An exhusting morning already...

[the_great_snag]

I had a flock decimated by a feral cat a few years ago too. The big difference is the cat will actually EAT most of the bird, whereas a dog will just kill them out of instinct.

EDIT: A cat will kill and eat one at a time, and usually only one per night. A dog will kill several and leave them to rot.

A coyote would probably be more likely to kill one and run off with it to eat it I would think... This definitely sounds like a dog.

I think your doggie goon squad is the absolute best security you can provide for them.

 

[Emzyyy]

Quote:
Its not the dog's fault its the owners I agree but that doesn't mean shoot the dog, I'd really rather shoot the owners its their fault but its illegal so Id trap the dog and take it to the local animal control, where it will find more responsible owners.

 

[the_great_snag]

Quote:
Its not the dog's fault its the owners I agree but that doesn't mean shoot the dog, I'd really rather shoot the owners its their fault but its illegal so Id trap the dog and take it to the local animal control, where it will find more responsible owners.

I agree, it depends a lot on the circumstances and no you can't blame the dog for doing what is natural. But... a dog is no different than a coyote, cat or a hawk. A predator is a predator and if necessary you are justified in using deadly force to protect your animals against predators.

Shooting a dog that is destroying livestock is legal in most areas, and you can even sue the dog's owners for your losses. I'm not trying to debate the issue, but that is the way things are in much of the country.

Personally if I could identify the owners of the dog I would warn them that their dog is destroying my livestock, and ask them to both compensate me for my losses and ensure that the dog will no longer be allowed to run loose. I would also make it clear that if the dog attacks my stock again it would not be coming home.

If you can trap the animal fine, but I would kill it before I would allow it to continue to destroy my livestock.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Not sure what to do now...
Should I sit out tonight with lots of bug spray and wait to see if a stray comes along?

I really hadn't thought much about a stray dog but you're right, I feel that whatever did this didn't kill to eat, it killed to kill plain and simple.

I have only seen a stray around here once in the over a year we have lived here and it literally walked right by my chickens and moved on. I have to wonder if someone is letting their dog off lead to run at night or in early morning and since I go to bed early (by 8 usually), I would never know it was out there.

It was heartbreaking. I have taken very good care of these birds and I feel like I let them down very badly.
I also may now have to refund some money to customers who lost birds this morning. I'm not sure I'll have enough to around with losing some AND them being so small.

 

[the_great_snag]

In my experience, sometimes a "good dog" who never leaves the yard and is the model of good behavior during the day will turn in to a real turd when his people go to bed.

If you can rely on your dogs to bark and defend your flock I would picket them out around your coop and maybe leave the window open so you can be sure of hearing them if someone comes to visit.

 

[steveo]

Wow that is a real bummer and makes me nervous about putting mine out. I am building my chicken tractor tomorrow out of pvc and hardware cloth, I will have to make sure it is super predator proof after reading this thread. My birds are about four weeks old and they weigh over 2.6 pounds already.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
Well they weight more than 2.5 pounds live weight, by quite a bit! Is the after weight that is concerning me...

They seem to have some killer drumsicks on them but need more in the breast department..

Implants maybe?

Sorry, I'm just trying to make light of a bad situation...

 

[the_great_snag]

Boy they sure do NOT sound like proper broilers. Broilers would have big breasts and wimpy legs if anything, not the other way around.

I think you got some other breed by mistake....

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Here's come pics:

5 weeks in all of these...

This was like 3 weeks:

 

[the_great_snag]

Gosh they sure look like broilers with all the bare patches and stuff...

You probably need to just hold them a couple more weeks.