Farewell, I'm Finished

[TigerLilly]

Quote:
It's always hard to lose pets & nothing can replace them, but hopefully, in time you will want to try again.
Sorry for your losses.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

About a week ago I said the same thing. I lost 9 birds one night and 11 birds the next, 2/3 of my flock. I gave the remaining birds to a chicken friend. Three nights ago we caught the mink who had gotten them. I have decided to start again in the Spring because of the encouragement and support of folks on BYC, other chicken friends and my family. I learned a lot from this and will do a better job next time. I'm so sorry for your loss and I hope that after a little time that you will reconsider. If you loved having birds, just think about it. Again, so sorry. Time will help.
dmb

 

[knjinnm]

Sooo ... did you kill the dog yet? Dogs like that are dangerous, who knows when it will maul a small child.

 

[speckledhen]

How did you know it was a dog? What dog eats through a wall? What kind of wall?


All the stories of folk waking up to a dead flock are why we have baby monitors in the coops. If our hens were being terrorized, we'd hear it.

 

[darbella]

Quote:
I had the same thought, what was the coop made of that a dog could chew through it? Are you sure it was not a bear? That has happened to several people I know.

 

[Cass]

OP,

I hope you are reading all the posts regarding your tragedy. We all feel for you and hope that your pain heals and you try again.
I don't even have chickens yet, but when I have eggs I will gladly send you some, free, if you have the ability to hatch them. If not, I'll hatch them for you and send the chicks. (Anyone got an incubator I can borrow?)

If you find the dog , you can make the owner pay; not only for the hens, but for the feed they ate while in your care and the cost of eggs they would have laid during their lifespan.
Someone said they recovered over 2 grand...which would go a long way toward predetor proofing your chicken's habitat.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

With pets, comes loss.

 

[calista]

Quote:
My condolences on your loss. That's a terrible thing to have experienced.

However, I, too, am having difficulty with the concept of any canine breed I've ever heard about being able to chew through a wooden wall. If you are still here with us reading our replies, could you bring yourself to take a picture of the structure damage and let us see it?

Would a wolf be able to do something like that? I agree with the poster who said it sounds more like a bear. Very troubling to you, I'm sure, when you went to the trouble to make what you thought was a safe coop.

I'd be making the owner of whatever animal it was add a significant amount to the reimbursement check for my pain and suffering, that's for sure. I hope you can bring yourself to try again.

 

[The Sheriff]

A pit bull can. At my previous residence a jerk moved in next door with five pit bulls. He pulled away in the UHaul to get another load of junk and within a half hour one of the dogs had chewed a huge hole in the redwood fence and was running the neighborhood. This hole was about two feet in diameter! His response was "there ain't a wood fence in the world that can keep him in." He never repaired the hole just put up a flimsy wire fence a foot inside. My house went on the market a few days later.

 

[speckledhen]

Whoa, that's really wild, Mary! I was wondering how she knew it was a dog since she wasn't sure exactly when it happened.

I did want to say that I hope she won't give up on chickens, though I can only imagine how heartsick she is. (*sorry, if you're not a "she"*)