HELP! Do dogs EAT chickens like a wild predator would???

[patlizjamesethan]

We came home today to find 3 (out of 10) of our chickens dead in the yard! All three had been eaten, heads gone, legs torn off and disemboweled. We quickly started to search all over for the other chickens and within a few minutes a big golden retriever came into the yard and just stayed there looking at the dead mess! He was acting very strange and just stayed in our yard and would not leave!! We tried talking to him and calling to him but he would not come near. My husband called animal control and when the officer and the owner of the dog showed up (the dog had been missing for several hours and the owner was out looking for it!) the dog would not come to the owner and was still acting weird! Finally they got the dog to the car and the officer told us and the owner that by looking at the chickens and the dog there was no way the dog had killed the chickens. She said dogs just kill them and don't eat them and that this looked like a wild predator had done it and the dog had just come upon the scene. Later when they had left my husband found the last missing chicken (the others had been found and were safe in the coop) down over the bank behind our house in a muddy mess next to the brook. There were feathers everywhere and lots of dog prints in the mud! Does anyone have experience with dogs eating chickens and not just killing them for fun? Please help!!

 

[Katy]

Yes they will eat them if they get the chance.

 

[Lbrad7]

I would think it was a coyote, fox or coon. I'm not saying that a dog "couldnt" eat a chicken, cause we all know that they could, but in over 30 years experience, I have never known a dog to eat one. The just kill it and move on to the next, leaving the dead birds laying.

Use one of the dead birds as bait and set a live trap. If it was a coon or fox, you could catch it. If it was a coyote, you will need a much larger trap or hope to catch it in the act and shoot it.

Good luck to you...hope you find out what it was.

 

[HyLinda]

My sweet little 7 lb dog tried to eat a full grown chicken. He caught her and was chewing away on her. She died. Now my dog stays tied up to a weight and cannot be unsupervised around my chickens.

 

[zazouse]

Yes a dog will eat a chicken,

i have a Great pyrenees/Anatolian Shepard that ate my chickens a couple times when he got hungry(he was a pup} he learned that not everything was food when he got Hungry, i started feeding him 3 times a day till he got bigger, no more losses since ,now he guards them.

He even tried to eat a kitten once when he was hungry, they are best friends now.

 

[herfrds]

That control officer doesn't know what they are talking about. yes they will!

One of my Corgis has to be tied up now when she is outside with the birds free ranging. DH caught her killing a SLW that I promised to a friends son and was eating it.

Explained what happened to my turkens.

 

[woodmort]

Sure the dog killed the chickens. What you describe sounds exactly like what happened although the golden may have had accomplices. Plus the way the dog acted it typical for a dog that knows it may have done something wrong. The golden probably played with them a little first.

 

[patlizjamesethan]

We are coming to the conclusion that it was the dog and most likely the neighbors other dog who also had run away that morning. After research here and on other sites it is clear that a dog WILL eat a chicken! Also the chickens were obviously played with because there are feathers everywhere around the yard, the three chickens found in the yard were all together in a staggered line across the backyard, it was done during the day time between 9am and 1pm when we arrived home. The chicken at the brook had been brought into the water because there were feathers everywhere throughout the water and the body was in a muddy wet mess. That most likely explains why the dog had no traces of feathers or blood in its mouth. Thanks for your help! Hopefully the officer will see the truth also!!

 

[Gator113]

Quote:
While this may come as a surprise to you animal control officer, dogs will definitely eat chicken. I feed my GSD raw meat, that includes a quarter chicken each and every day. No, not our girls, but store bought chicken parts. It can be a bit expensive, but he is extremely healthy. Part of his meal is beef chunks and a burger mix with vegetables, but his favorite is raw chicken. Due to training and supervision, he doesn't bother our chickens and he actually helps to gently herd the stragglers into the chicken house at night. Falco has never been served a live chicken or one with feathers, but I have no doubt that he would make quick work of such a meal.

Sorry about your loss.

 

[Sueg4332]

my shepherd and lab ate the whole chicken when it flew in the kennel head and all