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

[Baumshell28]

Aww Hon...I’m so sorry! We all come to a point where somehow we learn that nature is “natural”, our animals become family, but deeper than that is instinct. The dog didn’t commit murder & certainly did not set out to break your trust, it’s just the instinct is stronger. It’s a God given drive to survive and He created all of us as a part of the circle of life.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I started keeping chickens about '10 in a surburb where they weren't allowed. Since then, I have these rules: 1) EVERYTHING eats chickens/chicks/eggs. Snakes, possums, owls, hawks, coons, dogs(yours AND others), coyotes, feral anything, sometimes I think rain and storms, too. 2) Pick out a 'favorite' chicken and doom it to be the next to go, 3) out of 10 unsexed chicks, 8 or 9 will be Roos, or at least a majority, 4) you will always have more Roos than Hens, 5) don't name the poultry, or you doom it to a sooner death, 6) get used to the fact that you will loose chickens -- frequently

These are just my rules. Like Gibbs' rules, they're arbitrary and just mine.

My goodness. Well they always say hope for the best and plan for the worst. I am happy to say that in my two years of owning chickens I only lost one hen due to sudden illness and no predators thus far. Chicken keeping sounds pretty traumatic on your end!

 

[Missiepixie]

I’m so sorry! Don’t beat yourself up too much, it was a total accident and no one is above that. As others have mentioned you learn from every time something goes wrong.

 

[Chapman Family]

Aww Hon...I’m so sorry! We all come to a point where somehow we learn that nature is “natural”, our animals become family, but deeper than that is instinct. The dog didn’t commit murder & certainly did not set out to break your trust, it’s just the instinct is stronger. It’s a God given drive to survive and He created all of us as a part of the circle of life.

Thank you! Yes my poor dog didn't intend to, you are correct and I got SOOOO mad at her. Things have now settled down around here for now.

 

[Chapman Family]

So so sorry for your loss I would give them electrolytes as that is good to give when stressed. My go to is Hydro Hen 3 in 1, but it is usually only available when Tractor and Supply has chicks in the early spring. It's made by MannaPro. Hope the rest of the chicks are okay!

Thank you! Yes so far my 5 that are left are still doing well. I read an article that said you could dilute Pedialyte. Is this correct?

 

[Chapman Family]

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!

Thank you so much!

 

[Lilly16]

We have an old lady basset hound that is my best adult hen guardian dog. She will chase away bold foxes, owls, hawks you name it. This last week she found a high spot in the hardwire cloth of my temporary brooder where big rain had washed out. Unbeknownst to me, she was watching that place and when a chick got too close, she nabbed it. It sadly took me the 2nd time to find where she was getting chicks. I have talked all manner of trash to her, she knows how angry and disappointed I am. I have also moved the chicks into the Omlet run now, where I feel like they are as safe as a chick can ever be on the ground. It is hard to realize that chasing something feathery and flighty is dog nature, and unless you have extensively trained a LGD, I don’t know how you can prevent every natural instinct. If you can’t separate them, ultimately you will lose more, so be preparing for a secure location from the dog that accommodates growth. I am not a fan of the Omlet coop for as many hens as we have that won’t work, but I am devotee of the run. Before we had it, we lost 3 hens to a sassy and bold fox, and now she rarely even tries. Best Wishes with your chicks.

 

[Evanloveschickens]

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.

Dogs have natural instinct even though they have been domesticated for hundreds of years. My dog keeps on killing parakeets and birds

 

[Chapman Family]

We have an old lady basset hound that is my best adult hen guardian dog. She will chase away bold foxes, owls, hawks you name it. This last week she found a high spot in the hardwire cloth of my temporary brooder where big rain had washed out. Unbeknownst to me, she was watching that place and when a chick got too close, she nabbed it. It sadly took me the 2nd time to find where she was getting chicks. I have talked all manner of trash to her, she knows how angry and disappointed I am. I have also moved the chicks into the Omlet run now, where I feel like they are as safe as a chick can ever be on the ground. It is hard to realize that chasing something feathery and flighty is dog nature, and unless you have extensively trained a LGD, I don’t know how you can prevent every natural instinct. If you can’t separate them, ultimately you will lose more, so be preparing for a secure location from the dog that accommodates growth. I am not a fan of the Omlet coop for as many hens as we have that won’t work, but I am devotee of the run. Before we had it, we lost 3 hens to a sassy and bold fox, and now she rarely even tries. Best Wishes with your chicks.

Thank you!
While I Have not gained joy from hearing about everybody's chick and chicken losses, it has made me question myself and ability to continue down this road less. I have already learned so much in this 3 week span and will continue to learn. Feeling more confident today.

 

[Folly's place]

We started with chickens long ago, some bantams from a neighbor. She said they would be fine roosting in our pole barn and didn't need a coop. The raccoons and opossums were delighted, and we lost a fair number of nice birds, it was awful!
After setting up our shed coop on an old concrete foundation, losses nearly ended, fortunately. However, we still have predators, because we do free range the flock whenever possible.
It's about the learning curve, and always trying to do better, and recover from disasters.
One of our own dogs killed many last year, when our dog fencing failed!
Mary