Looking for some reassurance. My flock has been destroyed!

[LaynaDon95]

Well, we have it all pretty much sorted out, I just need to reassurance from those who have lost lots of chickens before. I woke up this morning in a panic. I had just had a dream that my dog had killed all my chickens (which she has never tried to do) and was kinda freaking out. I ran outside to see if they were okay, and this may sound weird but I just knew they were gonna be dead. I went outside and saw the coop door was cracked open (I had forgotten to lock them up, but it usually isn't a big deal. We've never, ever had predator problems before.) I ran up and saw feathers everywhere! I saw a few dead chickens and immediately started into a hysterical fit. I went into the coop, saw 2 or 3 live chickens and more and more feathers and dead chickens. I knew it hadn't been my dog because she had been locked in the inner gate, and for the most part she's very good with chickens. I also knew who's dog it was because she had been here before and tried to dig into one of the chickens tractors and eat my chicks. Long story short, it was a pack of the neighborhood dogs. My neighbor (who's dog was not part of the guilty party) had seen them in my yard, but hadn't noticed they had killed so many. She chased them from my yard. (special thanks to her) I've been up since 7:45 now and only just finished sorting it out, cleaning it up, doctoring injured birds, killing too badly injured birds. It was dreadful. We have talked to the neighbors. 1 is rehoming their dog, 1 has chained up their dogs (we'll see how long that lasts), and the other has don nothing as far as I know to restrain his dogs. They have all said they will pay for their share of the damages and we are working on getting together their "bills" now. They killed so many of my chickens. They ripped up wire, bent up a fence. My poor flock, or what's left of it rather, is just now recovering from shock. I still have a few I'm not sure about whether or not will make it.

Have any of you had similar experiences? Was it really as awful as it seems now? :\

 

[Barred Rock Caf]

I can only imagine the horror that you have gone through. I have lost none, but know that I have done my best to allow the chickens I have a pleasant enough and as much protection as is feasible. You have my condolences for your losses. The dog owners, if a leash law or other ordinances exist, are fully responsible for the actions of their pets. Even the seemingly complacent dog owner has responsibility for restitution. Again, I'm very sorry your flock and their facilities took such a tremendous hit.

 

[theoldchick]

How traumatic! Mercy, I'm sure 90 percent of us on here have gone through the same thing. Years ago I had a fox get into one of my coops. Located near the bedroom window, I heard the fiasco and went outside to see a fox still in the pen with a chicken in his mouth. My favorite hen. I slammed the fox's head with a shovel and he dropped the hen. By this time the husband came running out with a .22 and took care of the fox.

Amazing the hen was still alive and survived. Of course the fox did not. But as I buried the creature I noticed he was very, very old. Teeth were worn and the eyes were clouded.

And to be perfectly honest, I've had more problems with 'feral' dogs than foxes. The second fox to raid my coop had a fractured front leg. It couldn't get into the coop and ran in the pen with leg flopping about. She was disposed of and buried. Ain't no telling how many dogs we have dispatched.

Sometimes having chickens is not easy. We all have had to start over. We learn from our mistakes and try again.

 

[sourland]

Once while we were on vacation a dog entered our yard and killed 40 + chickens. Our pet sitter arrived to find the carnage, caught the dog and called our AC officer. The dog was a repeat offender - not the dogs fault . The problem was the owners who refused to restrain him. The dog was rehomed, and I regrouped. Luckily I did not have to view the slaughter. So very sorry that this happened to your flock. I would go on record with your AC officer about this. Any dogs that took part in the 'fun' will eventually return.

 

[songbird]

Aw, I am so sorry you are having to go through this. I had a similar experience in which I had a dream, woke up, went out to the coop and found I had forgotten to lock the pen, and was greeted by a big fat silvery raccoon.
We just returned from vacation yesterday, and I found two chickens missing. Turns out it was the dogs next door. The only difference is that I don't know if the beagles came in my yard (I did find a pile of feathers from one of the hens in my yard where she obviously had been attacked) or whether the hens were in the neighbor's yard, in which case, I can't blame the dogs or owners.
You must be completely in shock now. What you are going through is sickening and heartbreaking. I know if I were in your shoes, I would be thinking I can't do the "chicken thing" anymore. You will always remember this, but in time, the pain will soften around the edges and you might be ready to raise up another set of little fuzzballs. Chickens are the greatest things...no matter what, they can always bring me a smile. The rooster I just lost was the funniest and sweetest goof ever. There will never be another like him, but I guess the others will still make me smile. Hang in there. You are not alone.

