Sunday morning I woke up at 7am to take my dog out. I glanced over at the coop as I always do and instead of seeing my chickens, saw 2 pit bulls staring back at me. I screamed for my husband to get the gun but it was way past too late. My 11 chicks (only 7 weeks old) were gone, my coop was damaged, and well...my Sunday afternoon was spent crying over my chickens. These dogs tore holes through 1/2 inch hardware cloth and corrugated siding to get to the chicks. They pulled screws out of the wood. I built the coop knowing there were dogs in the neighborhood. I had no idea they could do so much damage. Stupid animals were clever enough to break in but couldn't get out so we called the Sheriff and he had animal control come get the dogs(Hubs refused to shoot penned dogs even if it was MY pen they were trapped in)....the owners were notified and decided to surrender the dogs to avoid a citation. This isn't the first time their dogs have eaten a neighborhood animal. Two months ago they ate a neighbors Beagle.
I have 28 more chicks in brooders in my garage. I am going to build a better mousetrap/coop. I've decided to move the coop 10 feet from the house, hot wire it, and buy some guineas. If we have another attack I will hear the commotion and shoot the dog long before it eats ALL of my birds. At the very least, he'll get a "thrill up his leg" when he gets zapped by the wire.
We are thankful it was not our dog or our kids that were attacked but I sure miss those chickens, they were my first.
I have 28 more chicks in brooders in my garage. I am going to build a better mousetrap/coop. I've decided to move the coop 10 feet from the house, hot wire it, and buy some guineas. If we have another attack I will hear the commotion and shoot the dog long before it eats ALL of my birds. At the very least, he'll get a "thrill up his leg" when he gets zapped by the wire.
We are thankful it was not our dog or our kids that were attacked but I sure miss those chickens, they were my first.
