Peep and Chicken Massacre**update raccoons!*

[chicksinthemachine]

yesterday after a meeting(I was gone 3 hours) my DH and daughter were home, I came home to find about half my flock dead or dying all around my yard!! It was awful!! Don't think my dogs would let anything in my yard without throwing a fit, so it has to be them unfortunately. The three remaing peeps I brought inside and this morning one of my favorites showed all mangled but still alive!!! The heads were bitten off of alot of them. Could a puppy and a kitten do this about the head thing? Or could a sneaky racoon have done this, It happened between 8:30 and 11:30 in the morning. I have posted on craigslist to get rid of 3 animals and did wing clipping this morning and no there is no more free-ranging for them. Getting ready to go cut a tree out of the run since they can get in and fly out. About how much is hard ware cloth? to put over the run? Well when now that there is raccoon poop in a few different spots and one was very close to the house and in a place where we pass often through out the day and evening. My husband is building a back deck at the moment. Ballsy thing!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i am so so sorry! What a terrible thing to come home to. i can't imagine a raccoon could have gotten past a dog. And then they tend to only come out in the early morning. Although i have seen posts from people seeing them in broad daylight.

Hardware cloth is expensive at our local Home Depot in California. i think i paid $52 for a 4' x 25' roll last time i was there. Chicken wire is cheaper, and then aviary netting or deer netting is even cheaper. i think i got 7' wide by 100' long for $13.

i use chicken wire on the sides of my pen for my big girls, then the deer netting on top. Of course, hardware cloth all around the coop they sleep in. You might be able to find netting, chicken wire, or hardware cloth on your local craigslist.

Anyhow, again, i am so so sorry!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

OH NO so sorry to hear about your lose

I don't know...how old is your puppy? I don't know if a dog would have taken the head off like that but maybe since they had three hours they did just that.
I don't know if I would put hardware cloth over the run...that would be pretty hard to do since it's so stiff and it's expensive too. Can't remember the exact cost on ours but I believe we paid 25 bucks for a roll and it wasn't very long.
You can get bird netting pretty cheap at Menards and it's easy to work with too. Sure hope your chicks that are alive make it! Let us know how it goes.

 

[the simple life]

A puppy will take the head off a chicken, I have had the misfortune of witnessing it. I trust no animals around chickens, dogs have an innate instinct to go after chickens. Even if they are our pets and have been around the chickens all their life, sad but true.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[lorieMN]

sorry to hear of your loss..but,you really have no one to blame but yourself,so just get rid of your dogs,out of sight out of mind,then you wont have to train them..if you are not going to free range anymore then I dont see why you have to get rid of the dogs,they are after all just being dogs and it is your responsibilty to keep the chickens safe,and that includes safe from your own pets..it amazes me how people preach on this forum about bad breeders,when time after time I see post's like yours,"dog killed chicken,get rid of dog" and this time you arent even sure its your dogs..makes me sad that people think dogs are disposable because they,OMG act like a dog...

 

[carousel]

I'm very sorry for your loss,
A friend has lost one of her chickens to her dogs and another we are nursing back to health.
it is no ones falut but HERS - the dogs were just being dogs and the chickens got out of the "horse-chicken padock" and INTO the dog yard. They were not "hunting" chickens they just played with them like they would any "squeeky" toy.
I have 5 dogs and 3 of them would kill my chickens in a nanosecond. So it is MY job to make sure their paths don't cross!
How sad for your other pets are now with out a home, it was not their fault they had access to your chickens.

 

[FisherMOM]

I'm so so sorry. Hubby recently mentioned getting a dog. I don't know though... I am scared enough of the thoughts of a stray coming in my yard.

My heart id heavy with you.. I just cannot imagine this.

 

[wegotchickens2]

Chicksinthemachine-

Headless chickens from what I have heard/seen (once) are the result of weasels, at least around here in N. Idaho.. they take the head off their prey, whatever it is. Do you have weasels down there? Hope this helps! Sorry to hear about your birds.. I know I'd be devastated if that were to happen here. Best to you! T $ J.

 

[citychickers]

After reading your other thread I'm here to say I'm so sorry for your loss.

3 of our dogs would go after the chickens in a heartbeat, so we don't ever let them be together at all. We only free range our chickens when the dogs are put in their kennels.

On the other hand, we have one dog that we COMPLETELY trust with the chickens and we leave Syd outside all the time with the chickens as a sort of Protector/Presence.

I'm still so sorry for your family though. It's a hard decision to make.

 

[NYREDS]

If there were multiple birds killed w/several having there heads bitten off it's much more likely it was a Weasel or a Mink than a dog.
Both Weasels & mink are day-hunters, both characteristicly bite off heads[they drink the blood & don't tend to eat much flesh] & both are blood thirsty killers. If you have one who has hunted successfully in your yard it will be back so secure your remaining birds.
Here's a site with some good info.

http://www.longshadowfarms.com/predator.html