Tragic day

[KeliD]

My dog loves his chickens. He would lay in the yard grinning while they peck on and around him. Yesterday I found he had pulled out of his harness and was laying, injured near a hen with her head and innards missing. Two more hens are completely missing. I didn’t see what happened but I’m confident he did not kill the hens. He was guarding the body of the dead hen not allowing anything else to get near. He has dug up holes in the yard hunting moles and I think he was injured falling into one of them running to protect his hens from whatever attacked. There was absolutely no blood on him and no feathers around. I suspect a hawk attacked but will a single hawk take two and a half hens? Or do they hunt in pairs or groups?

We’ve seen hawks frequently but the dog lived outside and maybe kept them at bay. He is getting on in years and has moved indoors so maybe the hawks have decided it is safe to attack?
Any thoughts?

 

[Shadowfire]

So sorry for your loss. Eagles may hunt in pairs (not groups), and one large eagle is capable of carrying off a small lamb; it was most likely a bird of prey.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I’m so sorry for your loss. What a horrible experience.
I’m not sure but it sounds as if your dog was guarding a kill. Dogs will shake and kill a chicken like playing with a toy. Gets them all slobbery a few feathers missing sometimes a good hard peck in the eye or nose will get their heads chomped off. For him to get out of a harness is probably where his injuries took place. One poster here at BYC found that her dog was burring her “missing” chickens.
Or it could be just as you thought he got out of the harness to protect them.
Either way I would be putting my chickens in the run for a while. Because if it’s a outside predator it will be back. Perhaps invest in some game cameras to see what’s really going on.

 

[LlamaGirl4]

I’m sorry for your loss

 

[KeliD]

Hadn’t thought of eagles! Definitely a possibility. I don’t think the dog was guarding his own kill. I think he was guarding it from further attack. My husband thinks he might have retrieved her body from the woods after scaring off whatever killed her. We definitely have opossums, but I’ve never seen a raccoon, fox, or coyote- but I know they live in this region. No skunks at all - my husband insists they don’t live around here. I’m skeptical of that but have never seen or smelled evidence of skunks in the 9 years I’ve lived here.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I hope you figure out what’s going on. It’s just a awful situation. I am truly sorry for your loss.

 

[BansheeWildRose]

I'm so sorry When my dog got to my chickens, there was no blood or feathers on him either, but he ripped the tail feathers completely bald on one hen, bit the ass of another hen... there were enough feathers to make it look like he had killed one. I would keep them apart just to make sure and also to make sure its not another kind of predator... if he's never shown aggression to them before it is likely like others said, an air bird of prey... Owls made off with 5 of my birds this past spring but they were still half grown

 

[KeliD]

Update: I’ve been walking the dog on a leash due to his hobbled gait. Long story short he threatened to bite me to get away into the woods. When he came back he had one of the missing hens with him.
Alive and well. He went and found their hidden nest cuz he had an egg too.

 

[llombardo]

What was his injury? Is it possible he broke out of his harness in order to defend the chickens? I'm thinking more like fox or coyote.

 

[WthrLady]

I think he hurt himself trying to get out of his harness. I'll say fox. killed two, one got away, one in the yard, and one taken off.

I am so sorry for what happened. He loved his birdies.