My dog killed my ducks

[farm_mom]

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Obviously. You are the one who started the comparisons between birds and children, not me.

The point, however, is that we don't just "trust in God" to protect things that we value. We take reasonable precautions to keep things (objects, animals, children) safe when they are unable to protect themselves.

and farmers have been having chickens loose on their farms since the dawn of time.

Sure. And farmers have also been losing chickens to predators since the dawn of time. Fortunately, there's this little thing called "progress", which has made our society much better in many ways since then. We learn from our past mistakes. For instance, most of us now know not to pour kerosene on a dog with mange (an old farmer's cure), we know how to give animals vaccinations, and so on. We know how to do lots of things now that we didn't know way back at that "dawn of time". Learning from past mistakes is a good thing.

 

[ruth]

Amazon - maybe you missed the part about the ducks live in the hen house surrounded by a fence. They live better than most people on this planet. Our chickens and ducks daily get fresh produce from grocery (hand diced), crickets from bait shop and bags of expensive fine shredded cheese to name a few. They are hardly mistreated, unloved or unprotected. DH and I had just cut the grass outside coop run and thought it would be nice to let everyone out for bit of evening fun playing in nice cut green grass. Right in front of our noses, or rather when we turned our back for a second, our dog attacked and killed the ducks. I'm quite sure that most people on here who keep their chickens/ducks locked up still take them out to be played with or petted - it was in that instant that the kill happened. Could have happened to anyone.

That's the last I'm going to say in my own defense.

 

[ozark hen]

I have a duck sitting on a small pile of eggs (10) right now and would gladly give the ducklings to you if I had a way to get them to you. I have muscovies and two hen mallards. One of the mallard hens is the one sitting on these huge eggs.

 

[BrahmaMama]

I am so sorry for your loss, Ruth

I too, have a dog that I *Do Not* trust around my chickens. I lost several to him last year. I free range my birds also, and they are secured in their coops at night. The only time the dog is outside with the birds now, is when I am out there too. It sucks, having to be so careful, and I've tried different training ideas....I'm at a loss right now, too-with what to do.

Good luck getting your girl trained,

 

[ruth]

Quote:
How very sweet of you - thank you so much. As it happened hubby went out the next morning and came home with 9 baby Mallards. He felt so bad about the duck loss and called feed store and they had just received a batch. New babies are in a cage in run and older ones (survivors) are watching them through cage and sticking their beaks in as if to say "hi". They all got to hang out together briefly because I was initially putting the babies in a dog kennel I use in run and they were escaping through bars faster than I could catch them. They ran straight for the older ducks and they all ran around together for a few minutes till I regained enough breath to catch each one and put them in cage with smaller holes. Boy can those little buggers run and swerve like greased lightening.

I picked one brave volunteer to go meet Lucy and held it and petted it and let her sniff it. I'll keep working with her with the ducks. If she has been able to hang out with baby chicks and chickens for a year I'm hoping once she understands ducks are the same thing she will want to protect them too. Not giving her any chance to get near them though. They will have to stay in run.

 

[ozark hen]

good job

 

[Cassandra]

Hi, neighbor.

I think you are doing great. And I'm so sorry for what happened.

Some folks just don't get it, I think. We move way out to the country and they want to foist progress on us. I know the area where you live. It is very remote! I envy you that. I really do.

But I see the little towns where I live and work keep growing in population, and businesses keep clogging up the main thoroughfairs. The mayor keeps chanting "progress! development!" It never occurs to him that maybe we live in a town of less than 1,500 people because we like it. (Oh, well. I digress.)

Progress ought to be an option in my opinion. You take it in the doses that suit you. Time will tell you what to do about Lucy. You seem wise enough to make the right choice.

Good luck,
Cassandra

 

[ruth]

Thank you all for your kind words. Here's the new baby Mallards getting checked out by the older ones (which are only 4 weeks old themselves but soooo big).

Life goes on.

 

[HorseFeathers]

Quote:
I agree completely.

It's hard to get rid of a pet, we've had to rehome several chickens, but if it's for the good of the rest of the farm you might want to.