Mercy Killing

[Cbcarter]

It was a recently adopted shelter dog. He's already been rehomed to my father's house with nothing he can hurt. She seems to be feeling better! She's eating and no longer has the shocky look in her eyes!

 

[yochickiemomma]

Cb how's your hen doing?

 

[Cbcarter]

She's doing great health wise, but I'm having a very difficult time putting her back with the others. They go after her whenever I put her outside.

 

[dekel18042]

She's doing great health wise, but I'm having a very difficult time putting her back with the others. They go after her whenever I put her outside.

Don't put her back with the others until her wounds have mostly healed. You can cover them with blue kote purchased at a feed store. If the wounds look sore or red the other chickens will peck at them incessantly.

 

[Shezadandy]

x2 what dekel said about making sure the wounds are closed.

Also might help to have her in a see-no-touch situation to reintroduce, either through a crate or a separate fenced area if you've got it. If she can stand her ground without fear of getting pecked she won't act so much like prey. The more she doesn't act like prey/low hen, the better it should go.

Another idea is to experiment and find a hen from your flock that you can bring in to keep the injured hen company, provided she's recovered enough and has blue-kote to cover up any remaining area. If one isn't working out, try another. Two going into the flock is easier than one, and having a see-no-touch reintroduction in that case can smooth re-entry too.

Good luck and great job saving her!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Both previous posters made great suggestions! Blu Kote, and Look but don't Touch method, and add a friend.

Hope the shelter dog is doing well at your dad's house. I have 3 shelter dogs and will ALWAYS adopt in the future! The dog you adopted could be trained if it was important to you. But if you add another in the future, training before an incident is better. It's not that shelter dogs can't be trusted, they just need time and training which includes a relationship and willingness to please their new master. And a clear reinforced expectation. I am glad you didn't just drop the dog back off at the pound for doing what came naturally to it without an opportunity to become part of the family!

All 3 of my dogs and another friends 2 shelter dogs have all been trained to leave my 40+ free range chickens alone. I refer to them as my LPDs livestock predator dogs (instead of LGD). It's not always easy for them. Sometimes I can see one of my girls shaking with excitement (wishing for a bite). My heeler heels (stalks) them and licks his lips. I was warned I wouldn't be able to keep goats with non LGD dogs either.... At first of course I was not able to leave them alone. But with several months of training I have zero problem leaving all of my animals together (other than them wanting to eat the feed that doesn't belong to them). Chicks however are a completely different story, too tempting! Now my dogs are older and breed does play a little roll in their personalities and trainability. I am sharing this with you as a means of letting you know that if you still desire a shelter pet in your life, it is doable (and honorable)! Before I ever left without everybody being secured I spent time watching what the dogs do when they don't know I'm looking. Animals are smart and disobedient just like kids. Even the cockerels know when I'm looking or not. They wait till I turn my back before jumping on a pullet right next to me. But while I'm watching, don't do it cuz they know I'm a cock block!

(finally, I've been waiting to use that backhand emoji since I started using BYC!)

Love to see a pic of your girl!

 

[Cbcarter]

Wingding, as she is now known, is completely recovered and back with the rest of the flock. The only way to tell her apart from the others is that she eats from my hand. And Eugene the shelter dog is thriving at my dad's house! Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[yochickiemomma]

Cb that's great news thanks for following up

 

[JackAubrey]

I have a purebred black lab. I got a purebred because I THOUGHT I would know what to expect. This numbskull has killed 3 of my hens, I can't trust her with them at all. I saw her pawing a hen on the ground through the kitchen window and ran outside scolding her. she KNEW she had done wrong. The chicken ran off to die, presumably. The next morning, when I let the flock out to free range, there was my hen,looking quite ruffled. I was glad and picked her up. That is when I noticed she had a rip in her ribcage next to the spine about an inch wide and 3 inches long. I could actually see down into her chest cavity. **** that dog! The hen had to be in shock, so I put her down humanely. I resisted the temptation to put that bloody dog down as well. Kept reminding myself how much I paid for her. That's the only thing that saved her. J.A.

 

[bobbi-j]

I have a purebred black lab. I got a purebred because I THOUGHT I would know what to expect. This numbskull has killed 3 of my hens, I can't trust her with them at all. I saw her pawing a hen on the ground through the kitchen window and ran outside scolding her. she KNEW she had done wrong. The chicken ran off to die, presumably. The next morning, when I let the flock out to free range, there was my hen,looking quite ruffled. I was glad and picked her up. That is when I noticed she had a rip in her ribcage next to the spine about an inch wide and 3 inches long. I could actually see down into her chest cavity. **** that dog! The hen had to be in shock, so I put her down humanely. I resisted the temptation to put that bloody dog down as well. Kept reminding myself how much I paid for her. That's the only thing that saved her. J.A.

How much training have you done with the dog? How old is she?