The Saddest Valentine's Day(lengthy post)

[coopintheburbs]

Sooo, yesterday started as a great valentines day! I went to school, then hubby and I went out to lunch, then after 2 hours of traffic, we finally get home to our chooks!

All is well and we are playing with them and teaching them to come to "chook, chook, chook" when I realize one of our ameracaunas isnt in the brooder.

Turns out, she was an escape artist and my dog is an a$$hat. A grade-A jerk who was supposed to be protecting the chickens and she killed my Tallulah

I'd seen them kind of fluttering around the bottom of the cage, but she's only supposed to be a week old and I thought I had one more day before I'd need to close up the brooder for flyers. It is both mine and the dogs fault and that...well made for a downright upsetting and sad situation.

So, the last 6 hours of my Valentines day was filled with tears, a burial, and making a mad dash to cover any escape route with hardware cloth.

Today we're going to build a better, stronger brooder; basically we're going for the fort knox of brooders. Any suggestions?

 

[christwodog]

Is the brooder outside or in your house? I keep mine in a locked bedroom (my dog knows how to open bedroom doors) and I have screen over the top because they do fly super early. If brooder is outside, I can only suggest sturdy hardware cloth and possibly some hot wire around the perimeter. Sorry for your sad Valentines' Day. I do think Ameraucanas fly earlier than other breeds, JMO.

 

[coopintheburbs]

Is the brooder outside or in your house? I keep mine in a locked bedroom (my dog knows how to open bedroom doors) and I have screen over the top because they do fly super early. If brooder is outside, I can only suggest sturdy hardware cloth and possibly some hot wire around the perimeter. Sorry for your sad Valentines' Day. I do think Ameraucanas fly earlier than other breeds, JMO.

Its in my art studio, in a wire dog kennel. I had the walls blocked off but the top still had some space that she squeezed through

 

[christwodog]

Oh, they can fit thru spaces you think they can't. You may need some small square hardware cloth to wrap around and over the kennel to prevent any more escapees. Can you lock the door just in case, to keep doggie out? It's heartbreaking to lose them, that's for sure. I lost a hen to my own dog last year, so I know the feeling unfortunately.

 

[Plip]

So sorry that happened. I've worked hard with our dog, for a couple of years. She's okay when I'm with her, but I wouldn't trust her at all alone with chickens.

 

[chicknmania]

That's so sad, sorry for your loss. That happened to us when we first had chickens, too. For a week after that I took our dog out every day...on a leash..to the barn, and showed her the chickens...showed them to her and told her no, no, NO!! A couple smacks with a newspaper when she got aggressive towards them and more no, NOs! It didn't take her long to learn that chickens were no, no, NO! She then realized that she was supposed to protect them, and that she did, for the rest of her life, the following eight years, they were her friends, and she was their protector. It is possible to train them, but start now, so that you can see.