I was on the computer a little bit ago when I hear my 14 year old daughter yell, "Luke (the neighbor's dog) is in the chicken coop!" The dog is usually in a fenced area, but we don't have a fence. My ten year old was chasing the dog, that had the chicken in his mouth around our yard when I got out there. Edited to add: The door to the coop was open b/c we let them out to free range in the evenings. The dog ended up dropping the bird and there was no blood. She lost a handfull (or MOUTHfull) of feathers and seems scared...but otherwise unharmed. I guess my only question is should I expect eggs tomorrow, or is it likely that all 6 of them are traumatized and need some time to calm down?
Quote:Yikes. Close call. You will likely find that they are sufficiently stressed so as to not want to produce as usual. They'll get back to business soon enough but chickens really don't deal well with stress and that was a pretty traumatic event for them. Glad it had a happy ending.
If you do get eggs, they might be really weird..After we had a fox get most of our girls one time, the remaining survivor had an egg that was super weird the next day..
Egg production may be down for a few days or weeks, or not at all. When some of my birds were attacked in a quarantine pen, and one hen even injured, there was no drop in egg production- but form what I've read that is not always the norm. You should have a talk with that neighbor about keeping their dog on their property. That dog just found a new source for fun squeaky toys, and will likely be back to check it out again...
The good thing is that my neighbor was very apologetic. Actually the man was playing football in the yard with MY son and he let the dog out to play with them. The woman came running out of her house about the same time that I ran out of mine and yells, "Who the HELL let the dog out?" at her husband..LOL I will just be sure to keep a better eye on the chickens from now on. I am also anxious to get home from work today to check the nest to see if the "event" effected egg production.
If they don't keep the dog up than SSS. And if you don't have a gun find someone who does. It is horrible to find dead chickens because of someone's dog. I know.
Quote:Ermmm...yeah...not sure about the SSS method on this one. It sounds to me like her neighbors are fairly close, both in proximity and in relations. The man was playing ball with the son after all. Killing their dog might not be the best thing to do for relations. Not, saying the neighbors shouldn't be more accountable for their dog but I'm pretty sure there is some other solution. My own dog killed three of my chickens but I didn't shoot it.
Seems like maybe the dog could use some aversion training for the chickens if it is going to such a close friend. See if they will work with it on leash to try to teach it to leave chickens alone. Talk them into getting chickens to help with the process ... .. evil laughter in the background ...
I guess my only question is should I expect eggs tomorrow, or is it likely that all 6 of them are traumatized and need some time to calm down? I wouldn't care, so long as everyone survives and does well. Please check that hen very carefully for puncture wounds. Not easy to see and if she has them she will need antibiotic. She may also be in pain once some hours have gone by and this could make her eat and drink less, if at all. 1 baby aspirin (81 mg) crushed into one cup drinking water may help take the edge off pain. Change to fresh batch at least once daily, preferably twice. She will need to be watched carefully for any signs that she is experiencing infection. You can give her (and everyone, for that matter) a drop or two of Rescue Remedy (Bach flower remedy from health food store) in drinking water as it may help with the stress of it all. In times of severe strees, electroltyes are usually recommended. In a pinch, you can spritz some Pedialtye or Gatorade onto watermelon or otehr treat she likes and let her snack. The dog will do everything in its power to return at the earliest possible opportunity. JJ
