My (beloved) dog ate a second chicken yesterday.......

[rancher hicks]

A chicken owners dog killing their chicken once should be the first and last time. Wish folks would not expect sympathy the second time. It's up to you to keep your birds safe and out of harms way.

 

[savingdogs]

Thank you Ellieroo, I do just need to find the balance here. I think you just suggested it.

I'm out to re-trim everyone's wings........

 

[savingdogs]

I do take seriously that this was the second time and that was the reason for my sadness, I should have prevented this.

They just learned to fly and next time....the MINUTE I see one flying they are ALL getting re-trimmed. We were just discussing re-trimming wings on a schedule. Does anyone know how long it takes for wings to grow back sufficiently to allow for flight? I have five chickens and five ducks that seem to be able to fly when they have their wings grown out. I want to get them on a schedule.

We are also housing this particular dog in a different part of the yard now as well.

 

[deerman]

Feathers will grow back in 6 weeks if pulled out. clipped wing will need redone after each moult young birds at 6 months, just need to check them hen they moult, not that many times.

 

[chkn]

I had a couple shepherds who'd get my chickens. I just always had to keep them separated. One minute they'd show no interest, the next.... They were the best watch dogs though. We used to call them the 'meat farmers.'

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Well, the Karelian Bear Dog is used for hunting bear, moose, and other critters back in Finland. From what I gather they need to be kept near their owner and never allowed out on their own to hunt since apparently they will hunt - which can be seen as poaching and serious damage to wildlife. Fish & Game uses them up Sierra to discourage them from roaming the Tahoe area neighborhoods. They need to use them down in Carson since bear in the backyard are showing up where they didn't used to, more in town.

 

[ainslieb]

I had a similar thing happen with a bouncy and bored spoodle - he firstly killed three of the first six girls we got and I was devastated and didn't believe that he could have caused the carnage until he dug up one treasure that was missing! He struck again about 6 months later by breaking into the coop. He is an angel dog normally, wouldn't harm a fly - but we think he was bored and wanted to play the first time and was just bored the second time. We have a really strong coop now, and we certainly considered giving up the chooks as we couldn't give up the dog, but in the end the chooks had also earned a place in our hearts. We are careful now, he gets lots more exercise and the kids are old enough to play with him more and the chooks are well protected. So sorry it had to happen to you too - I cried for two days the first time.

Hope it gets better!
Ainslie

 

[BorderKelpie]

Is your dog in a kennel or a whole yard? If she's in a kennel, could you cover the top of it with a sun screen or chicken wire to keep the chickens from landing in it when they fly? If she's in a yard, I'm not sure what yu could do besides just trimming wings.

I am sorry for your loss, but could I selfishly ask to see a picture of your dog? She has an amazing sounding heritage and she herself has been amazing as a lymphoma survivor.

Kudos to you also for the work you do helping dogs.
(Dogs are my favorite people - don't tell my birds!)

 

[Surehatch]

So sorry to hear

 

[savingdogs]

I'm terrible about uploading pictures, but karelian bear dogs are black with white blazes, look kind of like a sled dog with a pointy nose or perhaps a border collie/husky. She actually loves the snow.

Our solution will be to keep her in our "front" yard which has no fence, so on the tie-out cable she goes, which is sad because my hubby built the dog yard mostly for her. But now that she has a taste for chicken I'm doubly afraid of her getting loose and going after my neighbor's chickens as well as mine and our back yard fence just isn't Fort Knox. She loves it outside but I don't like to tie out dogs for any length of time so she will become an indoor dog for the rest of her days basically.

Yes, bear dogs will hunt for themselves.

I've heard of the chicken-tied around the neck deal, but I'm afraid Bandit would like that and end up finding a way to munch on the chicken and just eat it! How I would gnash my teeth then!

I do have a gut feeling her cancer has already returned so this problem will unfortunately solve itself soon enough.