Devestation, i'm mad, heartbroken and i have given up

[LaFemmeKatia]

this is just a rough spot-I know. My rough spot started in 2014. Smoothed out, then 2016- took a long long long time to smooth out-sitting here crying for 2016. Then 2018 it got rough again now 2020. This is a baby bump next to2014 and 2016, not even a low spot in the road.
2014- I came home from work. My husband of 34 years had passed away.
2016- I have 3 girls and a boy. My son age 27 was killed in a rollover accident.
2018- I bought new car in Nov 2017, March a 18 wheeler pulled out in front of me. I hit him rolled car, walked away with cracked sternum and ribs.
This too shall pass, I know, but I also know-when I care it dies.

I am sorry you have had to endure these tragedies and losses. And now your beloved chickens. It must feel like it never ends.
Don’t make any rash decisions. Give it some time. Do what you have to do to eliminate your dog problem. I, too, love dogs, but a dog that kills livestock is no different than any other predator that kills livestock, and needs to be dispatched accordingly. Most posters here wouldn’t bat an eyelash if you shot a fox or coyote that was after your chickens.
When you are feeling a little better, and your partner is recovered, think about rebuilding and reinforcing that coop to make it predator-proof.
And even consider putting an electric fence around the whole thing to make it REALLY impermeable. A lot of folks here have done that with pretty good results.
I hope you feel better soon.

 

[LaFleche]

Im still negative. My future light is dim, I try to be positive, happy find good and beautiful in everyday. Last couple days have been gray and ugly. I got an unopened bag of feed we bought last week, gonna call granddaughter to come get it. She is doing birds for fair....she has 25 and her boyfriend has 50. Guess she could use feed.

They might want to help you with rebuilding your coop, so you could at least have a little flock of your own again and have them locked up well secured.

this is just a rough spot-I know. My rough spot started in 2014. Smoothed out, then 2016- took a long long long time to smooth out-sitting here crying for 2016. Then 2018 it got rough again now 2020. This is a baby bump next to2014 and 2016, not even a low spot in the road.
2014- I came home from work. My husband of 34 years had passed away.
2016- I have 3 girls and a boy. My son age 27 was killed in a rollover accident.
2018- I bought new car in Nov 2017, March a 18 wheeler pulled out in front of me. I hit him rolled car, walked away with cracked sternum and ribs.
This too shall pass, I know, but I also know-when I care it dies.

I am very sorry to read of all the tragedies you had to go through. When awful things like this happen there are no words to make it better, only time will help you to mellow the grief and make your memories less painful.

 

[Big Doggie]

QUOTE="Big Doggie, post: 23209338, member: 560334"]
Matejka I hope you could put a trail/wildlife camera out before you kill the dog. I’m playing detective by looking at the damage to your coop as closely as I can. I’m looking at the top picture and don’t see any rips in the hardware cloth along the edges. And it looks like it was pulled out. A dog wouldn’t normally pull a section of hardware cloth but an animal like a raccoon or bobcat with those types of claws could.
The bottom picture also looks like the HC had been pulled. Im not sure about the hunks of missing wood but could a dog use its front teeth to nip off the wood like that?
I think you need to identify the culprit for sure then put it 6’ under for good.

This is 1 of the boards the hardware cloth was screwed into.

This happened between 4-7 p.m. Friday evening. I saw the butt (back haunches) of dog as she ran behind shed and
View attachment 2322992View attachment 2323013

towards neighbors house. Sat afternoon About 5:30 p.m I SAW same dog chasing, catching and carrying rooster next door.
[/QUOTE]
Amazing damage! And if you saw the dog... then it’s the dog. No further investigation needed.

 

[Sonya9]

I agree with what some people have said here, but not with killing the dog.

I'm sorry to hear about your partner and your chickens.

It is a terrible time to say this but your coop/run cannot have been very secure for just a dog to get into it that quick. Focus on fixing it up stronger.

And it isn't the dog's fault she is hungry and had nobody to look after her or her puppies. She has obviously been abandoned by someone and to face death for just getting food for her pups is awful and unnecessary. The pups will be a bigger problem if they lose their mother. Your family should have called animal control sooner.

This is a typical example of human beings letting down the animals in our care. None of it is the chickens or the dogs fault.

Please call animal control and get them to round up the stray and her pups. They stand a good chance of being rehomed that way, and far away from your house and chicken run.

It must be so raw now but do try and not react with violence and weapons. That really isn't the answer.

Exactly. Thank you for speaking up. I am rarely bothered by online posts but this one has bothered me a lot; I was even thinking about it while trying to fall asleep last night.

