Happy day friends!
Like many other people here, I let my girls free range in the evenings whenever *I can be with outside with them*. This morning I received a real life reality check that has left me going back and forth in my mind all day. My cockerels and roosters free range during the day because in all honesty, I have too many. Whenever I have my girls out free ranging, the boys go up. This morning, like all mornings I went around opening coops and letting the boys out. Then I went to the other side of the property to the duck house which sits on the bank of the pond. I walk each duck to my fenced in yard and I was coming back for the third duck. I noticed the wild Mallard pair and Canada Geese pair both seemed startled and quickly swimming to the center of the pond. Then I heard the commotion of two large basset hounds that belong to a neighbor playfully running over to see me. They looked at the ducks and geese on the pond and then raced off to where my chickens are (my boys are out and running around). I locked the duck house back and ran after them even though I was WAY behind them. I could hear chickens screaming. I started screaming and trying to figure out what to do. My first thought was a Waterhouse but not a single one of my hoses will work the entire area of chickens. So I grabbed a small plastic rake and continued screaming and running. Each of them focused on my two Silkie Roosters and went in opposite directions. I had to make a split second decision and decided to go after my sweet and beloved Blue. Zane is a lot larger than Blue and Zane is a jerk. That dog chased Blue all the way down to the pond where it was obvious that Blue was getting exhausted and contemplating on jumping in the pond. He finally realized that I was behind them and calling his name so he ran to me and just stopped. The dog mouthed him once or twice before I was able to snatch him up but thankfully the dog was being extremely gentle. I know that even gentle dogs can and have killed chickens even though they were probably only playing, so the probable intentions of the dogs isn't relevant. In the end, Blue is ok and Zane escaped and was missing for about 2 hours but returned and is fine. Other than the different appearance of Silkies, I'm not sure why the dogs focused in on those two. They had several free ranging boys to choose from but maybe the Silkies were the easiest targets.
What could I have done differently? Yesterday, I thought that I had some control over something like this happening but now I see that I was completely mistaken! My Dad purchased a shotgun for me to deal with the 2 foxes that have a den nearby, but other than electric fencing, are there other precautions I can take to address a similar situation should one arise in the future? I was going to order a cattle prod but I'm not sure how well that would work. I understand that anytime I choose to free range, there's a risk. The neighbors and their dogs are very friendly, so I don't want to kill them. I'm just hoping someone can help me figure out something that I could have done differently. I am looking into some hot wire because I know they'll be back. Thank you for your time and anything you can share.
Like many other people here, I let my girls free range in the evenings whenever *I can be with outside with them*. This morning I received a real life reality check that has left me going back and forth in my mind all day. My cockerels and roosters free range during the day because in all honesty, I have too many. Whenever I have my girls out free ranging, the boys go up. This morning, like all mornings I went around opening coops and letting the boys out. Then I went to the other side of the property to the duck house which sits on the bank of the pond. I walk each duck to my fenced in yard and I was coming back for the third duck. I noticed the wild Mallard pair and Canada Geese pair both seemed startled and quickly swimming to the center of the pond. Then I heard the commotion of two large basset hounds that belong to a neighbor playfully running over to see me. They looked at the ducks and geese on the pond and then raced off to where my chickens are (my boys are out and running around). I locked the duck house back and ran after them even though I was WAY behind them. I could hear chickens screaming. I started screaming and trying to figure out what to do. My first thought was a Waterhouse but not a single one of my hoses will work the entire area of chickens. So I grabbed a small plastic rake and continued screaming and running. Each of them focused on my two Silkie Roosters and went in opposite directions. I had to make a split second decision and decided to go after my sweet and beloved Blue. Zane is a lot larger than Blue and Zane is a jerk. That dog chased Blue all the way down to the pond where it was obvious that Blue was getting exhausted and contemplating on jumping in the pond. He finally realized that I was behind them and calling his name so he ran to me and just stopped. The dog mouthed him once or twice before I was able to snatch him up but thankfully the dog was being extremely gentle. I know that even gentle dogs can and have killed chickens even though they were probably only playing, so the probable intentions of the dogs isn't relevant. In the end, Blue is ok and Zane escaped and was missing for about 2 hours but returned and is fine. Other than the different appearance of Silkies, I'm not sure why the dogs focused in on those two. They had several free ranging boys to choose from but maybe the Silkies were the easiest targets.
What could I have done differently? Yesterday, I thought that I had some control over something like this happening but now I see that I was completely mistaken! My Dad purchased a shotgun for me to deal with the 2 foxes that have a den nearby, but other than electric fencing, are there other precautions I can take to address a similar situation should one arise in the future? I was going to order a cattle prod but I'm not sure how well that would work. I understand that anytime I choose to free range, there's a risk. The neighbors and their dogs are very friendly, so I don't want to kill them. I'm just hoping someone can help me figure out something that I could have done differently. I am looking into some hot wire because I know they'll be back. Thank you for your time and anything you can share.
