No one to blame but ourselves--we were busy doing other things this afternoon, and when one of our dogs mysteriously showed up on the outside of the yard fence, we just plunked her back into the yard and continued what we were doing, without stopping to investigate how she got out. We were just distracted at the time.
A couple hours later, we go out to lock up the chicken yard for the night, and discover a slaughter, with 6 out of 7 dogs present. I probably don't have to tell you how much carnage 6 dogs can create amongst a bunch of sleepy chickens.
We're not mad at the dogs, because it's OUR job to keep them and the chickens apart, and we failed. And to give them their due, they ate 100% of what they killed. I don't know how that makes me feel better, but I still remember how I felt after the huge fox massacre last spring, when I saw all those bodies just strewn across the yard. Somehow, the sheer waste upset me more than the loss, even.
Some birds escaped and hid and were unharmed. Others were injured and hidden in various hidey-holes all around the property. We spent a good hour rounding them all up. I can't think of anything to do for the wounded ones besides spraying Blu-Kote or something on the plucked/skinned areas. Any ideas?
We won't know for sure until daylight (and we're hoping there might be a few more out there hiding somewhere), but right now it appears that we've lost half our CB Marans, half the cuckoo Marans, one Easter Egger, and MOST of the Buff Orpingtons.
And this observation on the copper black Marans: Through this attack, they came out with a MUCH higher survival rate than any of the others. I've always known they were "wilder" than the other chickens, and perhaps they have a better survival instinct. Almost every one that we found hidden after the attack was a CB Marans.
A couple hours later, we go out to lock up the chicken yard for the night, and discover a slaughter, with 6 out of 7 dogs present. I probably don't have to tell you how much carnage 6 dogs can create amongst a bunch of sleepy chickens.
We're not mad at the dogs, because it's OUR job to keep them and the chickens apart, and we failed. And to give them their due, they ate 100% of what they killed. I don't know how that makes me feel better, but I still remember how I felt after the huge fox massacre last spring, when I saw all those bodies just strewn across the yard. Somehow, the sheer waste upset me more than the loss, even.
Some birds escaped and hid and were unharmed. Others were injured and hidden in various hidey-holes all around the property. We spent a good hour rounding them all up. I can't think of anything to do for the wounded ones besides spraying Blu-Kote or something on the plucked/skinned areas. Any ideas?
We won't know for sure until daylight (and we're hoping there might be a few more out there hiding somewhere), but right now it appears that we've lost half our CB Marans, half the cuckoo Marans, one Easter Egger, and MOST of the Buff Orpingtons.
And this observation on the copper black Marans: Through this attack, they came out with a MUCH higher survival rate than any of the others. I've always known they were "wilder" than the other chickens, and perhaps they have a better survival instinct. Almost every one that we found hidden after the attack was a CB Marans.
Oh gee! Sometimes we do pay the price but we learn from it!
