Hen found dead next to egg

[Jordan01]

All 3 of my girls were killed by a dog allowed to roam in my neighborhood. After everything I went to where I found their bodies and found an egg right where one was killed, it had a soft shell. Did she lay it right before or after she died? I can't find any info on this. I know it wasn't ripped out by the dog as her body wasn't in that bad of shape. And yes, we are suing the dog owner.

 

[Ajd1126]

I have no real direct answer to this, because I don’t know for certain, but my educated guess is that that egg is tomorrow’s egg, it just didn’t have it’s shell applied yet. It’s possible that the dog squeezed it out of her.

 

[Coops Dad]

I don't have an answer for the provenance of the egg but I dealt with a neighbor's dog coming over to kill our chickens. It made four incursions into our land and killed a total of 18 hens and one rooster. I contacted the owner after every attack and he'd apologize profusely, promise to keep his dog on his land, and make restitution for the dead birds.
After the fourth attack, I told him his dog would be shot if it came on our land, and I wanted payment for the flock immediately. I gave him a list of the breeds, sex and ages of the chickens and told him to research how much replacement would cost. He texted that he checked and TSC sold chicks for $4 or $5 each. I sent him a link to Craigslist ads where layers coming into production start @$20-$25 each.
He paid. He also put an invisibyfence and shock collar on the dog, and it's worked so far. He also has a very clear understanding that I will kill his dog if it comes back.
In the legal world, animals have replacement value only; there's no sentimental value, just what it would cost to replace the chickens with like kind. That's why my neighbor couldn't expect me to accept $5 each for my 6 month to 1 year old hens.
Have you spoken to the dog's owner and tried to get him to pay to replace your chickens? If you take him to court, be ready to prove your losses by citing the cost to replace the breed/sex/age of the birds that were killed.

 

[DouglasB]

All 3 of my girls were killed by a dog allowed to roam in my neighborhood. After everything I went to where I found their bodies and found an egg right where one was killed, it had a soft shell. Did she lay it right before or after she died? I can't find any info on this. I know it wasn't ripped out by the dog as her body wasn't in that bad of shape. And yes, we are suing the dog owner.

Were these free range birds or in a coop and run.