I am so angry I was not careful enough

[wamtazlady]

Lost 2 of my birds yesterday, a hen and my rooster. This area has a lot of predators. After a few rebuilds on the coop I made it predator proof, except for a bear if a bear would want in it. Coop has a run that has a roof and a 3 foot hardware cloth apron. Yesterday a neighbor was here. Her son's dog knew where she had gone and came over. I didn't think much of it. The dog is very calm, had been here once before, and he was raised around chickens. I let him go out into the yard. The chickens are let out around 6 in the evenings to they can have some free range time and locked up at 9. Yard has a 5 foot fence around it.

I went outside to put the chickens in and was met with a yard covered in feathers. The Leghorn lost 2/3 of her feathers but she is alive. She made it back to the safety of the coop. The Speckled Sussex had little damage. We found her on the porch behind a piIe of wood. Found my poor EE hiding next to the fence and behind a lilac bush where she thought she might be safe but she was dead. Randy the rooster is gone. Did not see any of his feathers in the yard. There is some hope that he made it over the 5 foot fence and is hiding. Had a neighbor's herding dog that has often herded the chickens back into the coop for me look through the bushes and tall grass. She could not locate the rooster at all. She's a good girl and actually found the EE for me.

I trusted that a dog that was used to chickens would be okay with my chickens. I thought wrong.

Over the years I have dealt with the loss of my birds. This I did not expect. I thought I had done everything I could to keep them safe. Just made the one bad decision to let a dog that had only been to my house once before go out into the yard when the chickens were out. Other neighbor dogs have been in the yard without a problem and have never messed with the chickens. Anyway, this is a remind to myself that there is always room to be more careful.

 

[wamtazlady]

I do have some good news. I kept the herding dog here for the night just in case I needed her. Let her out this morning and she started to bark and bark which is not normal for her. Told her to "show me" and she led me to the rooster. He was outside the fence. I opened the gate and told her to get him and she did!! She is a great herding dog. Randy is now locked up in the run with his remaining hens.

 

[wamtazlady]

Are you going to hatch more birds or keep your flock at 3 .

First time I did that a hen hatched 10 eggs I got 8 pullets. Second time she had 7 cockerels. I don't want to take that chance. Found an ad on Craigslist. Someone has 15 week old Mystic Marans, 15 week old barnyard mixes, and 19 week old Buff Orpingtons. The Marans and BO are $20 and the mixes are $10. That's not bad for chickens that will be laying in a few weeks. I'll pick up 2 or 3 birds. At least first year pullets will lay probably lay through the winter.

 

[dennisma1]

I am so sorry. My neighbors Malamute jumped my fence once and killed a few hens and wounded another. They never even apologized. Still hate them. I hope you find your missing bird. If you didn't find a corpse or feathers good chance she is hiding. That did happen to me once when I'd given up hope, I finally heard a peep, she was hiding in a nest box.

 

[wamtazlady]

I'm so sorry. Are you certain it was that dog?

Foxes are our biggest predator around here. Every time a fox has gotten a chicken I find one pile of feathers and no bird. The other birds have not been bothered. This time the Leghorn was stripped of the majority of her feathers without being killed. Another hen also lost feathers. There were feathers scattered all over the yard. It looked as if an animal had fun chasing and plucking chickens.

I also bought cameras to keep an eye on everything in the backyard. Unfortunately my son had unplugged them a few days ago to use for one of his projects. However, for the past year and a half there has never been a predator seen in the yard. I do have the cameras plugged back in now, and told son that he has to plug them back in when he is done doing his things.

 

[wamtazlady]

I’m so sorry about your two birds!
How many birds are left?

I have 3 hens left. The Leghorn looks terrible and probably won't be laying for some time. The Speckled Sussex lost few feathers but she is rather traumatized. The only one who did not get hurt was my Rhode Island Red that is broody and was sitting in the coop on an empty nest so she is fine.

 

[Matejka]

Everything likes chicken.. many times, dogs see chickens as fluffy play toys, other times as food. I NEVER trust any animal around chickens.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

I'm so sorry. Are you certain it was that dog?

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I had some chickens free ranging once, and a neighbors dog got out and attacked an Australorp named Jasmine. She luckily made it through, despite nerve damage and almost being put down by the vet. I am now very careful with dogs and chickens.

One of my dogs, a mini poodle named Oliver, is fine with all the chickens except for the silkies. I guess the silkies just confuse him a bit.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm sorry too. Have you spoken to the owner of the dog? If it were my dog, I would want to know, and would offer to pay for replacement hens. I would REALLY want to know that my dog is not to be trusted around chickens! You'd be doing her a favor, even if she doesn't offer to make it right.