Our babies are dead

[CathyB]

I am so sorry for your loss. I can't say that I understand since I have not lost any of mine yet, but I know how I would feel. I would let the kids know what happened, give them a few days, and then let them get some more chicks.

Do not let this discourage you from what you want to do. You have learned now. Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and make a new beginning. You know more now and I am sure if you get new chicks you will be overly safe.

 

[okiemommy]

I know the heart break of losing all of your first chickens. I lost all of my first four chickens at 8-9 weeks old to the neighbors dog. I cried and cried for days. The cockeral had just started to learn to crow about 2 days before it happened. You can start over. And it is pretty healing for you and the kids to have new babies to love.

I am so very sorry for your loss. :aww

 

[wegotchickens]

Sounds like your kids have gotten the 'circle of life' lesson from fish and hermit crabs and such. Let them know something got the babies and about the need for better defenses and care. Don't implicate the dog, but warn that ANY dog could be a presator to baby birds.

Then get more chicks with the kids participating. The lessons about fresh eggs and growing your own food are important, too.
And chickens are a LOT more fun than pet fish, in my opinion!

 

[chickflick]

Aww.... so sorry. It's really hard to loose your babies like that. Don't give up...try again. Chickens are so much fun to have.

 

[Linda in San Diego]

I am sorry about your loss. I totally agree with what NinjaPoodles said in the post early on.
Take care! Get more chicks with the children's input and start again. I love the tub inside the crate idea, nice setup.

 

[sillybirds]

Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement! I'm sorry for those of you who have also lost your chicks/chickens before.

I'm feeling a little better today, and am thinking about calling the local feed store. I think they got some chicks in last week.

I sure thought our chicks would have been safe in the brooder in our garage, but our dog she is a smart and strong-willed one. (You can see I'm presuming she's guilty, even though I don't know for sure.) Here I was hoping I might be able to let the chickens free-range in the one acre fenced portion of our backyard with the dogs. I guess the chickens will just have to stay in a good-sized run.

Thanks again for your empathy and advice.

 

[cherrychicken]

i'm so sorry if i was you i would tell the kids what happened i might leave out the part about how your dog might to be to blame why upset them even more? you might want to offer to get some more chickens and tell them something like " maybe those weren't the chickens for us maybe they were angels just showing us how much fun chickens can be" best of luck

jenny

 

[Chirpy]

I am so sorry about losing all your chicks. That is sooooo hard. We had one chick die of unknown causes at four weeks old last year and one that my wonderful, sweet, favorite dog in the world ... ate! I never blamed my dog (I didn't speak to him for the rest of that day but I didn't hit him or get angry ... he's a dog and he's the best dog I've ever had) but took the action necessary to make sure he didn't get another chick. It was all my fault for not having smaller wire around the base of the chicken tractor, the chick stuck it's head out the 2x4 welded wire and my dog grabbed and... that was the end. I learned a valuable, hard lesson.

We always tell our children the truth. They have also learned so much, sometimes through these tough lessons, that they are better caretakers of our animals now.

Talk to your kids and explain how important a predator proof chicken coop is. Talk about all the potential predators so they don't get the idea they just have to worry about the dog. And, it may not have been your dog... don't blame him without proof. Just don't trust him with the chickens in the future.

We let our chickens free range when we are home and can keep an eye on them. I locked my dogs up in the garage for the first year while the chickens free ranged. So, the dogs were out until around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. and then we'd put them in the garage and let the chickens out until sundown. I still lock up one dog when the chickens are free ranging, unless we are standing/sitting there with them. My other two dogs don't care about the chickens at all and stay up on the front porch or in the garage by choice now.

If your kids want more chicks ... go get them and enjoy them. I really believe you will be glad you did.

 

[HeadHen]

My experiance may help you.
A couple years ago in the spring I went to the feed store with my kids and they happened to have tons of colored easter chicks and ducks. I was very pregnant, their father had left us a few months before, and my parents had just moved in with us. My little girl and son spotted those baby ducks and desperatly wanted them and I just didn't have the heart to say no. Plus my mom loves ducks and talked about wanting some one day. So I gave in and, completely unprepared, came home with two little ducklings and no idea what to do with them.
Long story short, a few days later through a series of mistakes with overexuberant kids, the dog played with one while we were right around the corner from her and killed it and while we were retrieving and checking out that one, quick as could be she managed to get the other. No blood, just broken necks.
My kids knew what happened so I had to explain that the dog was just playing with them and didn't mean to kill them and that it wasn't really her fault, it was ours. We buried them and my kids were really upset. I kept explaining to them that she wasn't a bad dog and about instinct...
I was torn about what to do, I ended up not getting new ones because I didn't want to make my kids think life was such a disposable commodity that when something you loves dies you just go out and buy a new one, it also proved to the kids that they were not responsible enough yet to have a pet.
The kids still remember the ducks (they even attempted to dig them up before I explained why they couldn't

) and the lesson they taught them. It was definately a life learning experiance.
We made sure we were fully prepared first and we recently got 26 chicks and the kids are really protective and careful of them and always making sure they are closed in safely and the dog cannot get to them and much better about being responsible with them. They even chewed me out when I left the door open by mistake while changing their water

 

[ninjapoodles]

i might leave out the part about how your dog might to be to blame why upset them even more?

Only because the kids need to be aware that their chicks are not safe around their dog. She could tell the truth, which is that she doesn't KNOW what got the babies, but the children definitely need to consider their dog a potential chicken predator.

My daughter is 5, and knows that she absolutely cannot let dogs into the chicken area or down into the basement. It's a good lesson to teach early.​