help! my chicken was murdered!! :-(

Don't beat yourself up over it. The dogs were doing what dogs do. Chalk it up to experience and change the plan next time you are away. Don't worry, hon, it has happened to most of us already.

 

Sorry for your loss. You obviously supervised them for a week to make sure everything would be ok. Dont be too hard on yourself. Your dogs are pets, but animals first. They may be mild mannered, but it just takes one sudden movement to trigger a dog's instincts. My chicks are in an enclosed run/coop. I only have 9. I also have 3 dogs. One of the dogs lunges at the fence and tries to startle the chickens. She catches birds, moles, and anything that doesnt belong there. The other 2 dont really bother the chicks, but wouldnt trust them. This doesnt solve your problem, but animals have instincts and will always carry those traits. At least the dog ate the chicken. Hate to see animals kill another animal just for fun. You can not beat yourself up about what happened. You obviously care. Concentrate on a remedy to enclose the chickens or the dogs. I love both our chickens and dogs and dont know if i could choose between them. I feel your pain but it is not your fault. Hop you feel better soon.

 

I wouldn't get rid of the dogs. I'd make sure that they are never in contact with each other.
Sorry for your loss!

 

Same thing happened to me. My dog murdered my entire flock of 9, and only bothered to eat 1 of them. Just mindless killing...which is what dogs' primal instinct seems to be. This one ended with me getting rid of the dog.

 

i am so sorry for your loss. you have to remember, your dogs didn't know better, they didn't do it to be mean. it doesn't sound like they were really part of your family and you are probably very upset right now so its probably best to wait before you act. its a hard thing when this happens but you have to forgive yourself and your dogs. you don't want to feel remorse for doing something you will regret later.

dogs are wonderful animals and give us so much love and care, but it also depends on how much interaction and time spent with them on how much either party gets out of the relationship. as the parents of the household, we have to be vigilant and when accidents happen, we have to move forward and use the opportunity to grow and do better next time.
all animals are different, they all have different personalities and abilities and you have to accept, work around any challenges and appreciate and utilize their strengths. patience is the most important thing and it makes us better people, as well as society as a whole, when we practice and develop this.


one of our dogs killed one of our chicks when we first got them and i scolded her and she felt really bad and never made a move toward them again. you have to be able to communicate with them and have a strong bond of love in order to move forward in a positive manner. i was very upset and felt bad that it happened, but she is a wonderful dog who takes care of our daughter and protects our home and our animals.

i am sure you can take precautions so it doesn't happen again. with our dogs, our farm is a better place and we couldn't live without them, they contribute too much. i think there is too much harshness in the world and not enough forgiveness and patience and care. we really have to get away from this throw away society attitude and value and honor everyone and not just get rid of someone because we have lost our temper or they are not performing to our satisfaction.

 

x2

 

Very sorry to hear of you loss AND that you are getting rid of the dogs.

Just a note to others, the dogs CAN be trained to leave the chicks alone, but it takes more than a week or two of training, it takes weeks of serious training and it can even be done using training devices if necessary. I have dogs that I have trained so I do have 1st hand knowledge that this does work and they can live in harmony.

 

Given how you seem to feel about them, this seems to be the best course of action for all involved.