A Tragedy On The Homefront.

[ILikeBirds]

Not an hour ago I was met with rage as I found one of my long haired wiener dogs had killed and was eating one of my RIR Silver laced polish mix pullets, Eleanor. How Eleanor got out of her run which was fortified with nine foot high fences is beyond us, yet she found a way. The rest of our flock is doing fine and Eleanor found a nice resting place not to far from her friends underneath a Douglas fir. It's terrible tragedy as conveniently Eleanor was my favorite girl.

I have calmed my nerves down enough to bring my self to ask a few questions that I am sure have been asked before. Jasmine (the currently unloved dog) is locked in her kennel. Of course I didn't expect this to happen, nor do I understand how, as the dog couldn't get in the run, and to my knowledge Eleanor couldn't get out. So I am curious if anyone has tips for keeping this natural born predator (my dog) at bay, or hopefully to a point where she won't terrorize the chickens any more.

Thanks!

P.S. The other two dogs are friendly.

 

[aart]

You've got to figure out where the pullet got out, examine your run very closely and I bet you'll find it. Chances it's somewhere down low rather than up high, might not be a gaping hole but a piece of something that she pushed thru at a seam. Depending on how big your run is, what is inside the run and what it is made out of, she may have been able to fly that high to go over.

Pics of your run might help folks help you find a solution.

Some dogs can be trained if the dog owner has the time and skills, often it's best to keep dogs and/or chickens securely confined.

Sorry for your loss, it must be devastating, and infuriating, to have one pet kill another.

 

[bobbi-j]

I agree with aart - you need to figure out where she got out, then forgive the dog because unless you have trained her to leave the chickens alone, she had no idea that playing with the chickens is a bad thing. It really wasn't her fault that the chicken got out, either. It sounds like you've been keeping them separated and that's a good thing. Especially with dogs like yours with a higher prey drive. That's really about all you can do unless you're willing to put in the time to train your dogs.

PS - I'm not sure what you mean by "friendly" in referring to the other two dogs, but even the nicest dog can kill a chicken if it has not been trained. They don't know any better, and that running, flapping, squawking thing is so very tempting!