Lost a chicken to my dog :(

[jesirose]

I'm very sad, we just finished our coop, just in time to move our girls outside, and today while I was at work our smallest dog who is part terrier got through the fence separating their yard from the garden/chickens, broke into the coop through the hardware cloth, and killed one of my five 6 week old chickens.


We put her in her kennel and tonight my husband is going to reinforce the fence and the coop, not sure what else we can do beyond that. We have no idea where she's getting through the fence.

The other four seem pretty traumatized. Any advice?

 

[countrygirl16]

omg my dog did the same thing but after a while they got over it and i eventually got more chickens and they are fine now and i have seven chickens and two ducks and i get more every summmer maybe you should get more.???

 

[nzpouter]

what sort of training have the dogs and chooks ever have?

 

[jesirose]

what sort of training have the dogs and chooks ever have?

The dog has basic obedience but I hadn't planned on trying to introduce them at all until the chickens were bigger and I could supervise. I thought the fence would keep the dog out.

I meant for the chickens that are left, to make sure they aren't too stressed. Just leave them alone, or anything else?

 

[leadwolf1]

You can try and put them in a dark area to give them time to recover.

 

[jesirose]

You can try and put them in a dark area to give them time to recover.

Ok, they are inside their hen house part of the coop which is dark, they were all huddled up together in a corner.
I had to go back to work but when we get home we want to check them all for any injuries, I wasn't able to check them earlier beyond seeing that they were still alive.

 

[leadwolf1]

You could also offer them some electrolytes and vitamins to help ward off shock.

 

[Kikiriki]

How sad and upsetting for you! I have one dog who lets the chickens ride on his back, but the other I simply won't ever trust with them... The bubble over her head just says "chase! eat!". Ive only had them a week, but I dont believe she will ever get over this.

I thought about training her with a shock collar for about five seconds... Can training overcome instinct? I dont know and dont want to experiment with my new girls lives...

I had an old picket fence that I used as the basis for my wire run and she cant fit through them. The coop and run are under an old oak tree with roots so dense it is impossible to dig more than two inches down anywhere around it. The coop is up on concrete blocks, so any predator that makes in into the run cant get through to the chickens...maybe a small snake could, but from what Ive read on the forum, they would think it was like snack delivery!

Anyway, concrete blocks are cheap, and best of all, dog proof. You could also go with a border of big yard pavers around the perimeter outside which would look nice, too... Good luck!

 

[JiJis hens]

How sad and upsetting for you! I have one dog who lets the chickens ride on his back, but the other I simply won't ever trust with them... The bubble over her head just says "chase! eat!". Ive only had them a week, but I dont believe she will ever get over this.
I thought about training her with a shock collar for about five seconds... Can training overcome instinct? I dont know and dont want to experiment with my new girls lives...
I had an old picket fence that I used as the basis for my wire run and she cant fit through them. The coop and run are under an old oak tree with roots so dense it is impossible to dig more than two inches down anywhere around it. The coop is up on concrete blocks, so any predator that makes in into the run cant get through to the chickens...maybe a small snake could, but from what Ive read on the forum, they would think it was like snack delivery!
Anyway, concrete blocks are cheap, and best of all, dog proof. You could also go with a border of big yard pavers around the perimeter outside which would look nice, too... Good luck!

Please don't use a shock collar on your dog. Use positive reinforcement to train your dogs. The best thing is to keep dogs and chickens apart. Dogs who don't hunt can still snap and it only takes one bite.

 

[Ted n Ms]

A training collar is very poistive reinforcement. I have beagles that i train not to run deer. Before traing collars it was almost impossible to break them. some dogs more poistive reinforcement than others.
My dogs want even look at chicken .