Dogs killed and injured our entire flock of 55....crushed!

[TinaK]

Your poor son. He must be shattered. A loss of $800 worth of chickens isn't a small loss either

but the big lesson your son can learn from this is 'don't ever give up'.... sometimes things can happen in life that drag you under... but the ability to get back up and carry on is the most important.

I hope that your survivors all heal without problem and that your son can carry on his business. If only every child today was raised like your son, contributing to society in such a valuable way and following their dreams.. the world would be a better place

 

[Mattemma]

I saw this thread,so I will move over my post from the other thread.....

So sorry for your loss.File a police report and AC report. Hopefully you can find the owners and charge them. I would go door to door and inquire about those two types of dogs. I might not do all this for myself,but if it were my kids flock I would do all I could to make things right.

Cleaning up the carnage or a *sorry* from the dog owner would not be enough for me to move on. I would stew over this until there is some resolution. If they are strays I would shoot them both when they return(and they will). Again, sorry for the loss. Hugs for your boy. I feel so bad for him.

Glad to read you we able to contact the owners.I don't think I would have let them get off without paying.In the least they should be fined for letting the dogs run free and causing death/injury.The dogs could have attacked people too.I would inquire with AC about that.Atleast AC could get a bit of money for their facility.

 

[dainerra]

in most states, you don't have to take them to court. I would have told them how much $$ in chickens you lost and let them offer an amount.
The only reason you would have to sue them is if they refused to pay. Not saying that they wouldn't have balked at the price, but if you wanted to be nice you could have let them make payments or even a smaller sum.

No way I would have let them get off with nothing though. Yes, I know that they are going to have vet bills as well, but what about your loss? Esp if this was a "business" for your son.

 

[chicklove]

Sorry for your loss, the dogs robbed your son of his chickens but I would not let them rob him and your family of the enjoyment that you got from your chickens. You were a lot more nicer than I would have been to the owners of the dogs, they should have at least offered to pay to replace your chickens and repairs on your coops, you should not even have to ask them for that much. Sounds like the irresponsible pet owners should step up to the plate. To your son,keep your chin up sweetie when the going gets tough the tough get going don't thow the towel in yet their is alot more eggs to be sold. The only way through the greif is to not give up on what brought you the joy in the first place...Good Luck

 

[chickencrazyinHT]

Thanks for the encouragment. We have cleaned feathers and the destructive mess from all the coops today. There were even chunks of chicken meat we had to clean up. The sun is shining and we have a handful of limping buff orpintons that we let out ( only breed we have a few of left ) and they have injuries and limped over to an area of Sun and are relaxing. The wounds they have are worse than I thought but I am going to put antibiotic ointment on them and hope they can survive. Through the heartbreak and anger we are moving on. The time of work and different breeds can never be replaced because those birds had names and personalities but we are looking forward to spring and just placed an order for 50 chicks. Some of the feed and seed places are about to receive their first orders of chicks and I think taking my son and daughter to pick out some is also going to help. Its just going to take some time to get back to his egg selling business but like you all said, you have to learn the lesson and pick up and carry on. Maybe this time next year his egg business can be going strong again. He is raking and shoveling coops with his dad ask I write this. I am proud he is ready to jump back in! I hope we can learn to love our new flock as much as we did our other ones. They will be missed and always remembered! God Bless you all who have posted!

 

[Ole rooster]

You said the dogs got into your pen. Just for our knowledge, what was the coop and runs covered with?

This is just do sad. You didn't really let this drop with the dogs owner did you?