My Darn Dog

[ingrid42]

Tonight my stupid dog killed one of my precious chickens right in front of my son. I put the chickens in the dog kennel while my husband and I worked on their coop and the dog pulled the chicken right through the bars! I am so angry and now I am afraid that since she has done it once she will try it again until all by girls are gone!! I feel sick!!

 

[BirdBrain]

Ingrid,
I am SO sorry. You may need to rethink the dog run. Can you put chicken wire around the base of the run so that the chickens can't be pulled through the bars? Chin up!! I am confident that you will come up with a solution and have both the dog and the chickens.

 

[PurpleChicken]

This seems to be a common theme here. Don't beat yourself
up over it. Turn it positive by not letting it not happen again.
I'm not sure the age of your son but you could use this as an
example of the dangers and realities of nature. Try to make sure
he doesn't blame the animal and assure him you will do your best
not to let it happen again. Things like this can cause anxiety in
children but you can stop it quickly.

This has happened to a lot of people here. Sometimes it's their dog.
Sometimes it's someone elses. I let my dogs run free with my chickens.
The dogs aren't aggressive but one does like to play with the chickens.
She can easily damage a chicken while playing with it.

Remember, make this a learning experience and try your best not
to blame yourself or anything. I know this is easier to say than do.

Vent it here. We're listening.

 

[ingrid42]

Actually, you all help so much! I am so glad I went to this site to vent. I just don't think I can ever let my dog anywhere near the chickens. I don't have a big backyard so this will be my challenge. My son actually asked me if we can go buy some chickens tomorrow so he is doing better than I am!

 

[PurpleChicken]

Glad to hear your son is doing ok with it. Kids are amazing.
When we lost our first chick (4 days old) my son seemed
to take it ok but 30 minutes later started wimpering and
crying. He was upset it never had a chance to play with the
other chicks. I almost cried myself, not over the chicken, but
his reaction. We talked it out for a while and gave the chick
a proper burial. It became a learning or "life" experience
for both of us. We lost a few more and he was sad but able
to put it in perspective better than most adults could. I
suspect your son is or will do the same. Asking for more chickens
really is a good sign.

As for worrying about the dog, take that one step at a time.
What breed, sex and age is it? Has it shown any aggression
before? Did it intentionally kill the chiken or did it confuse the
chicken for a squeaky toy?

There are a lot of strong opinions here about dogs and chickens.
My opinion is each case is different. You have options and
it will all work out. The most important thing right now is that
you feel better about it.