Mercy Killing

[ZuckermansFamousPig]

The fact is, if she has internal injuries she's probably not going to linger. It's understandable you're fretting about a trip to the vet. I wish her and you the best.

 

[yochickiemomma]

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.

Two words..... Shock collar!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

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.

All dogs are individuals regardless of breed. Without training not many will just stand around and watch a prey animal run past.

Chasing is so much fun to a dog! They think like two year olds.

No amount of dollars spent would keep any animal in my home unless it benefited my life. But if it caused me frustration.... there's more to life than money that's done been spent. Especially because keeping a dog costs money every single month. SO if you feed it for the next 5 years even though you didn't want it... might as well give it away and save yourself some money now.

None of my dogs will EVER get put down if they do take the life of a chicken. Of course I would be upset and that would translate to the dog. But sadly... my dogs are more loyal than most friends and family where as my chickens as much as I enjoy them and a few get pet status are livestock.

Yes, labs are known to use a gentle bite when retrieving... hence Labrador retriever. But they are still predators by nature. Without proper training and reinforcement not much can be expected of them.

Another thread recently had people upset that a chicken owner shot a black lab during the night on his own property.... because "labs aren't vicious"! Again I say, every animal is an individual. And young dogs don't yet know how to control their teeth. One of my youngster drew blood on another dog at the dog park before she knew how to control her excitement. Fortunately the other person at the dog park also realized this wasn't actually intended as aggression and that girl has NEVER again drawn blood. When by herself she will even just stand face to face with the cats or hold down with her open mouth the chihuahuas and other small dogs that attack because they got short man syndrome and are too big for their britches. One little wow wow (as I like to call the chi's) that is my mom's dog... my girl Daisy May will even let that dog "killer" grab a hold and hang from her lip by her teeth. Daisy May loves killer, though I'm not sure the feeling is mutual. And Daisy May is the dreaded "bully breed mix". When she's with my other dogs, they are a pack and any animal that comes on my property had better high tail it out.

My chickens are safe from my own dogs. They free range everyday together. But we spent lot's of time training! And the pay off shows and is worth it. I can leave for the weekend and know everybody will be fine when I get home. But squirrel, wild birds, opossum, gopher, or any other animal... my dogs know they have to discern what's in the bush. And they always do.

I'm glad you were able to control yourself... assuming your scolding didn't include kicking or any other (yes) stupid response towards the dog. If you care for any pointers, I would be glad to help.

Note all of my dogs were shelter rescues. Some dogs can be trained handle chickens others not. But it's worth trying.

I guess more than that.. I am sorry for your loss!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Two words..... Shock collar!

A very bad and stupid idea in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it effectively.

When used right... a great tool!

But it would never be my first go to answer.

 

[JackAubrey]

Hi guys, sry took so long to get back to BYC, been busier than a 3 legged chicken at a square dance.
Bobbi J, you know, you are right, I have not spent any time with her. Therefore, the fault is mine, not hers. She's just being a dog.
Yochickiemamma, I took your advice and bought a shock collar... it works! I'm still going to work with her though, I owe it to all concerned. Best regards, JA

 

[yochickiemomma]

Jack you should absoluteley work w her. the collar is useless unless your willing to teach her why she's getting zapped. I work w a guy who only needs to use the beeping function to correct his dogs bad behavior now. My 11 yr old lab has never needed a shock collar other than her chewing on whatever she sees fit to when we leave for the day she generally listens to commands and the only thing she has ever wanted to hunt for is the food dish and chicken poo *gag* Im glad to hear your making progress. Keep up the good work!

 

[Cbcarter]

Our lab killed one hen "playing" with it. That's all it took for her to learn her lesson and now she protects the flock at night from all the other critters.

 

[LadyVictorian]

Happy you didn't kill her, you really can't give an estimate how the hen will do that shortly after an attack but normally within a day they bounce back after the shock wears off. My dad use to fail to realize animals like people go into shock and ended up killing off whole droves of pets rather than looking after them. Having grown up I am super reluctant to do 'mercy killings' now because of it and have yet to have any injured pet 'suffer' so long as they were well looked after once they got hurt or sick. In the end I think my dad just killed them because it was cheaper and less time wasted on the animal over vet care or even just good old bed rest. I had a hen get through a dog attack and completely lost her tail. She was fine after a week despite being very bald on her butt.

 

[RoosterJuice]

I had a neighbours dog attack my chickens, they ripped apart the chicken/wire Windows. I ended up having to shoot one of my hens because she was so mangled. My rooster ran away (some protector of the flock he was, the only thing he protected after that was the mashed potatoes and gravy). I love my chickens and it made me very upset to do this, my neighbour apologized and felt terrible, he also paid me for my losses. 3 other hens were injured but not as bad, I gave them a day and 2 of them were on their feet again, which was great to see and the other one died during the night.

 

[horsewoman54]

I had my neighbors dogs kill my rooster yesterday. He was so injured he crawled up onto the step of our ride along mower and died. Sick and heartbroken I filed a police report and they cited the owners and it's a misdemeanor here in Utah. He protected my hens who lay eggs in the barn. We need strict laws that fine the owners when their dogs come onto your property and kill your animals. We have a 100 ft driveway and 5 acres. These dogs are nuisance animals. The Sheriff said to call anytime they are loose off their property, our next door neighbor. Our rooster was an integral part of our flock. He was raised from a chick with ten hens and another rooster.They are four this year and he will be missed.