 

[tdhenson86]

I'm so sorry that you experienced that! It can be quite traumatic to lose your animals. It's strange how sometimes we have that sense that something is wrong and come to find out that our fears are realized. One night we had a raccoon family kill $600 worth of our birds just for fun. They didn't eat them or anything, just killed them all. I do not know exactly what you're feeling, but I can relate on some level. I truly hope those birds that made it survive the stress of it all and bounce back well! Good luck with everything!

 

[LaynaDon95]

You have my condolences for your losses. The dog owners, if a leash law or other ordinances exist, are fully responsible for the actions of their pets. Even the seemingly complacent dog owner has responsibility for restitution.

We live out where there is no leash law, but they still owe use for what their dogs did. We could charge them for the fencing they messed up, but we aren't going to. I'm upset that they were irresponsible with their dogs, especially as we already went and talked to one of the dog's owners last week. I know they didn't intentionally set their dogs on our chickens or anything, so there are no hard feelings and there will never be any if they keep their dogs out of my yard and pay their share. I plan to handle this like civil neighbors. As long as they take care of their end of things, it'll be fine. I said earlier "Chicken slaughter 2012. We will rebuild." =P My chickens are very dear to me. I love watching them and know/knew each of their personalities. I raised most of them from chicks I had hatched myself. I watched them grow from yolk to laying hen and it is very devastating to have lost them and all the work and money put into them. But we'll be okay.

How traumatic! Mercy, I'm sure 90 percent of us on here have gone through the same thing. Years ago I had a fox get into one of my coops. Located near the bedroom window, I heard the fiasco and went outside to see a fox still in the pen with a chicken in his mouth. My favorite hen. I slammed the fox's head with a shovel and he dropped the hen. By this time the husband came running out with a .22 and took care of the fox.

Amazing the hen was still alive and survived. Of course the fox did not. But as I buried the creature I noticed he was very, very old. Teeth were worn and the eyes were clouded.

And to be perfectly honest, I've had more problems with 'feral' dogs than foxes. The second fox to raid my coop had a fractured front leg. It couldn't get into the coop and ran in the pen with leg flopping about. She was disposed of and buried. Ain't no telling how many dogs we have dispatched.

Sometimes having chickens is not easy. We all have had to start over. We learn from our mistakes and try again.

Oh dear! You hit a fox with a shovel?! Your a better woman than me. =P I'm glad your hen was okay. As far as dispatching dogs, we've told the neighbors that if their dogs come into our yard again they will be shot. Period. (I can't remember if I've said this already on this thread. I'm talking to so many people I can't keep track of who've I've told what to.) We will not be patient with them again. They are dead meat if I ever catch them here again.

Once while we were on vacation a dog entered our yard and killed 40 + chickens. Our pet sitter arrived to find the carnage, caught the dog and called our AC officer. The dog was a repeat offender - not the dogs fault . The problem was the owners who refused to restrain him. The dog was rehomed, and I regrouped. Luckily I did not have to view the slaughter. So very sorry that this happened to your flock. I would go on record with your AC officer about this. Any dogs that took part in the 'fun' will eventually return.

We will be calling the sheriff's office if anyone refuses to pay. We may even call tomorrow just to let them know what's going on so that they have a head's up. Especially if we end up having to shoot the dog(s). We have lots of pictures and will be making copies of anything we have to send them. I just hope we don't have any more problems. We know they will return. We fully expect them to let their dogs loose again and for the dogs to come back. They have never kept their dogs locked up like they should. The one being rehomed should be okay. We brought the owners to our house to show them what their dog had done. The woman (it was a couple) kept apologizing and told me she had raised quail and rabbits when she was younger and a neighbor dog had come one night and destroyed them all. She said she understood how I felt and would pay for anything and do whatever she needed to make it right. She said Lady (their dog) would be kept inside until they could find her a new home. I really appreciated her. I believe they will do their best to make it right, like she said. We are going to keep a gun close to the back door so that if (when) the other dogs come back we will be ready and I'll make double sure I lock the chickens up from now on.

