37 chickens dead

[PortageGirl]

 

[GwenReaper]

I am very new to chickens. As in, I got 5 chickens Monday. I spent the whole day outside with them. I was already hooked to my chickens. Well my roommate let the dogs out at about 3am in the morning and I heard her calling for my dog... who was not coming. I knew something was wrong. So I went out to the coop and the dog dug in and killed 2 of my chickens and injured 2 others.

I was soooo mad at my dog! I still am angry at her. But she ran to me thinking she had done a good thing and you would have thought she had the best night of her life...until I got ahold of her!! But I was so mad at her, but I know that she was doing what dogs do...

So I am going to try and train her to stay away from my coop and my chickens. And I am looking into an electric fence and reinforcing my fence better..

I am so sorry for your loss.. after I found them I felt so sick to my stomach. I was horrified that this was the first night and they were unsafe. I am going to try and change that.

 

[farmin'chick]

It's so hard sometimes -- I send warm thoughts to you, and know you are hurting. I see in your sig that you love your husband very much. Maybe a little more than you love your chickens, even though it might be close. Here is a way of talking when you are upset that has stood me in good stead:

I FEEL devastated because all my chickens are dead
WHEN YOU (because the) dogs were loose on your watch.
(when you don't follow through on things that need to be done, and bad things happen...)
I WANT you to reassure me that when I get my new chickens we won't have this problem again.
I WILL order/pick up the supplies you need to reinforce the dog runs from digging, and to reinforce the chicken pens and gates to help you make this happen

It will be hard for me to get over this. I want to be angry with you and with the dogs because it happened, but I don't want to be angry with you because it's too hard, and the dogs were just doing what they were bred to do. Help me get over this.

 

[JewellFarm]

I am so sorry for your loss.

If you decide you want more get in touch with me. I have a few that I need to move out and I have a friend that has some also. I'm not too far away from you.

 

[abluechipstock]

happened to me once, thank God it was all over before i got home and my stepdad cleaned everything up, it's hard to see chickens you've raised from chicks end up like this

 

[stethomps]

That is horrible! I’m sorry to hear this happened. I understand your frustration, as I have the same problem. My Baxter is a protector and herder, and he will kill any chicken that runs away. Really all he is doing is just being a dog. The rule is unless I am outside Baxter stays in his pen. But the dog is so fluffy and cute; my family feels sorry for him, & they think he will listen to their commands, and they will let him out when I am not home. Sure enough I loose another bird. Actually, my gorgeous Phoenix is tail-less right now because of this. But, even if I lost a bird with a name, in the end, it was just a chicken (sorry I’ll probably take heat for this one), and not worth getting mad at my family over.

My advice is: First – Do start over. They are too much fun to just throw in the towel. Starting over can be fun too, maybe try a different breed for the experience of it. Second – Let your hubby know that the chickens are important to you, they are your hobby, and make sure he gets this. And, that you atleast want his support!

 

[Bassleg]

I would kick his a## out of the of the house! I am a GUY!!!!

 

[PortageGirl]

Quote:
Well... nah. I'd be darn mad though. Some humble pie may be on the menu, and some handywork on the latch as well as getting that dog run fixed right... oh, and a nice trip to a hatchery or a good local breeder. Do you need a new incubator or brood pen? This is your chance hun!

It's not going to bring em back, and may not heal the hurt, but it'll put salve on the wounds at least!

 

[vyshtia]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Don't give up. I know how you feel - I went through something similar to this a few weeks ago...I felt better once I got some new chicks and could focus on that and preventing it from ever happening again. Like Dora says - "just keep swimming...keep swimming..."

 

[Laurieks]

(do you have a chain for DH?)