Lost one of my silkies last night to the dogs.

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danceswithronin

danceswithronin

Crowing
May 24, 2018
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Alabama
It was my fault, I was rushing through taking care of all the animals last night before I left for a massage appointment and didn't secure the gate behind me. Then I didn't think to check it when I got home later that night either.

I went out to feed the dogs this morning and one of my silkies was lying dead on the back porch. The dogs knew they'd done something bad because they looked INCREDIBLY guilty before I even started raising hell at them about it. Luckily the other three chickens seemed to be none the worse for wear and came out for food like usual - one has been sitting a nest and was probably never in danger. I think they probably ran up into the coop where the dogs couldn't reach them. The whole chicken run is full of feathers.

I feel so terrible that the chicken was scared and hurt because I neglected one of my most basic duties towards them. :( I'll double-check the other chickens tonight when I have more time to examine them and make sure they weren't injured, though they are acting perfectly normal (if a little skittish).

I'll obviously be a lot more paranoid about making sure the run is secure in the future. I'm currently planning on framing in the entire run and installing an aviary net around it anyway when I build out a new bigger coop for my chickens.

RIP Short Round

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danceswithronin said:
It was my fault, I was rushing through taking care of all the animals last night before I left for a massage appointment and didn't secure the gate behind me. Then I didn't think to check it when I got home later that night either.

I went out to feed the dogs this morning and one of my silkies was lying dead on the back porch. The dogs knew they'd done something bad because they looked INCREDIBLY guilty before I even started raising hell at them about it. Luckily the other three chickens seemed to be none the worse for wear and came out for food like usual - one has been sitting a nest and was probably never in danger. I think they probably ran up into the coop where the dogs couldn't reach them. The whole chicken run is full of feathers.

I feel so terrible that the chicken was scared and hurt because I neglected one of my most basic duties towards them. :( I'll double-check the other chickens tonight when I have more time to examine them and make sure they weren't injured, though they are acting perfectly normal (if a little skittish).

I'll obviously be a lot more paranoid about making sure the run is secure in the future. I'm currently planning on framing in the entire run and installing an aviary net around it anyway when I build out a new bigger coop for my chickens.

RIP Short Round

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Oh, I'm sorry! :*(
 
featherhead007 said:
I know the pain of losing one of our feathered friends. It's heartbreaking, I suggest just to think of it as a learning experience, because animals will do what animals do. It's natural. RIP Short Round.
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This is the way I'm trying to look at it. Dogs will be dogs. I'm not mad at my dogs for doing what dogs naturally do, which is hunt and kill small prey animals. I have a Shih-Tzu/Jack Russell mix, a Yorkshire terrier, and a golden retriever - all aged 10-17. They're not malicious animals - they're really good, gentle dogs - and have not actively hunted the chickens, tried to break into the pen, or messed with them in any way minus one incident last fall where my White Rock rooster hopped the fence and got mauled a little (he had a full recovery though with no serious injuries, they just sprained his leg). They've never been around chickens until last summer so I feel like overall they've done really well. This was just too much temptation for them.

From what I can tell based on the loose feathers in the yard/run, Short Round probably escaped through the open fence to go and free range some forbidden grass near my rose garden(they've scratched up all the grass in their run so I have to hand-feed them big piles of weeds every day), one of the dogs spotted her and chased her back into the run, caught her there, and dragged her back out into the yard. I think the initial chaos scared the other chickens up into the top of the coop where they were safe, and my broody hen probably never even left the nest during the whole fiasco.

For a small silver lining at least, I got in contact with somebody local that has silver-laced Orpington chicks for sale right now, so I'm going to try and meet up with them tonight and add a chick to the four chicks I already have in the brooder to replace Short Round. I've always wanted an Orp and I missed out on my silver-laced chick during my last hatchery order (because there was a hatching failure for the silver-laced Polish I ordered) so it was kind of serendipitous I was able to find one available so close and in such quick order.

I count myself lucky the rest of the chickens are safe since the dogs had access to them all night, once I saw Short Round dead on the back porch I was sure the others would be scattered dead across the rest of the yard, was pleasantly surprised to see them alive.
 
featherhead007 said:
But..... I'm sad about Short Round. Cute little chick
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Yeah me too. I raised them from a day old and handled them every single day. Short Round was one of my friendliest chickens. They're definitely more pets to me than anything else and I made sure they were handled daily.

I'm still pissed at my dogs even though it's not technically their fault. I said I wasn't mad, but apparently that is not the case. Seeing them when I got home from work pissed me off at them all over again. It's storming here and normally I'd let them in the garage, but their privileges have been revoked for the evening. They can hang out under the back porch awning, watch it rain, and think about what they did.

I only wish I had a picture of her as an adult. :( All my photos of her are baby pictures.
 
I do totally understand how you feel, and the dogs will just have to be patient! It's time to mourn the loss, and plan how to secure that coop a little more maybe? Enjoy your new arrivals when they come. :)
 

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