I want to share this story from tonight because I'm just so overwhelmed with emotions. So, let me start by saying we have a flock of about 15 chickens. We have 2 roosters & currently have 1 mama hen with 7 baby chicks (about 5 weeks old). We have 2 dogs that accompany the chickens while free ranging every day. A german shorthaired pointer & a bloodhound. They take care of predator removal for us and the flock (the roosters do a good job of keeping an eye on things as well). This is the story from tonight...
Mama hen was out and about with the chicks, per usual. When I went out in the late afternoon, I noticed Mama hen was stressed and had gone into some thick trees for cover. She was not moving & I only saw 2 chicks with her. I went over and she was definitely missing 5 chicks. I looked around for probably 30 minutes and could not find the chicks anywhere. No feathers, no blood, no signs of anything strange. I piddled around outside for the rest of the afternoon, hoping the chicks would reappear. Mama took the 2 chicks to the coop at dusk and settled down, this is when I started to panic. I was now running around with a flashlight trying to find these missing chicks. My husband joined in the search and just as we were about to give up, we heard chirping from the trees. We go toward the chirping and find 1 chick, who is scared to death and cold. He ran to me and I scooped him up and took him back to the coop. Mama was happy to see him and then just looked at me like, "Well, where's the rest?" so I went back out to search. Here's where the story gets cool. We could hear the babies chirp and move around but it was so dark and so thick we could not see them. Our german shorthair had heard the commotion and was now with us in the brush. We gave him the "find it" command and he went to work. It took him a matter of seconds to spot the next chicks. He got on a point and showed us exactly where they were, and he was spot on. There were 2 nearly buried in a pile of leaves. We would have never seen them. So I scooped them up and ran them back to the coop. It took him a few minutes to find the remaining chicks, but once he did he got on point and held until we grabbed them. I think he was a *little* dissapointed that they were just our chicks and not something he could have fun with. Each time we picked up a chick, you could see his excitement and then realization that these were our birds. He's so smart and he's such a good dog. I don't think we would have been able to find the chicks without his help. Those little stinkers can HIDE! We now have them all tucked into the coop and ready for bed. Mama hen was so happy to have her babies back. I could just feel her relief as I put the last chick in the coop.
Local bird dog named hero. Who would have thought a bird dog would turn into a bird rescuer? Thanks, buddy! I will make sure to give him some extra treats for dinner.
Mama hen was out and about with the chicks, per usual. When I went out in the late afternoon, I noticed Mama hen was stressed and had gone into some thick trees for cover. She was not moving & I only saw 2 chicks with her. I went over and she was definitely missing 5 chicks. I looked around for probably 30 minutes and could not find the chicks anywhere. No feathers, no blood, no signs of anything strange. I piddled around outside for the rest of the afternoon, hoping the chicks would reappear. Mama took the 2 chicks to the coop at dusk and settled down, this is when I started to panic. I was now running around with a flashlight trying to find these missing chicks. My husband joined in the search and just as we were about to give up, we heard chirping from the trees. We go toward the chirping and find 1 chick, who is scared to death and cold. He ran to me and I scooped him up and took him back to the coop. Mama was happy to see him and then just looked at me like, "Well, where's the rest?" so I went back out to search. Here's where the story gets cool. We could hear the babies chirp and move around but it was so dark and so thick we could not see them. Our german shorthair had heard the commotion and was now with us in the brush. We gave him the "find it" command and he went to work. It took him a matter of seconds to spot the next chicks. He got on a point and showed us exactly where they were, and he was spot on. There were 2 nearly buried in a pile of leaves. We would have never seen them. So I scooped them up and ran them back to the coop. It took him a few minutes to find the remaining chicks, but once he did he got on point and held until we grabbed them. I think he was a *little* dissapointed that they were just our chicks and not something he could have fun with. Each time we picked up a chick, you could see his excitement and then realization that these were our birds. He's so smart and he's such a good dog. I don't think we would have been able to find the chicks without his help. Those little stinkers can HIDE! We now have them all tucked into the coop and ready for bed. Mama hen was so happy to have her babies back. I could just feel her relief as I put the last chick in the coop.
Local bird dog named hero. Who would have thought a bird dog would turn into a bird rescuer? Thanks, buddy! I will make sure to give him some extra treats for dinner.
