Lost my first (and last) bird tonight!! -- And All the Rest Tonite!!

[catdaddy66]

I was about to get on the BYC pages and right away heard a commotion and unmistakeable clucking of a distressed chicken outside the living room window. I know that the chickens are not supposed to be outside the run, so my DSD and DW run outside and I can clearly hear more of the same, while watching my 2 dogs and 2 of the neighbors' dogs running under the porch excitedly. As I try to distract and calm the dogs down while DW gets a flashlight, I hear a strained, gurgling cackle twice...and then silence.

We could not see anything in the dark as we have no working flashlight in the house

but there is little doubt that I have lost a bird, though I do not know which one.

I am currently scheduling my weekend around proofing my coop as the chicken was not supposed to be able to get out in the open

but I can't be all mad at the dogs as they did not go in the coop/run...the bird got OUT of the enclosure! This is also the first lost bird that I/we have experienced since delving into egg production and chicken raising. The chicks were hatched on 2/16/10 and were 10 weeks old. I am ticked at myself for not being more diligent about reinforcing the run and coop sooner, but the work will begin Saturday to rectify the situation. I just hope I can give the chick a proper burial tommorrow once the sun comes up. That is IF the carcass is still there and not picked clean!

Thanks for ketting me vent my frustration and self flagellate a while.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Dont be too hard on yourself.. Even though you made every effort to ensure they wouldnt get out- unless you were a chicken yourself and tried evey way to get out- there was no way of you knowing until it actually happened.

So sorry for your loss

 

[Tala]

get ya a LED maglight and a pair of those mag light clamps --- mount said mag light near the back door lightswitch (actually I have one in my bedroom too) so you can always find your bright light in a chicken emergency!

 

[lisa lisk]

Oh I am sorry. I have had that happen also. I would not want a dog that kills chickens. I live in the county so I let mine out. My cat chases them but my dog just looks at them like she is thinking why are they in my yard? take care lisa

 

[catdaddy66]

Thanks so much...I was doing well earlier today after thinking about what to do to protect them better. That led me to budget time to make the area much safer for them and secure from both sides. I wanted to start Saturday but DSD called me at about 5 pm today at work to tell me ALL 29 remaining chickens were dead in my run!!!

It seems that the birds had gotten out of the coop and my 2 dogs plus 2 of the neighbors' had blood and feathers on them...caught in the act!

I have burned their carcasses tonight, including my favorite one, Honcho, our only certain rooster!

I do still have our 4 Easter Eggers that were in another coop... I do plan on getting more but not so many next time! The REAL dilemma is what to do with the dogs...pound? rehome?? or the pistol my wife has!? That last one was exaggeration, though not by much.

 

[NurseELB]

Oh, I am SO sorry. Don't let this be the end! fix that coop and run and go get thee some Chickies!

 

[heritagebirds]

So sorry, that is horrible! Wish I could say something, but that would just make me soooo mad.

 

[equine chick]

I've been there, about 18 months ago lost over 60 birds to a predator including my ducks. This year I started over, you can't really blame yourself and it happens but you go on and try to do things better.

 

[teach1rusl]

So ALL of your chickens got out of the run??? Those poor things!

Definitely cover your run so something like that doesn't happen again (if that's how they got out???). I'm not sure about the dogs. I think training them to be around your chickens would be next to impossible at this point. So you either need to create a Fort Knox coop or rehome your dogs.

 

[catdaddy66]

Quote:
The facts of the situation are not 100% clear to me as I was at work today when it happened. My DW and DSD saw the birds after being killed and the dogs w/ evidence of their participation. I know all of the bodies were IN the run, so somehow they (chickens) got out under the coop door which was latched closed as always. Then they had to get IN the run which had the opening covered w/ a pallet, but only set against it, not secured. Wind may have blown it over and when the birds got out they may have gone straight to the run where they felt comfortable. I think at that point it was found to be open by a dog and the rest followed. Only supposition, but it is possible and logical. My family heard NO commotion or noise and just happened upon the tail end of the carnage as they went outside for another reason.

Thank you all for your kind words and suggestions...oh and the run is covered. It seems the coop door and run door were not, though.