Total chicken carnage...(long) UPDATE

[BUG126]

Yesterday was a HORRIBLE day. After work I stopped at my MIL's to pick the kid's up, just like everyday. The 2 youngest were sleeping so me and my 6 yr old daughter were going to quick go to the store to get some milk. I had to stop at our house to grab something real quick and when I pulled into the driveway I noticed both the doors to the coop were WIDE open, I figured my BIL was trying to open the coop and pulled the Eye bolt out of the wood frame, which would allow both doors to open. As I looked into the yard I noticed a pile of feathers in the yard. I cringed, thinking a hawk got one. As I looked again I saw piles of feathers EVERYWHERE. Then my daughter shouted that one of her chickens was in the neighbors front yard. I told her to stay in the car and I went out to investigate. What I found was horrible! 21 of my daughters 23 chickens were dead and scattered ALL OVER a 1 acre area. I was trying to figure out what would do this, NONE of our neighbors have dogs, there are no wild cats, this obviously wasnt the work of a hawk, I figured it must have been coyotes. As I walked around the back of the coop I saw the metal vent cover was ripped off (it had 6 screws holding it on!) and there was greyish hair where something has crawled through the opening. Just as I was telling my DH that it must have been coyotes a mama husky and her pup slink around the silo. I have never seen these dogs, and like I said, none of our neighbors have dogs. I shooed the dogs into the chicken coop, locked the doors, and called animal control. Luckily the animal control lady beat DH home because he was so mad he was going to shoot them. The only place we can think of that these dogs might have came from is the small reservation about a mile down the road. I am so mad over this whole thing and feel so bad for my daughter, she was always telling people about her chickens, what breeds she had, what color eggs they layed. The animal control lady told me to figure out a price for damages, but I have no clue how to do that, plus knowing where the dogs came from its highly unlikely we would get any $$ out of the owner's anyways. We still have one GLW hen and one EE hen left. The EE is missing LOTS of feathers and is limping but there are no wounds on her. We will order more chicks this spring, but it going to be a long wait for our daughter.

 

[jed1154]

Dogs....where i live, a dog that even looks like its going to attack livestock is shot on site. I don't really care who's it is. My policy is to shoot it, bury it in the creek, and never speak of it to anyone. If it killed once, it will kill again.

 

[orcasislandchickens]

I am so sorry! How terrible.

Go ahead and figure the damages, put a dollar figure on the carnage. You may or may not ever see any reimbursement for your loss but it will help animal control, and anyone else that needs to deal with the situation. Often when someone is behaving irresposibly with an animal they have other problems and issues as well. Getting it down on paper can help establish a needed paper trail. Do it for yourself and others as well. -#-Chickens@--$-/per hen=$$$. Layers go for $10-$25 a bird depending on what area of the country you are in. That adds up fast to somewhere between $210-$525.

I am glad animal control has them the mama dog was no doubt trying to feed the pup (teach it to hunt). Perhaps no one will claim them and animal control will be able to find them a more caring and responsible home.

Edited to add: Oh you're in Washington state? Laying hens go for $25 /hen here. If you are near Seattle they have major issues /laws against dangerous or roaming dogs. (try and ship a german shepherd through sea tac).

 

[amazondoc]

I'm so sorry that you and your child had to go through this!

When you're figuring damages, don't forget to add replacement costs for the coop, AND your losses from not having eggs all through the winter, AND your expenses in raising new chicks. Don't leave anything out. Whether or not you end up getting anything back, getting it down on paper now will help to give you ammunition in the future.

Good luck!

 

[BUG126]

Quote:
thanks for the $$ amount. we are about 1.5 hrs north of seattle, just outside Bellingham. The animal control officer said the female might get labeled as a "Potential Dangerous Dog" because of the amount of killing that was done, but I highly doubt the owner's will even go claim the dogs.

 

[cthrash1]

Oh my that is just horrible, your poor daughter.. :aww I am so sorry you both had to go through this.

 

[BUG126]

Quote:
So I figured $18 for the 4 roosters (thats how much we get at the auction for them) and $25 for the 17 hens, which comes to $497. How do I factor the eggs that we arent getting? The 2 hens will lay enough for our family (hopefully), but the kids wont have any extra to sell. They sold them for $2/dozen.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I'm so sorry! I was going to suggest dogs because coyotes usually take a chicken or two & leave with the chicken.

Where in WA are you? I have a few birds for sale to good homes....

 

[wegotchickens]

Approximately how many dozen were you selling per week? I'd add at least a month's worth of eggs you can't sell as you get replacement hens and get them settled in (if you got any $ of course).

18 hens produced at least a dozen eggs a day? So if you used one for your family you could've sold 6 dozen a week. So I'd at least $50 per month's worth of eggs you can't sell...

 

[tuitui]

That is terrible! I know how you feel... Same thing happened to me except it was my own dog that went and killed a couple of my chickens. I had never before or since hit any of my pets but that time I kicked the heck out of the mutt. He's never tried it again. I hope the owners of those dogs will be found so that they can take responsibility.