PSA: dog crate caused death

[tash]

We have a hen undergoing a hard molt. We put her in a dog crate to keep the others from picking on her too much and to make sure she was getting plenty of vitamins and protein. My daughter thought she was lonely so she setup another dog crate next to the first and put another hen in there. Both crates were setup in the grass with no bottom so they could eat bugs and grass. They also had a tarp over part of the crates for shade and boxes for laying and of course pellets and water. We left and came back a few hours later and I went to go check on them and saw that the non-molting hen was sitting in the corner not moving. I got closer and could see she was not breathing. Her head was stuck out through the bars of the crate and her comb and wattles were blue/purple.

We moved the molting hen back in the main coop and plan on wrapping the crates in chickenwire if we need to use them again in the future.

I couldn't find any info about such a thing happening before. The only thing we can figure is that she was chasing a cricket that hopped sideways and got herself in a strange position and panicked. It's probably fairly rare, especially as most crates seem to be kept inside a building and not in the grass, but I thought I would warn people anyway so you can decide for yourself how you want to use a crate.



TL/DR: dogcrates can be wrapped in chicken wire to prevent chickens from getting their heads stuck.

 

[Trish1974]

So sorry for your loss! Thank you for sharing, as I would have never thought of that happening.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss
Thanks for the information - I would never would have thought this either - I've used a wire kennel quite a bit with no problems, but will keep a closer watch.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

We have a hen undergoing a hard molt. We put her in a dog crate to keep the others from picking on her too much and to make sure she was getting plenty of vitamins and protein. My daughter thought she was lonely so she setup another dog crate next to the first and put another hen in there. Both crates were setup in the grass with no bottom so they could eat bugs and grass. They also had a tarp over part of the crates for shade and boxes for laying and of course pellets and water. We left and came back a few hours later and I went to go check on them and saw that the non-molting hen was sitting in the corner not moving. I got closer and could see she was not breathing. Her head was stuck out through the bars of the crate and her comb and wattles were blue/purple.

We moved the molting hen back in the main coop and plan on wrapping the crates in chickenwire if we need to use them again in the future.

I couldn't find any info about such a thing happening before. The only thing we can figure is that she was chasing a cricket that hopped sideways and got herself in a strange position and panicked. It's probably fairly rare, especially as most crates seem to be kept inside a building and not in the grass, but I thought I would warn people anyway so you can decide for yourself how you want to use a crate.



TL/DR: dogcrates can be wrapped in chicken wire to prevent chickens from getting their heads stuck.

We have three large plastic dog kennels we refer to as hospitals or sometimes call.. Sick bay. We fastened cut panels of metal hardware cloth over the vent slots on the inside of the crates (looks more visually appealing on the inside) after our dog (when he was young and un obedient) went after a poking out hen head thinking it was a toy or what not. It woke us up He killed the hen. It was awful. Sorry to hear it happened to you..

 

[tash]

We have three large plastic dog kennels we refer to as hospitals or sometimes call.. Sick bay. We fastened cut panels of metal hardware cloth over the vent slots on the inside of the crates (looks more visually appealing on the inside) after our dog (when he was young and un obedient) went after a poking out hen head thinking it was a toy or what not. It woke us up He killed the hen. It was awful. Sorry to hear it happened to you..

This crate was one of the all metal ones with wire on all sides. The plastic one we have has smaller holes in the door, and the vents are high up. I am surprised your dog got to your hen. That's so sad.

We are lucky that our dog doesn't care about the birds at all. The cats only think chicks are fun when they are a week or two old. One cat tried stalking a hen bigger then she is and got pecked! We had some neighbor dogs come over once and tear the tarp off the run last spring. (we tarp it in the winter to keep the snow off). Fortunately the girls were all locked up and not free ranging. We got the dogs into our garage and my daughter went down to tell the owners to come get them.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

This crate was one of the all metal ones with wire on all sides. The plastic one we have has smaller holes in the door, and the vents are high up. I am surprised your dog got to your hen. That's so sad.

We are lucky that our dog doesn't care about the birds at all. The cats only think chicks are fun when they are a week or two old. One cat tried stalking a hen bigger then she is and got pecked! We had some neighbor dogs come over once and tear the tarp off the run last spring. (we tarp it in the winter to keep the snow off). Fortunately the girls were all locked up and not free ranging. We got the dogs into our garage and my daughter went down to tell the owners to come get them.

They are pretty big carries.. They are for extra large dogs.
Our Border Collie was a terror when he was young. He is 4 now(human yrs). He is trained now and chickens free range around him.
He kinda did an Ozzy Osbourne on the poor thing.

Your situation sounds like a Chinese finger trap. Sorry for you loss. Things like these help us learn and improve. Too bad at the birds expense though.
Nice chatting with you.. Connie