That little dog was born and raised to be a PET. For some reason she ended up lost or abandoned and instead of people stepping up to care for her or try to locate the owner she ended up frightened and alone with no food, care or protection.

She has suffered enough due to uncaring humans. Now she is all alone, hungry with no one to care for her PLUS she has someone that wants to vent their anger and rage on her by making her suffer from poisoning or by blowing her to bits.

 

[cmom]

I am sorry you have had to endure these tragedies and losses. And now your beloved chickens. It must feel like it never ends.
Don’t make any rash decisions. Give it some time. Do what you have to do to eliminate your dog problem. I, too, love dogs, but a dog that kills livestock is no different than any other predator that kills livestock, and needs to be dispatched accordingly. Most posters here wouldn’t bat an eyelash if you shot a fox or coyote that was after your chickens.
When you are feeling a little better, and your partner is recovered, think about rebuilding and reinforcing that coop to make it predator-proof.
And even consider putting an electric fence around the whole thing to make it REALLY impermeable. A lot of folks here have done that with pretty good results.
I hope you feel better soon. ❤

I'm an animal lover as well. I have a neighbor that bought an abandoned house behind us a few years ago and renovated it. They had 5 chow mixes I think. The dogs were running around my pens but I have electric wires around my coops and pens. I did tell the neighbor and from then on I didn't have any issues with their dogs. I have had some birds in the past killed by predators. A bobcat came one night and killed 14 birds. I did eliminate the bobcat. It made the mistake of coming back. I would do the same if a dog had killed my birds, it would be eliminated too. I have no problem eliminating anything that kills my birds. Maybe in time you and your daughter can rebuild. Good luck...

 

[Matejka]

Quote

That little dog was born and raised to be a PET. For some reason she ended up lost or abandoned


That little dog is a 60 lb pit bull mix. I am sure it was a pet-until it got big, got pregnant. The owner didn't care enough or could not afford training, spade, medical care.
Instead the owner took their Heavily pregnant "pet" to a very isolated dead end road and dumped her. We are at the very end of a 2 mile long road. 15 miles from nearest town. There are 6 houses on this road, 3 within the first half mile, 3 at the end of our road. This owner of their beloved "pet" chose this spot to let their "pet" waddle free.
The coyote, bobcat, and feral hogs sit and wait. There are no shelters close, the one 30 miles away are full. Local people try to keep up with strays and rehome but, "owners" would rather keep contributing to the over population rather than be responsible upstanding owners.
The rural community gets the rewards-the strays that the owners are so so responsible for.
I won't do the humane thing and shoot the dog.
The coyote, bobcatsb feral hogs will.

 

[cmom]

I am rural too on a dead end road. We have gotten other peoples relocations too. In many places it's illegal to relocate unless they get the landowners permission, but no one ever asked us if they could relocate their catches here. Again good luck...

 

[Ab1010]

I have not seen one person tell you that the wood you used is thin and easily breakable. It is not predator proof. Two by fours are much better then the scrawny pieces of wood you used. It is sad to loose your birds to a dog. I have lost birds to my own dogs. But I would never ever kill a human friendly dog. Especially one that has puppies. It sounds like the dog can be restrained and prevented from getting to your place again. It's a dog dumped in the middle of nowhere and has no idea to not kill chickens. You're blaming something innocent. You should be blaming your family for letting it run around. You sound like you don't like dogs in the first place. Its just evil to kill a pet dog with puppies.

 

[SabongStuff]

Dogs are higher on the chain than chickens imo so reserve the right to protect what’s yours. Chickens are livestock animals and I see the reason people can get attached to them as pets however I don’t feel revenge would be the best for this situation.

It is your property and you have the right to do as you see fit to protect what is yours. If it were me, I would rebuild better, get lights on the property to alert you when predators arrive, shoot on spot. Wild dogs are a danger to not only livestock but to young children and humans as well.

 

[Ab1010]

The dog is human friendly and being raised by her family across the way and you think it should be shot? I've never been more disgusted that you guys think the solution to lost chickens is killing a pet.

Dogs are higher on the chain than chickens imo so reserve the right to protect what’s yours. Chickens are livestock animals and I see the reason people can get attached to them as pets however I don’t feel revenge would be the best for this situation.

It is your property and you have the right to do as you see fit to protect what is yours. If it were me, I would rebuild better, get lights on the property to alert you when predators arrive, shoot on spot. Wild dogs are a danger to not only livestock but to young children and humans as well.