I teach first grade and I decided to hatch out chicks in my classroom. It was the best thing I ever did - the kids loved it. We fed them and watched them grow and took care of them. It was great! When they were about 3 weeks old I found good homes for all of them except the four I decided to keep. I had fallen in love with them and couldn't bear to give them away. So I took them home and named them Melody, Smoky, Henny-Penny and Lucky. I kept them in a wire cage but let them peck around outside in the yard sometimes for awhile. My husband is building a coop for them but can only work on it on the weekends. Last week I let them out in the yard and went back in the house. I was getting more relaxed about leaving them outside for awhile. Next thing I know, my daughter was banging on the door screaming that Smut was killing the chickens. Smut is my father-in-law's dog. My father-in-law had brought his dog with him while he came to work in his garden next door. Of course he didn't know I had let my chickens out. Smut killed two of them before I got out the door. He killed Henny-Penny while I was running towards her screaming. It was horrible. Lucky was hiding and came out after a few minutes. I scooped him up and made sure he was okay. I cried about this for days. I had no idea something could kill them so fast. My poor Lucky is left all alone now. I guess I'm writing this in hopes it saves somebody else's chicks. My chicks were only 6 weeks old. I thought my own yard was a safe place but I didn't think of all the things that could happen. They were so sweet and didn't deserve this to happen to them. I miss them so much.
