Lost two birds today...due to one of our dogs

[ghigbee]

I hate to hear about your loss. I went through a similar experience a while back. I had twenty Salmon Marans that I'd bought through a local auction and a dozen Cuckoo Marans that I'd bought through a local breeder all in a 6 foot round water trough. The trough was in my detached garage behind the house and I always keep the door closed. Anyway, I was working on my coop behind the garage when I heard my wife yelling for me. I came around the garage to find our Yorkie chasing my Golden Laced Polish hen. Then hen was trying to get through a fence which keeps our 3 Great Danes contained and my wife was in the Dane pen frantically trying to keep the hen out. I got the hen and put her back down by the barn with the other hens and roosters. She was out of breath and terrified, hiding her head in the crook of my arm. None of our dogs had ever chased the chickens before that I know of anyway.

Later, I had to go to town and when I came back home my wife told me she couldn't find the Yorkie. I went down to the barn thinking she had gone down there and was killing my chickens. I didn't find her and headed back to the garage. When I got to the water trough, I found that the Yorkie, who is only about 4 lbs, had somehow gotten into the trough which has walls that are at least 2 feet tall, with my chicks and killed 11 of my Cuckoos and 6 of my Salmons. I was furious at the dog and heart broken at loosing my chicks!

We still have the surviving chicks, about 8 weeks old now, and the Yorkie. Needless to say I am hyper vigilant about keeping all the dogs away from the chickens, especially any chicks I'm raising.