Aw, I am so sorry you are having to go through this. I had a similar experience in which I had a dream, woke up, went out to the coop and found I had forgotten to lock the pen, and was greeted by a big fat silvery raccoon.
We just returned from vacation yesterday, and I found two chickens missing. Turns out it was the dogs next door. The only difference is that I don't know if the beagles came in my yard (I did find a pile of feathers from one of the hens in my yard where she obviously had been attacked) or whether the hens were in the neighbor's yard, in which case, I can't blame the dogs or owners.
You must be completely in shock now. What you are going through is sickening and heartbreaking. I know if I were in your shoes, I would be thinking I can't do the "chicken thing" anymore. You will always remember this, but in time, the pain will soften around the edges and you might be ready to raise up another set of little fuzzballs. Chickens are the greatest things...no matter what, they can always bring me a smile. The rooster I just lost was the funniest and sweetest goof ever. There will never be another like him, but I guess the others will still make me smile. Hang in there. You are not alone.

I do love my chickens and of course I'm upset, but my friends have already offered fertile eggs, chickens, chicks, incubators, etc. Hopefully we will be able to recover soon. I'll also use some for the money we get from the dog owners to order some chicks.

I appreciate all your encouragement. Of course my family and friends have encouraged me as well, but I guess I just really needed to hear it from other chicken owners. This is really stressful and sad. It makes me feel better to hear your stories and see you still have a flock. Misery loves company I guess. =P One of the worst parts was my dog just sat there and watched them rip my flock to shreds and didn't do a thing! She didn't bark, she didn't whine. What in the world?! I'm looking at another dog next weekend (I hope) so that mine has a friend. Maybe he will at least whimper if he sees other dogs on our property. :\ Maggie was probably just sitting there like "Whatcha doin' guys? That sure looks fun! Wanna play? Play with me!"

Useless thing.

 

[LaynaDon95]

I'm so sorry that you experienced that! It can be quite traumatic to lose your animals. It's strange how sometimes we have that sense that something is wrong and come to find out that our fears are realized. One night we had a raccoon family kill $600 worth of our birds just for fun. They didn't eat them or anything, just killed them all. I do not know exactly what you're feeling, but I can relate on some level. I truly hope those birds that made it survive the stress of it all and bounce back well! Good luck with everything!

Oh, no! That's horrible! The dogs killed most of ours for fun as well. They only ate 1 (well, most of it) out of the 15 they killed. They just chased 'em, killed 'em, decided they weren't fun anymore and moved on to another. The healing ones are perking up. I hope they make it through the night. I also really hope they don't get infections in the wounds the dogs left. We had to use steri strips and super glue on some of them because the dogs basically skinned parts of them. Others had puncture wounds. which reminds me.
Here are some pics of my healing birds:
One of my younger RIR roosters. He has a few places we had to glue back together and steri strip. He looks like he'll be okay as long as he doesn't get an infection.




My 4 injured hens, perking up. They went through a gallon of electrolyte/vitamin water in about an hour. I guess they were thirsty...



On a funnier note, here is my obnoxious (soon to be stew) rooster without his big pretty tail feathers. He's so funny looking now! Poor thing though, we found his feathers in three different piles in totally different places in the yard. They apparently tried to catch him multiple times, but he was mean enough to get away, almost unscathed. But he sure is funny looking!

 

[centrarchid]

So LaynaDon95, what are your plans for enhancing your confinement system to protect birds?

 

[LaynaDon95]

Well, #1 is to actually lock their coop at night. That's a good start. =P I wouldn't have lost near so many, maybe none at all if I had locked them up last night.
#2 We are locking the driveway gate at night now, which we haven't done before. That leaves a complete fence around our entire property, so the dogs will have to dig in or jump over to get to any of our yard at all. (Which they could do if they wanted to, but it's better than leaving them a nice, wide, inviting path into out yard.)
#3 doesn't really apply to the animals, but to their owners. We have posted a sign on our front gate saying to keep your pets off our property because we will protect our poultry with deadly force.
#4 Only half of my coop has apron fencing (One of my chicks got out and disappeared, so I put apron fencing around that half. I have my coop divided) so I'll probably put apron fencing on the other side as well. They have never tried to dig into the coop, but they have tried multiple times to dig under tractors.
#5 Shoot any and every dog found without permission on our property. No more playing around with chasing them away, spraying them with a hose, bb guns... No. Dead. Yes.