So MAD at myself!!!!

[happybooker1]

Our chicken run shares a fence with the dog yard. Dog yard is 2"x4" hardware wire 5' tall. It's been this way for exactly a year now.

So Monday I come home from work & can't find Henrietta, which was my EE that would fly over the 4' chicken fence regularly & then back again when she got tired of being "free". An hour later I'm in the backyard with the dogs & find a bunch of feathers in a corner of the yard. I figured the stupid chicken just flew over the wrong fence & committed suicide by dog.

Today I go to feed chicks & collect eggs and Poof-Poof my Sultan is gone. She didn't fly ANYWHERE ever! I look IMMEDIATELY in the dog yard & there is a pile of white feathers! SOMEHOW the dogs are pulling the chickens through the fence after they get close enough. There are NO holes under the fence, ripped or bent wires, and the dogs can't jump over. So DS & I spent an hour putting up wire on the chicken side of the fence.

I am so mad I could spit-- at the dogs & Myself! If Poof-Poof had been the first one, I would have figured it out yesterday!

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry for your loss. Sadly, we all learn the hard way. I've had chickens for over 20 years, and beefing up security is an ongoing issue. My dogs, both terriers, think that any critter in their yard is bait. They are VERY securely fenced, but sometimes a chicken will fly in, and it isn't good... I have 5' wire fencing, and Invisible Fence collars, set about 3' from the wire fence, so the dogs don't dig under or get to the wire at all. My pointer and retrievers were easy to train to leave the birds alone, but terriers? Not so much. If your birds are in a run, top it with wire or netting. If free ranging, make the dog fence an unattractive area for your birds. Mary

 

[thomasboyle]

Very sorry for your loss. I double fenced my run for the same reason. I knew someone who lost 6 chickens to a predator that would pull them through the fence. I used 2"x4" field fencing on the outside of my wood framing, and 1/2" hardware wire on the inside. That way big predators are kept out by the outer fence, and smaller predators can't get through or reach through the inner fence.

 

[happybooker1]

Well when I got home today the 3 remaining hens are still there. So extra fencing solved THAT problem anyway. Now searching for a few more Bantam hens to add.

 

[JanetS]

So sorry for your loss...we use 1/2" hardware cloth on our coop and run.