Well, our run is apparently Fort Knox for our chickens, but not quite for our chicks. After we'd been out the day we let our dogs out to run and sat down to a late dinner. We left the door open so they could enjoy the rest of the day after being inside for 5 hours.
My terrier, who has the most awful prey drive I've ever seen in a little animal, came in bouncing about, all proud of herself and panting. I think we were just to distracted. She was so hot I just assumed she was running and got up, gave her some ice cubes, and sat back down.
The phone than rang, our neighbor tells me I have chickens running around the driveway. My husband runs out and it's a bloodbath. She killed three out of five, and the two that are left are our suspected males. They were 10 weeks old and this was the first week they were in the run with the other chickens, and were doing surprisingly well. They were beautiful Buff Orps who ran to me and sat on my shoulder.
It looked like all three's necks were broken.
I've looked and looked, and there is one very small spot that the chickens either got out of, or were pulled out of.
I'm just so angry and heartbroken.
My dog has also broken the fence in the last week and roamed the neighborhood (she's an escape artist of the umpteenth degree), killed a rabid animal and I ended up having to go through a course of rabies shots, and there's just an endless pile of songbirds, mice, groundhogs, etc. Her killing has gone up 100 times in the last two months, and now I'm worried...she's killing bigger animals. Our neighbors have goats, and horses and people down the street free range chickens full time. I'm more worried at this point of the damage she'll do, versus her getting hurt.
And I don't have the ability to raise more chickens from chicks...it was really draining and I'm sick, and I scheduled it for a time my husband was around more.
Thanks for letting me vent.
My terrier, who has the most awful prey drive I've ever seen in a little animal, came in bouncing about, all proud of herself and panting. I think we were just to distracted. She was so hot I just assumed she was running and got up, gave her some ice cubes, and sat back down.
The phone than rang, our neighbor tells me I have chickens running around the driveway. My husband runs out and it's a bloodbath. She killed three out of five, and the two that are left are our suspected males. They were 10 weeks old and this was the first week they were in the run with the other chickens, and were doing surprisingly well. They were beautiful Buff Orps who ran to me and sat on my shoulder.
It looked like all three's necks were broken.
I've looked and looked, and there is one very small spot that the chickens either got out of, or were pulled out of.
I'm just so angry and heartbroken.
My dog has also broken the fence in the last week and roamed the neighborhood (she's an escape artist of the umpteenth degree), killed a rabid animal and I ended up having to go through a course of rabies shots, and there's just an endless pile of songbirds, mice, groundhogs, etc. Her killing has gone up 100 times in the last two months, and now I'm worried...she's killing bigger animals. Our neighbors have goats, and horses and people down the street free range chickens full time. I'm more worried at this point of the damage she'll do, versus her getting hurt.
And I don't have the ability to raise more chickens from chicks...it was really draining and I'm sick, and I scheduled it for a time my husband was around more.
Thanks for letting me vent.
