Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[Miss Lydia]

Just got home about an hour ago and my chickens have been decimated!!

It was my dog Sasha. We left them at the house for 24 hours Gary was camping and I was working. She breeched the fence somehow, I walked the whole thing and can't see where or how she did it. She had never shown any interest at all in either the chickens or breeching the fence before now. I took Tucker to my FIL so I know he had nothing to do w/ it. She even brought the dead ones in the house, (we have a dog door) walked in the house to dead chickens everywhere! The only survivors were Jackie O, and the 3 broody moms w/ their 8 chicks. (mostly boys) and to make it worse, Gary took all the eggs to the camping trip!!!!!! I have a handful mostly of pullet eggs I am going to put in the bator today to see if I can salvage some of the genetics I was working towards. Just very sad.

Oh my gosh how horrible to come home too.

 

[1TurkenLover]

Just got home about an hour ago and my chickens have been decimated!!

It was my dog Sasha. We left them at the house for 24 hours Gary was camping and I was working. She breeched the fence somehow, I walked the whole thing and can't see where or how she did it. She had never shown any interest at all in either the chickens or breeching the fence before now. I took Tucker to my FIL so I know he had nothing to do w/ it. She even brought the dead ones in the house, (we have a dog door) walked in the house to dead chickens everywhere! The only survivors were Jackie O, and the 3 broody moms w/ their 8 chicks. (mostly boys) and to make it worse, Gary took all the eggs to the camping trip!!!!!! I have a handful mostly of pullet eggs I am going to put in the bator today to see if I can salvage some of the genetics I was working towards. Just very sad.

Sorry for by the loss of your pets, @ the paws of another pet.

when you can please explain about the fence ? I'm now thinking ours needs to be made more secure - stronger as Winter is coming as are hungry Predators.

 

[Kassaundra]

The fence is the 2x4 inch welded wire type fence, put up w/ t posts and secured at the bottom, a determined wild type preditor could breech it w/ enough incentive, but I live in town and have my chickens secured in the coop at night and have lazy pet type dogs that have never shown interest in breeching so never worried about it. I will probably string hot wire in addition soon.

 

[flower]

Just got home about an hour ago and my chickens have been decimated!!

It was my dog Sasha. We left them at the house for 24 hours Gary was camping and I was working. She breeched the fence somehow, I walked the whole thing and can't see where or how she did it. She had never shown any interest at all in either the chickens or breeching the fence before now. I took Tucker to my FIL so I know he had nothing to do w/ it. She even brought the dead ones in the house, (we have a dog door) walked in the house to dead chickens everywhere! The only survivors were Jackie O, and the 3 broody moms w/ their 8 chicks. (mostly boys) and to make it worse, Gary took all the eggs to the camping trip!!!!!! I have a handful mostly of pullet eggs I am going to put in the bator today to see if I can salvage some of the genetics I was working towards. Just very sad.

OH NO SO SAD I can hardly believe it !

 

[Kassaundra]

Gary came home and we walked the fence together (again for me) and we both agree there is no breech, anywhere. She is shedding like crazy right now and she was carrying birds there is no feathers or hair anywhere in the fence line except at the gate which was shut and latched. When I came home she heard the car, but could/did not come back through the fence to greet me, even though she was obviously wanting to greet me. If she had been able to breech the fence that easily why did she not do so to greet me???? We both think someone came over and opened the fence then came back and shut it locking her in. None of our immediate neighbors would have done that, but there are a few of the "block" neighbors that could have.

 

[Kassaundra]

The only 4 hens to survive were Jackie O




Reba


Jackie O (again)


Thing 1 and 2


Besides them the 8 chicks from this recent hatch.


Everyone else is gone!!!!

 

[ArkieGirl72638]

Any chance she went over the top. How does the gate lock? Is it possible she opened it and a neighbor saw her loose and put her back in. I have a big coon hound mix that can open almost any gate latch with her nose or paw. Had to see it to believe it. All gates now have chains, with a snap latch securing them. Only thing that keeps her in. Also, check along the bottom of the fence. I have seen dogs strong enough to loosen the piece of metal holding the chain link secure to the bottom rail and they can slid in and out pretty easily once that is off and the fence looks exactly the same.
So sorry for your loss. She probably thought she was doing a good deed by bringing them into the house..what a shock that must have been. I had one dog that was a chicken killer and used the old method that was given to me by some country ol' timers. Tied the dead chicken he had killed around his neck, put him out in the yard and left him like that for a few days. He tried like the dickens to get that chicken off to no avail. I'd bring a life bird in a couple of times a day...show it to him, let him sniff and then tell him "NO!". That dog now avoids chickens like the plague...won't even look at the roos that come over to the fence to crow and check for bugs. Extreme solution...maybe..but my chickens are safe and that is what matters to me.

 

[Kassaundra]

No chance at all she went over, she has a lame front paw, and nothing along the fence line to get her up and over on either side.

The way our yards are divided if someone did it they did it on purpose. We have the front yard unfenced, the mid yard fenced in for the dogs, and the back yard fenced in for the chickens. They would have had to go into the front back yard (mid yard) through a fence to the back to unlatch the fence between the dogs and birds. Each of these sections is about 1/3 of an acre big. If she were loose and they were helping they would have put her in the mid yard or dog yard.

We walked and tested the bottom fence no hair / feathers / or breech all wire is secured to it's rigid structure.

The gate locks w/ a chain and latch, it isn't an easy latching system and requires multiple actions in order not doable by an animal w/o opposing thumbs, and if by some freakishly bizarre thing she was able to open there would be no way it could have been relatched by her, and no way for a passerby to see that it was open.

 

[flower]

I have seen too much evidence of EVIL, Nasty, S#### people

 

[gootziecat]

Kassaundra, you must be devastated. Over time, I have lost many of my key birds to fox, to the point of having little to work with. I feel your pain and sorry it happened to you. At least you are left with some good ones to work with.