Lost our first chicken

[LittleMissCountry]

Oh NO!
So Sorry.
Tell the owners to keep “Cujo” on their property. One dog acting like that? What the heck!
Makes me wonder what it’d do with screaming and running children. (out playing)
I wouldn’t trust It anywhere's near my property. Be careful

They have one of those underground fences, with the shock collar. Their dog has never gotten out before, and has never been aggressive before. The chickens just set off his instincts, I guess. Luckily our kids were in the house the whole time.

 

[aart]

Run was hardware cloth. The dog barreled through it at a corner, breaking the post. It was a big dog. Even having the apron on the bottom didn't stop him. He broke it where it was nailed to the post.

Any chance you could post pics of the damage?
We all learn things from such catastrophes.
Sorry for your loss, hope your kids are handling it OK.

 

[Mo'sMenagerie]

So sorry for your your loss! Let us know what kind of electric fencing you end up using if you do. Been thinking about getting some of that myself.

AND happy to hear the dog only got one! Yay for the other 3 happy peeps!

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Any chance you could post pics of the damage?
We all learn things from such catastrophes.
Sorry for you loss, hope your kids are handling it OK.

Hubby already fixed it. I can explain, though. To be honest, I know most everyone on here is supportive, but right now I don't think I could handle criticism of what we could have done better, no matter how well intentioned. We did the best we could, and have had no breakins before, even with fox and possum.
Where the dog ran into the hardware cloth, it was the edge of it, where it was nailed to the post. Granted, the posts were only those fairly flimsy ones you get at Lowes that are about 3x3, so that could have been better, but it was what we could afford at the time to expand the run. When the dog rammed into the wire, it broke the post and the wire came free, peeling it down, inward.
We are already planning a better one, just have to save up the money for it. Right now, we used an extra post we had and nailed it back.

 

[cmom]

Hopefully you will never have another predator problem. You may someday want to invest in some electric wire if you have another predator issue and teach the kids not to touch it. Even it they do touch it they will get a shock and learn not to touch it again. My sister bought this one. One thing about the solar fence chargers, the wire has to be kept free of weeds as the weeds will affect the current. I have AC electric. We ran a line to our barn so I have the charger plugged into the barn. AC gives more of a shock and you don't have to deal with a battery. I don't know how much wire you would need. But I would use steel wire. It's harder to use but works better with a solar charger. We have a lot of predators around here but we are rural on a dead end road. I have some game cameras up and see a predator on at least one camera most nights. Here the predators roam around at night. As long as they don't bother my birds, I don't bother them. Good luck and have fun...
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...mile-solar-low-impedance-charger?cm_vc=-10005

A visitor last night.

 

[MissChick@dee]

They have one of those underground fences, with the shock collar. Their dog has never gotten out before, and has never been aggressive before. The chickens just set off his instincts, I guess. Luckily our kids were in the house the whole time.

Oh good!
They seriously need to re-evaluate the time they spend working with this dog.
Showed some true colors.
But... they probably won’t.
If it were my dog it’s “punishment” would be teaching it boundaries. Discipline is different than punishment.
It requires WORK on the owners part.
Just sayin’

 

[MissChick@dee]

Hubby already fixed it. I can explain, though. To be honest, I know most everyone on here is supportive, but right now I don't think I could handle criticism of what we could have done better, no matter how well intentioned. We did the best we could, and have had no breakins before, even with fox and possum.
Where the dog ran into the hardware cloth, it was the edge of it, where it was nailed to the post. Granted, the posts were only those fairly flimsy ones you get at Lowes that are about 3x3, so that could have been better, but it was what we could afford at the time to expand the run. When the dog rammed into the wire, it broke the post and the wire came free, peeling it down, inward.
We are already planning a better one, just have to save up the money for it. Right now, we used an extra post we had and nailed it back.

 

[aart]

Granted, the posts were only those fairly flimsy ones you get at Lowes that are about 3x3, so that could have been better, but it was what we could afford at the time to expand the run. When the dog rammed into the wire, it broke the post and the wire came free, peeling it down, inward.

A dog breaking a 3x3 post is pretty crazy!
Curious for learning purposes, not looking to criticize.

 

[Trish1974]

Does solar-powered electric work at night, I wonder? Hmm....

Yes, solar charged fences work at night. The sun charges the battery during the day and stores energy for use.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

No explanation necessary. You did a good job fencing your birds. You can't plan against every contingency, a dog breaking down posts is .... I mean, you can build to protect from wolves and then a bear comes along. You can only do what you can do. This wasn't your fault. Shtuff happens. . .