New Owner has Dog Scare

[thoco77]

Hi there... I finally finished my coop and got 5 chickens to free roam on my 3.7 acres. Everything has been great until this morning. My neighbor's dog runs free a couple times per day and he found his way to my coop. (About 3 acres separates our properties). The dog posed no threat to the birds he was just curious, I could tell as I wanted to see what their reactions would be. The problem I ended up having is 3 of the 5 birds I have flew away and I can't find them anywhere. My questions is, since I've only had them for 2-3 days, are they going to know how to come back before nightfall? I don't want any predators to get them...

I'm really disappointed, I'm surprised at how quickly I loved my new pets. And I greatly appreciate this website for all of the educational material.

Thanks

 

[arlee453]

Hopefully they will come home on their own... Hindsight is always 20/20 but next time around, keep them penned in their coop for at least 4-7 days so they will know where 'home' is before letting them free range.

I sure hope they come home!!

 

[thoco77]

wow, thanks.. i guess i missed that tip. I'm surprised the person i bought them from didn't say anything to me about keeping them in the coop for a few days before i let them range.

thanks

 

[CMV]

They will probably be back at dusk. Chickens generally return home to roost in the evening. As far as predators go- if you let your birds free-range then you are going to lose some to predation. It's the risk you take. I never had any problems for a long time letting my birds free-range, but that stopped this year. I "lost" (long and painful story) a hen to a hawk attack. The hawk has been hanging around since, so very little free-range time is allowed and only under very close supervision. The hen I "lost" had to be re-homed this week, and on the first day flew over the run fence and took off. We all thought she might be gone for good considering she had only been at her new home for a few hours, but she came back. She flew back over the fence into the run and put herself away in the house at dusk.
Good luck.

 

[thoco77]

Thanks, I will most likely start limiting their free range time as well. The first two days I had them, they ranged from 7am until dusk... then as you said, they went into the coop at night and I locked it up to protect them.

I really want to protect them as well as give them some freedom.

Right now, I left the coop door open and the two hens I have left are just sitting on their perch. I'm guessing they're scared from the dog incident.

Thanks

 

[thoco77]

I have quickly learned that it is very easy to become attached to your chickens and as my wife would confirm, I am really upset today that 3 of them took off due to the dog threat. I'm really hoping they all come back by dusk or I will definitely feel responsible for this. I'll also need to talk to my neighbor (who is also my uncle) to setup some times when our animals can both roam free and we don't have to worry about this issue.

 

[thoco77]

THEY ALL CAME BACK!

Wow, I've learned a lot reading online tonight... to my surprise, all but one made it back into the coop tonight. One is in a tree that is above the coop about 16 ft. off the ground. I figured she's safe for the night but I'll check before I goto bed.

Now all the reading I did about quarantining has me scared.. i bought all 5 chickens from the same person... and they were in a flock of 40 or so birds I would say.. hopefully they're healthy. I'll post my quarantine questions in another forum.

thanks for the feedback today.

 

[lickskillet]

YEAH! Glad they came back!

 

[annek]

If you bought them all from the same person and they were together there then quarantine is not necessary. It sounds like you had no birds before correct?

 

[thoco77]

Yes, I bought them all from the same farm/owner. 4 of them are 6 months old, one is two years old.