My dog and 29 chickens

[Bisqit&Gravy]

I'm so sorry and hate to hear that.
Dogs will be dogs and an electric fence stops em real quick. I have 6 house dogs but they go out to play and potty. A few months ago my little banty hen got out and Lily my english mastiff snatched her up and ran around the yard. It was panic plus wrestling her down in the yard to get Bisqit and everyone is fine. Since then Lily's all into the chickens.
She got herself lite up really good. We never knew her 160 lb butt could move that fast...hahaha

I did rehome a cat super fast after he broke into my flight cage that was loaded with padlocks and killed my canaries.

 

[rufus]

Dogs and little children don't belong in the chicken yard. The little kids step in stuff, and the dogs eat that stuff.

The answer is good fences and locking gates.

The dog only did what nature programmed him to do. The failure was on you and your husband's part for not securing the chicken yard. Don't beat yourself up about it. Just fix the fencing and get more chicks.

Get over it. In a few months you will laugh about it.

Rufus

 

[SterlingAcres]

Quote:
Yeah because obviously that's hilarious...

 

[ninjapoodles]

I have to admit I'm a little shocked at the responses from people who would actually KILL a dog for...well, for being a dog. (Well, your OWN dog, anyway--I have a little more sympathy and understanding for those who have had to put down roaming dogs who are coming onto their property and destroying livestock.) We have 6 dogs, one of whom is a bird dog (well, they're all a water-retrieving breed, but only one is actually being used as such). They live in the house, and when they spend any time outside while not under direct supervision, they're in a very secure "dog yard." There is NO WAY I would ever leave a single one of my dogs unsupervised with access to the chicken run.

The last time I had chickens, even my prissy-pants showdogs would happily devour one in nothing flat if it happened to fly into the backyard where the dogs played. (I kind of inherited those chickens with the property when I bought it--they roosted in the barn and were mostly feral.) Dogs are hard-wired to hunt and eat meat. It's not really fair to put them in a position where they can be penalized for acting on instinct.

There must be something you can do to limit the dog's access to the area where the chicken run is. I totally understand how you feel about losing your birds, and I'm REALLY sorry. I also understand being angry at the dog for a little while, but not about "loathing" it. I do agree with the poster who suggested that, if you really feel that way about the dog, the dog deserves a chance at a new home where it won't be loathed. If you do go that route, please seek out a rescue organization who will screen potential homes and possibly put the dog right into foster care until a proper home is found. Resist the urge to go the "free to good home" route with ads in the paper or on Freecycle.

Here is a picture of one of our dogs, a confirmed chicken-killer from days past, inside the chicken run with 32 8-week-old chicks. You'd better believe that if I left her alone to her own devices, she'd be having one HECK of a chicken dinner. They're just two species who don't belong together, except at dinnertime (we feed our dogs a fresh raw diet, including chicken sometimes).

This is Delta. Delta's very sad face is saying, "No, I can not haz shickenz."

 

[xanaxnation]

if you end up having to re-home the dog.. see if your local shelter accepts surrenders under a no-kill policy. or, if the dog has a good portion of a specific breed in it, there are always no kill rescue groups that are wililng to take them. ie: if its a lab, you can google "city name lab rescue" where city name, is.... your city name

a lot of dogs have the hunter instinct in them no matter how long theyve been domesticated, its hard to decide between 2 things you love... but ive had to remove foster dogs from my home for being too aggressive with my cats.. sometimes they just dont get along.

so sorry for your loss, im afraid of the time when i have to put my 3 girls outside with my pug. i'll have a run of course, but im still nervous. good luck!

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
What a mature and intelligent response to an individual who is obviously upset. NOT

 

[JudyMcKinn]

I am so sorry for your loss. I know you are just SICK! I sure would be.
Some of you may not have noticed she says in her post "my husband won't let me get rid of it". So a lot of the replies here wouldn't apply, as she also has a marriage to keep safe. But, the electric fence would work, or just a stronger chicken coop and run. Good luck, and I hope you can get it all straightened out.

 

[Cetawin]

A dog being a dog..grabs one or two and gets bored with it. A dog that enjoys killing and needs a new place to live, kills an entire flock.

I would say electric fence around the chicken area, dog on a chain or living elsewhere. It is very very hard to break a dog of this behavior now that it has wiped out so many.

As for the hubby...I know mine would be living at the shelter with his beloved dog if he would not rehome her. I will have NO dog around that I cannot trust when I am not around. End of discussion.

There is no difference in this dog's behavior and a dog who bites IMHO. I once shot my beloved dog for biting a child without provocation. So I understand exactly how you feel and would feel the same way if it were my flock.

If hubby will not agree to rehoming the dog, tell him she must be chained up or confined unless HE is sitting outside with her...NO exceptions. After awhile he will get tired of being the dog sitter.

Good luck to you and I am so sorry you lost all your chickens.

 

[chicknhawaii]

The best thing you can do is keep your dog while you do your grieving and hating and all of that. THEN when things have settled down a bit, look into securing your dog rather than re-homing. Your dog really is just following instinct.

My dogs are house dogs so I have to put the new Browns WAY high above him (he's a Lhasa Apso but he can jump) and the dogs are never outside with Chick-Chick alone if she's not in her cage/coop. Even when she's in her cage, I'm popping out there now and then (the dogs don't go out unless we're home).

It takes a lot to get everyone living in the same household but it can be done with a lot of thinking and planning.

I am SO sorry for your loss. I am attached to all 3 of my new chicks, I can't imagine how much pain you're going through. Good luck and best wishes to you.

 

[Portia]

I'm very sorry for your loss. My 2 dogs live peacefully with my chickens in the back yard (the other day one of the chickens was 'grooming' one of the sleeping dogs), but I know full well that at any point this harmony could shatter and they'll have to be separated. That said, I love all my animals but my DH and I try to keep it real by reminding each other at any time something could take a chicken or wipe out the whole lot. If that was one of my dogs, well, they were here long before the chickens and are part of the family so it would be up to me to quarden off the chickens appropriately. Not to say that you didn't, it seems that you did all you felt you needed to do and your dog dupped you. But remember, your dog was there first and the chickens may be seen as an intrusion and something to rid her yard of...after all, she is a dog. Although we put time, money and love into our chickens, we also do the same, if not moreso, for our dogs.