Dog destroyed our coop.

[BarredRockMom]

Sorry for the delay.
I've just been so upset.

No. None came home. We found feathers in a neighbor's shed. Found them leading out to a cornfield, then nothing.

No signs of return after the first night.

So now I have to figure out what to do. I have two roosters and two undamaged coops. But as I understand it, it would be cruel to keep them as single birds, but just as dangerous and cruel to pair them up.

I did not realize my coop wasn't strong enough to keep out predators. That is my fault. I feel awful, but it's my responsibility to keep them safe, and I didn't. Now I know what to do in the future, but still.

We've had this dog loose before. He's a total marshmallow any other time, but when he gets loose, he kills stray cats, possums and skunks.

He will walk up to me, drop a dead cat, and beg for belly rubs. It's a mismanagement on thier part. He's bred to work and think. He got left home all week with no walking.
I used to have a wolfdog years ago. It's not the same. But I'm familiar with big, smart, driven dogs.

I spoke with them. We're all pretty friendly. I mean, we keep to ourselves most of the time, but the people are decent. They said he had feathers in his doghouse. So they offered payment for repairs and some of the hens.

Which is nice, I suppose. The whole ordeal has just been awful.

Sorry that they seem to be gone. I know this is a very tough thing to deal with.

 

[Stayc]

Sorry for the delay.
I've just been so upset.

No. None came home. We found feathers in a neighbor's shed. Found them leading out to a cornfield, then nothing.

No signs of return after the first night.

So now I have to figure out what to do. I have two roosters and two undamaged coops. But as I understand it, it would be cruel to keep them as single birds, but just as dangerous and cruel to pair them up.

I did not realize my coop wasn't strong enough to keep out predators. That is my fault. I feel awful, but it's my responsibility to keep them safe, and I didn't. Now I know what to do in the future, but still.

We've had this dog loose before. He's a total marshmallow any other time, but when he gets loose, he kills stray cats, possums and skunks.

He will walk up to me, drop a dead cat, and beg for belly rubs. It's a mismanagement on thier part. He's bred to work and think. He got left home all week with no walking.
I used to have a wolfdog years ago. It's not the same. But I'm familiar with big, smart, driven dogs.

I spoke with them. We're all pretty friendly. I mean, we keep to ourselves most of the time, but the people are decent. They said he had feathers in his doghouse. So they offered payment for repairs and some of the hens.

Which is nice, I suppose. The whole ordeal has just been awful.

Im so sorry for your losses i am glad they are being decent about it.

 

[speckledhen]

It's bad enough that we have so many sad posts about people losing chickens to a neighborhood dog roaming about.

And people wonder why I just take care if it myself. I don't ask permission, I don't threaten, I don't engage in anything but defense of my girls on my property. You never, repeat NEVER know what you are facing.

People being what they are, or what I've experienced them to be for myself, I am on the same page with you.

aart, I think sometimes, it helps others to get an idea how to handle a situation by what different folks have done, and they can also figure what not to do.

To the OP, they offered to pay for "some" of the hens? No way I'd accept that. They'd pay for ALL of the dead hens their dog killed, all, every last one of them. I'm so sorry you had to deal with this.

That said, you mentioned your pen being inadequate, but even with Fort Knox and fencing, motivated dogs can find a way in if their prey drive is strong enough. My birds are 100% safe when they are in the barn with the door closed (steel barn, locked doors, hardware cloth screens over every window), but the moment the door opens, they are in the barn pen, which is very large and over 5' tall, but they are more vulnerable. When they leave the barn pen, they are within the 2 acre perimeter fenced area, which includes our house, gardens and all other outbuildings. They are more vulnerable then because the livestock fencing is not as tall as the barn fence. My point is that we have done a lot, spent a lot, to keep our birds as safe as possible, while still allowing them free range time when we are able. So any dog motivated enough to get through all that is always going to come back if he's not eliminated, I'm afraid.


Last winter two dogs we didn't know were repeatedly caught on game camera at the perimeter fence. They came back and came back until one morning, somehow, they found their way into the perimeter. Thankfully, the chickens were still inside the barn, it was so early. My husband was stalking them with his shotgun, they were running scared to death. They got separated, one faced off with him, though it was a good distance and he fired. It yelped, but he only had birdshot and at that distance, maybe it just stung a lot. That dog zipped around the fence and found his way out. The other one could not remember where he got in and was running like a scared rabbit all over the place until he finally climbed over the fence and was gone like a shot. They never came back and I still don't know where they belonged or if they were dumpees. That's the way most places in the country are, folks are fairly far apart, can't see who owns what dog, where the dogs go when they run away, etc. You have the misfortune of knowing who the dog belongs to and have chosen to deal with them.
Here are the dogs caught on game camera and the threats made against me when I was only trying to locate the owners:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...e-camera-several-times.1137177/#post-17623620

Every person must make his/her own choice about how that will go down. We already have, after this crazy situation that happened a few years ago with a neighbor. Because of how we were threatened by this person, it has cemented our resolve to avoid speaking to neighbors about their roaming dogs:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...on-my-deck-got-an-earful.385404/#post-4662572

 

[song of joy]

So now I have to figure out what to do. I have two roosters and two undamaged coops. But as I understand it, it would be cruel to keep them as single birds, but just as dangerous and cruel to pair them up.

You have a couple options at this point. If you want to keep the roosters but you're not looking to get any additional chickens right away, the roosters should be OK housed separately. If they have a history of brutally fighting with each other whenever they're in sight of each other, that's your best option.

Another option is to house them together. In the absence of having any hens around to fight over, they may tolerate each other and perhaps appreciate the company. You'd just have to try it and see how they react.

I'm sorry for your losses. Many of us (including me) have committed some type of management error or oversight that resulted in the loss or injury of a flock member or members. It's heartbreaking, but these are lessons that we learn from. Forgive yourself.

 

[lazy gardener]

Back to OP and her remaining roos: They no longer have hens to fight over. I'd try housing them within sight of each other, perhaps feeding them along the fence line that separates them. Give them time to cool their jets, and be tired of living alone. Let them free range a bit together, then try putting them together. Be prepared to separate them, but you might not have to. I have a 8 month old cockerel sharing a flock with my 3.8 year old roo. So far, they get along well together.

 

[speckledhen]

We all learn so many lessons as the years go by keeping chickens. Even doing it all "the right way", things happen you never expect. Guilt is as much a part of a caring owner's chicken-keeping career as it is raising actual children sometimes, I think, but don't dwell on what you think you did wrong. Learn from it and move on and don't give up if you've enjoyed it up until this happened. Take care.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

We all learn so many lessons as the years go by keeping chickens. Even doing it all "the right way", things happen you never expect. Guilt is as much a part of a caring owner's chicken-keeping career as it is raising actual children sometimes, I think, but don't dwell on what you think you did wrong. Learn from it and move on and don't give up if you've enjoyed it up until this happened. Take care.

Couldn’t have said it better.