Devastated... Lost 7 of 13 chicks last night.

[Chapman Family]

This is my first go around with chicks or any poultry for that matter. Long story short I trusted my dog too much and last night at 1:30am her curiosity got the best of my new and first flock. I received the 13 chicks at 24 hours old, I have spent the last 2 1/2 weeks, learning about raising chicks and learning MY chicks. Two different brooders, on Monday I built an outdoor "playpen", two with pasty butt the first week, needless to say I was very invested. I had a roll of three foot high hardware cloth that I would roll across the brooder at night but I used it for my chick playpen. My dog awoke from my sons room and went into the living room, where I have been keeping the brooder (a 110 gallon trough with all the bells and whistles), and within seconds she jumped in, I heard the commotion and flew out of bed and screamed at her and she jumped out, but in that 30-45 seconds 7 of my chicks died. I only had one Silkie who in the first day I thought was going to die, then she had pasty butt day three and four, but was starting to look strong and healthy, she didn't make it. I also had a red Bielefender, I believed him to be a rooster and he was my favorite of all time, he is gone also. I'm not sure why my first response is to come on here and tell you all my horrible experience. Just needing to vent maybe.
As I write I also have noticed my 5 remaining chicks seem to be sleeping a lot more today than usual. Can they feel the loss? Can this effect them?
I am also wondering if I should try to get some new chicks to replace my loss. Wondering if I should give my five remaining to some friends that have been looking for some and get a whole new set so they are all the same age. I have learned my lesson with my dog and understand she cannot be trusted with poultry. We have goats and she has no problem with them. And she has never had an issue with another dog, or people, or children. I have so many questions and feelings. I have guilt because deep down I know I let my birds down.

 

[KiwiandPeachthePigeons]

Don’t feel like you let them down! These things happen, there’s no avoiding it. It’s happened at least once for everyone, and it’s sad, I know, but dogs will be dogs, and that’s not their fault. You can’t be mad at yourself for what happened, but you can keep trucking along and keep pushing and trying!

 

[humblehillsfarm]

This is my first go around with chicks or any poultry for that matter. Long story short I trusted my dog too much and last night at 1:30am her curiosity got the best of my new and first flock. I received the 13 chicks at 24 hours old, I have spent the last 2 1/2 weeks, learning about raising chicks and learning MY chicks. Two different brooders, on Monday I built an outdoor "playpen", two with pasty butt the first week, needless to say I was very invested. I had a roll of three foot high hardware cloth that I would roll across the brooder at night but I used it for my chick playpen. My dog awoke from my sons room and went into the living room, where I have been keeping the brooder (a 110 gallon trough with all the bells and whistles), and within seconds she jumped in, I heard the commotion and flew out of bed and screamed at her and she jumped out, but in that 30-45 seconds 7 of my chicks died. I only had one Silkie who in the first day I thought was going to die, then she had pasty butt day three and four, but was starting to look strong and healthy, she didn't make it. I also had a red Bielefender, I believed him to be a rooster and he was my favorite of all time, he is gone also. I'm not sure why my first response is to come on here and tell you all my horrible experience. Just needing to vent maybe.
As I write I also have noticed my 5 remaining chicks seem to be sleeping a lot more today than usual. Can they feel the loss? Can this effect them?
I am also wondering if I should try to get some new chicks to replace my loss. Wondering if I should give my five remaining to some friends that have been looking for some and get a whole new set so they are all the same age. I have learned my lesson with my dog and understand she cannot be trusted with poultry. We have goats and she has no problem with them. And she has never had an issue with another dog, or people, or children. I have so many questions and feelings. I have guilt because deep down I know I let my birds down.

I'm sorry this happened to you. No animal except mama hen herself (and even they should be monitored on hatch day) should ever be trusted with baby chickens. Especially dogs. Chicks do sleep a lot though. It is doubtful at this point in their lives they feel the loss of the others. You could probably get new ones and integrate them with your current babies. You can put a piece of scrap fence to divide the brooder for a day or two an let them get familiar with each other, but chicks grow fast so you should move quickly to get more. I keep a screen from an old window on top of my brooder and it is weighted down.

A neighbor of mine growing up had a collie who constantly dug, ripped, forced, her way out of her pen and into the chickens pen. She killed a lot of chickens. It took me a year before I felt safe enough that my doberman only wanted to eat the poop and not the chickens. Don't blame yourself, please. Chicks are both easy and yet hard to raise. Things happen. Now you are better prepared.

 

[Sarah1up]

Awe, I’m so sorry! I lost one last night to unknown causes and it’s hard. I can’t imagine how you feel. I bet they are all stressed so I would I’ve them a day or two before they get back to normal. If you have space, you could split your brooder in half and get some more. If you don’t, it might be easier to start with all the same age. We have had a hard time getting chicks, all of the places are quite out and we had to settle for what was at the feed stores so you might want to check around before giving them away.

 

[starryhen]

you have my sympathy and understanding. One day a neighbor's dog got into the chicken tractor and killed my 5 young hens that I loved. Keeping chickens alive is the hardest task because they are the food of the world. We have 8 young hens now after a sudden rash of predators in our area. I was stunned.

 

[shanahansjoy]

I'm so sorry. In my personal experience, chicks do feel the loss of their siblings, but their memory of it doesn't last very long and they move on. They may not feel secure in their brooder for awhile, so do give them a few days to get back to normal. I have had two chickens attacked by my dog, one did not make it. Only about 4 months later, the chicken who survived was taken by a raccoon. It's not your fault, we just need to learn and grow from these things.❤

 

[merceme57]

So sorry. It's tough and definitely emotional when things like this happen. My first experience with the loss of a chicken was a beautiful Plymouth Blue Rock named Penny. Heard the dogs barking and went out the back door just in time to see a huge redtail hawk launching out of the chicken yard. I tried for 10 days to doctor her but to no avail. Since then (two different occasions) I lost my two Jersey Giant hens to what we think were owl or possum attacks. Needless to say we are building a totally enclosured run for our new flock.
Each issue we encounter and work through makes us better "keepers of the flock"....... You will be a veteran in no time.

 

[BulldogsandChickens]

I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad you have this site to express your feelings. Keeping chicks alive is tough. Give yourself grace and love on your remaining babies!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't understand why people like that didn't have the dog destroyed?

I hear stuff like this a lot. (re: the collie)

I don't think the dog would need to be put down. What it needed was a responsible owner that took steps to make sure the dog couldn't repeatedly break out of the yard and cause havoc.

 

[Tonya75]

So sorry for your loss! I'm a newbie with my first flock too & I cant imagine it.