need to do it yourself and not depend on your husband.

Can you fence off a section of yard that's just for the dogs or section just for the chickens so the two are never sharing the same space?

That's what I did. My three herding dogs are in the backyard with 2" x 4" no climb field fencing.

My chickens are in a horse stall turned chicken coop with a dog kennel run that keeps the chickens away from the dog's backyard fence.

Good luck to you. I have learned that if you want something done and done right, you have to do it yourself.

 

[faykokoWV]

Its so hard when something like this happens. My heart goes out to you. I'm sure your husband feels awful. I know when a dog got my chickens I was very upset. Not just because the chickens were dead, but because they were the one thing that were "just mine". I don't know, its hard to explain, but know I feel your pain!

 

[purpletree23]

I am very sorry that his happened to you. How could your husband have such little regard for you. He knew this was a problem and sounds like he didn't care. Sounds like you loved your chickens very much and in time you will have another beautiful flock but nothing can replace what you lost.

Bring the dogs AND Husband to the pound.