Never thougth it would happen: Dog just killed our first chicken

[JennsPeeps]

Hugs... it's always sad to hear about people who lose chickens to dogs.

 

[redhen]

Ouch!..sorry to hear about this Nifty. I recently lost my a hen to "something" also..(my first loss)...and i have been keeping mine in the run since then..but i hate keeping them in there all the time!...its such a hard decision for me to make..

..Its either...give them freedom and let them be happy, but at risk to predators...or keep them safe from everything, but locked down 24/7......i'm still going back and forth on this myself...again, i'm sorry for your loss, Take Care, Wendy

 

[wendy]

so sorry for the loss

i would let your neighbors know too. it can be done nicely. best of luck, your poor child! that had to be bad to have to explain that.

we don't have many stray dogs, but we have problems with peoples cats. guess they think it is okay to let cats roam for there food and multiply

 

[MissPrissy]

Sorry for your loss. Are the girls upset?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Thanks everybody!

I spent the last hour filling "obvious" places where a dog could get in. I read stories about dogs that can break through pretty strong wire, but (maybe I'm naive) I've never seen any dogs around here that seem to be so inclined. In fact, in 5 years of having our hens roam safe, this is the first dog that came into our yard. Hopefully just a statistical outlier and not a developing trend.

The bad news: While I was out fixing holes in fences I thought I knew the house to which the dog had retreated (where he was barking). Turned out it was a very white yellow lab behind bushes that just resembled the attacking dog. Now I don't know where the dog came from / through or where it lives. I could start canvassing the neighborhood and asking around, but I'll probably wait until / if I see it again.

Do dogs tend to get a "taste" for killing / eating chickens like coons do?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Quote:
All the other girls stayed in the fenced area and I don't even know if they saw what happened. At first I was really worried (just as I was when the 4 coons got our duck and hen) that I was witnessing the end of the attack, but fortunately in both cases I was around during just the beginning.

OH.. do you mean my human girls??? April (the 2 year old that saw it) seems fine. When Alana (5) got home from kindergarten I told her and she's fine. I think the other deaths in 2008 (her 2 favorite pullets from heat stroke and then her duck by coons) were harder for her, but I guess the plus side is she's learning to deal with death.

 

[chicken_angler]

I am so sorry

 

[rooster-red]

Sorry to hear this Nifty, hope it was an isolated incident.

A call to your local animal control might be a good idea at this point.

 

[speckledhen]

So sorry to hear that, Rob. I hope it's the only one you have to lose to a predator for a long, long time.

 

[the1much]

Quote:
yup they SURE do,, just like a deer chaser

it WILL be back if it can.