My neighbor's beagle got loose this week and nabbed my favorite chicken, Sunbeam. Thank heaven I was home and heard the commotion. I chased the dog up the road and got to her just in time. Fortunately the dog did not run farther from me or put up a fight but just dropped the chicken.
She had squacked and flapped all the way up the road, but had stopped making noise just as I came upon them, so I really thought she was a gonner. I took her inside and looked her over and found no blood or broken skin. Just dog slobber. I just held her for the longest time. She perked up a bit, so I put her back in the coop and worried about her all night.
The next morning she was back to herself and doing her regular chicken things. It's been a couple days now and I'm certain she's fine. Who knew chickens were so resilient?
I am sooooo glad I got there in time. I can't help it, but she's my favorite! She has the cutest little comb flopped to one side and she follows me around and is tamer than the others. It always seems like they go for your favorites first.
We had a LONG talk with the neighbor. I told them I don't want to have to shoot their dog, but I will most certainly haul it off to the pound (and they can bail it out if they wish) next time I catch it down here. I caught the dog and was all ready to do so, but they came looking for it after the other neighbor told them what happened. This is not the first time their dogs have gotten after my chickens, although it has not happened in a long while.
I know we get a lot of dog-eating-chickens posts on here, so I don't want to get into the technicalities of dealing with bad neighbors (got that under control). I just want to celebrate that my chicken had a happy ending. This is exactly why I only let them out when I am home.
She had squacked and flapped all the way up the road, but had stopped making noise just as I came upon them, so I really thought she was a gonner. I took her inside and looked her over and found no blood or broken skin. Just dog slobber. I just held her for the longest time. She perked up a bit, so I put her back in the coop and worried about her all night.
The next morning she was back to herself and doing her regular chicken things. It's been a couple days now and I'm certain she's fine. Who knew chickens were so resilient?
I am sooooo glad I got there in time. I can't help it, but she's my favorite! She has the cutest little comb flopped to one side and she follows me around and is tamer than the others. It always seems like they go for your favorites first.
We had a LONG talk with the neighbor. I told them I don't want to have to shoot their dog, but I will most certainly haul it off to the pound (and they can bail it out if they wish) next time I catch it down here. I caught the dog and was all ready to do so, but they came looking for it after the other neighbor told them what happened. This is not the first time their dogs have gotten after my chickens, although it has not happened in a long while.
I know we get a lot of dog-eating-chickens posts on here, so I don't want to get into the technicalities of dealing with bad neighbors (got that under control). I just want to celebrate that my chicken had a happy ending. This is exactly why I only let them out when I am home.