Another: "My Dog got my Baby Chicks" Thread

[peepdaddy]

I ordered 25 chicks and received 27 healthy lively chicks. I kept them in a brooder in the basement. There was a small stray dog hanging around (someone had dropped it off). Being soft hearted, and maybe a little soft headed, I fed the dog etc. I walked in the basement one day and she flashed past me, dove in the brooder and killed three before I could grab her. I had spent time and money trying to find her a permanent home, feeding her, and even bought a flea and tick collar. The nearest animal shelter is 2 hours away. I put her down. That left me feeling bad for the dog and the chicks! The good news is that my remaining 24 chicks are 4 weeks old and doing great.
No particular point to this post except to say I understand the disappointment of losing chicks to an animal that one has invested care and emotion in and formed an attachment to.

 

[Hambone02]

I lost one of my black ausies yesterday. I'm still pretty unsure what to do. I'm halfway tempted to just get rid of the dog. My children are even neutral as to what to do about her.

She's (the dog) chased the chickens before, but never gone after them to kill them. I walked out with my two year old to go "chicken herding" and get them all into the coop (if I don't, they will roost in my cedar trees).

I noticed the dog wasn't barking as she usually does. Then I noticed the black feathers all around the dog's area. The poor bird was a mangled mess. 16 weeks of care in the dog's belly.

Still have twenty birds, and they don't seemed phased. I'm sure they're wondering where their pal's gone, though.

Now that the dog's "tasted" the chickens, is she going to be on a constant mission to get more?

 

[BJ_BOBBI_JO]

Having dogs and cats is the reason why I now have a chicken pen instead of free ranging chickens like I used to. I hope to be able to put a top on the chicken pen so that animals cant climb over it.

I notice that dogs think it is fun to freak out and chase down kill and eat small animals. They are meat eaters and hunters naturally and when given the chance they will strike.

Years ago I had dogs and chickens running free range but that is because we got the chickens when the dogs were young and they were all rasied together but even then ya gotta watch out.

Now I will carry a chick over to the dogs and wrap my fingers around it so the dogs cant bite it and I allow them to sniff it and I shove it in their faces and say "NO!" in an authority way. Now when I come close to them with a chick they run off or look away and avoid the chick. But even then I still would not trust them alone with the chicks.

 

[Milliemay]

I lost 4, 2- week old chicks this morning thanks to my Jack Russell Terrier. The garage door was not completely latched and she pawed it open. I was gone for 5 seconds tops, and she had jumped in the brooder pen and killed 4. My cool Polish which was a freebie from McMurray. The boys called him puffhead, 1 RIR, and 2 BO's. She (the JRT) drew her last straw and is moving out. She doesn't like the boys and a few other delightful bad habits that she has................