Know what it's like. To loose chickens, and own the predators. Read on

[chickfillhay]

I can more than feel for you. See, I have been on both sides of the fence myself. Two days after I got some of the most georgous bantams and frizzles they were all gone. In one night. All I had left was a bunch of feathers and only one little chicken body. Had it not been for that I would have never known they were attacked. I hoped they wandered off somewhere. Anyway. As it turned out the culprits were dogs!What I didn't know at the time is that it was my own dogs. Both labs. Soon after my chickens were slaughtered my neighborhood started loosing their own chickens too! It didn't take long to realize that my dogs had become chicken hounds and needed to go! But not before my neighbor sent me a bill for $800.00. The cost of the pen, to replace it and the French chickens. I wasted no time paying her. And sending the dogs off to the pound. My kids were saddened but I'd rather lose the dogs than have chicken hounds! Anyway even after paying her without any arguments she was still nasty about it all. I understand her loss because I experienced a triple loss in all this too. (chickens/dogs/$$$) But she still rudely called me back the next morning (KNOWING THE DOGS WERE GONE) to "make sure I got rid of them. What a louse. MEAN PEOPLE STINK! I spoke to the other neighbors all who agreed, in this area it is common to have dogs loose and this is a risk we take with owning chickens. They were much more reasonable. I am glad that now I can (and do) have chickens again. And my other two dogs could care less that they are here. Because of my two dogs at home other dogs do not enter the property. I don't know if other chickens are getting killed by other dogs or predators. Other than hawks. I am heartbroken about my chickens. And the dogs. Ivanna was a really great yellow lab until she got a taste for those darn chickens. I miss them all and think about them all the time.
Now I have some RIR's just a few. Started with 3 and now one of the hens had 12 chicks. But because of a new predator. (HAWKS) I am down to six. With another pile of eggs in the nest waiting to hatch. I will post pix. Mom is beautiful!

 

[seedcorn]

I feel your loss as I've had my own dog kill my own chickens before. It took a lot of patience to retrain them--altho my kids will tell you I have NO PATIENCE. Now I can take my beagle mix anywhere there are chickens and he'll look but never touch. Same w/terrier and border collie mix we had.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Thanks for your story, Chickfillhay...
YOY did the right thing with paying for the losses...most folks don't think it's their dogs even when they come home with the evidence.
As for the one who doesn't believe you, tell her to call the pound! She seems to be being unreasonable.

I'm sorry you lost your own birds too. My neighbour has a GSP that almost got one of my birds and I pegged him off the head with a rock...he stayed out of my yard for the longest time.
There's a gentleman on another site who's Husky took out his whole lot of Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. And those were beautiful birds that he was breeding to sell...