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

[ALLcoopedUP]

Aw I really feel for you. I can't begin to imagine what it would feel like.........

I have 2 dogs, neither of which I would trust 100% to go near my birds. One has the free roam of most of the garden which is secure with high fences & locked gates to keep our dogs in - other dogs, foxes etc, out.
The other has to be kept in his yard/kennel as I would never trust him - we are sure he was a discarded mongrel hunting dog. He gets loads of walks, is older and is happy with his lot. But the killer instinct may just be in him, we rescued him many years before we ever considered getting chickens - so my birds will stay behind fences and double bolted doors.
My coop & run is fully enclosed with a skirt, the door secured with 2 bolts and is on a lawn which has electic wire around although it is never switched on now, it used to be, to stop the dogs digging and killing all the flowers, so now the dogs won't go near it. We have a lawn area all around the coop and when a hen did escape through the open door (oops!

it was the first week I had them, I was trying to get a hen up to roost as she was being stubborn, the lad & later to be broody hen had gone up on their own like good little chooks but she was determined to sleep on her own on the ground

) I had time to chase her across the lawn, yell at the dog to leave it, and alert DH! The dog wouldn't cross the wire, the chicken didn't fancy taking on the dog and ran back towards the coop! Boy did I yell! The whole neighborhood must have heard me! DH came over to investigate - and together we got her safely back in.

Not sure she'd ever risk going through that door again!

 

[ChickenMama18]

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Thank you!!!!!!!!

 

[ChickenMama18]

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Glad that worked out! Whew!

 

[stina3246]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my Rooster Rocky to my 2 dogs. They had all lived together in harmony for 4 years and then 1 day....I have NO idea what happened but they killed him. He was still alive when I found them playing tug of war with him and we rushed him to the vet but he didn't make it. I cried for WEEKS over that stupid rooster! I have 3 chicks now to fill the hole he left but they now have a completely seperate run that the dogs can't get near.

 

[Serrin]

Every time I hear of a family dog attacking their own chickens, I count my blessings one more time that Jasper loves the chickens. As far as HE is concerned, those are HIS babies! I just get to play with them with HIS permission!

I'm so sorry for your loss. I too have lost beloved girls to a neighborhood mutt. There are actually three of them that sometimes run in a pack, and sometimes run alone. The family that owns them have been put on notice by Animal Control Services. One more complaint and the dogs are history!

The problem is that the grandfather is senile and lets the dogs out without telling anyone. And then the dogs are free to run without human supervision. It's a recipe for disaster for our neighborhood. Which is why none of us can let our chickens free range without supervision. And that makes for shorter free range time than we'd like to see our birds have. Part of me prays for that third strike on these dogs. But not at the expense of one of ours or our neighbors chickens.

 

[ChickenMama18]

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Wow! Are you kidding me?

Dogs will be dogs...we need to understand and respect that. I really don't blame my dog, she's a terrier and bred for it. But it is so hard because I loved those birds so much. You must have been mortified to come out to see that!!! I'm so sorry. I hope the chicks help fill the gap.

 

[FeatherMommy]

oh I am so sorry for your loss. Loosing chickens is something I am familiar with and I feel for you *hugs*

 

[LindseyM12]

 

[watersoflethe]

im so sorry
i completely know how you feel
i have 3 dogs. one too small for anyone to care (maltese). one that's scared of the chickens even the chicks (chihuahua) and one that is a continous chicken KILLER (husky)

around 6 years ago that same husky when i came home had BROKEN the coop and managed to kill off my entire flock of around 10 chickens and 5 quails. most were just killed but my sweetest and first chicken that was like my pet my husky had eaten half of her and left the other half in front of our door. it was the first thing we saw in the chicken massacre. there was blood and feathers EVERYWHERE. she also broke through the rabbit hutch literally through the wood and metal and had eaten half of one rabbit. and one rabbit tried to run to the safe zone of the garden which is metal gated off. she made it but she had been bit and died from bleeding inside the garden. i came home to this massacre of animals

and just couple days ago my dad left the gate of the quail coop unlocked by mistake. its still latched but unlocked. huskys are really smart and can learn from humans so she unlatched the cage and killed off the 2 quails inside that cage. when i came outside to let my maltese and chihuahua use the grass at night my maltese started biting on something and i took it from her in the dark only to find it wet. when i shined my flashlight it was part of a quail with the organs hanging from it.

sigh....
now my chicken coop is reinforced in every way i can and i CONSTANTLY yell at the family members to LOCK not only LATCH the coop

it suks when one pet that you love kills another..
i totally know how you feel..
and yet i can't really blame my husky
she was doing what was natural
sigh.

it suks when you have a food chain going on in your own home...

 

[TinaK]

I have not lost a chicken to my terrier... yet

the chickens are asking for it in my house...

on the weekend my JRT was being all nice, playing with her ball and being well supervised by me during a 'joint' outing (the one AND ONLY time mind you)..

and then my chickens decided to sprint at my dog from about 10 mtrs away and try to jump on her head and kick her.... they went berserk.. flapping and bok'in and all....

my poor dog didn't know why I was screaming 'No bikkie, NO!' when all she was doing was trying to was escape....

I won't ever let the chickens near my dog, not even through the fence.. because all the chickens ever want to do is 'check out the dog'...