what happened??? :(

[Northie]

Wow so we were almost totally wiped out today by either a local predator or a dog... Maybe even our trusty chicken guardian dog???
We just started free ranging our little flock this weekend and to our shock we lost almost all of our birds including the kids most favorite pair of huge cochins today. What ever killed them attacked their heads/necks leaving lots of swelling and bruising but no puncture wounds that I could find. It looks like they were killed fast and were all fairly close together with only one of the birds killed away from the flock... Maybe 30'. Ones head is missing and there are a couple that are just gone without an trace .
We had to run to town today and the chickens had seemed to do well in the yard...
So, they were left out with a dog who has (had?) been very good with them and seemed protective of them but, of course she's still a dog. She is all white so I would have expected there would have been some blood on her but there doesn't seem to be much blood anywhere... Just lots of feathers. Now that being said she's acting really upset/stressed tonight and has charged the bush with her hackles up a couple of times... Is it possible that something else did this? Did she get caught sleeping on the job? She's in the house now and sleeping but when we got home she was really stressed... And she was usually my egg collecting chore buddy.
Ugh, the kids and I are devastated... I feel so bad that I had finally given in and tried free ranging. We had built an awesome coop/run for them but got sucked in to the idea that they'd be so much happier free in the yard they lasted 3 days.

 

[GitaBooks]

I am so sorry to hear that.

That is a strange MO. It could be the dog, dogs do attack things without actually eating them. Raccoons tend to kill a couple and eat the heads and crops. Foxes will take their prey with them and stash them elsewhere. Bobcats will probably take one and just leave with it. Does the dog have any injuries on it? Maybe it tried to fight off the predator, which could have been another stray dog.

Again, I am so sorry. That is so hard.

 

[Northie]

I am so sorry to hear that.

That is a strange MO. It could be the dog, dogs do attack things without actually dog eating them. Raccoons tend to kill a couple and eat the heads and crops. Foxes will take their prey with them and stash them elsewhere. Bobcats will probably take one and just leave with it. Does the dog have any injuries on it? Maybe it tried to fight off the predator, which could have been another stray dog.

Again, I am so sorry. That is so hard.

No sign of injury on her and also no sign of feathers near her bed where she usually tries to stash things she likes. I don't know what to think with her, she always helps with chicken chores and then when we're done and I close up the coop she actually marks her territory around the coop... Tonight when I burried the chickens she followed but with out her usual tail up chipper attitude and watched me until I finish then marked near the gravesite.
One of the neighbors figures it was a fox, (another easy scapegoat) because it went for their heads... People out here don't believe in dog runs so it could easily been a roaming dog.
There are a few survivors
The guinea hen pair made it up into the trees and I coaxed them back into the coop and while I was doing that a young roo and a hen showed up. After us being in the yard one of the "dead" roosters got up, he could barely walk had one wing hanging, his tail feathers all gone and walked in a circle at first...he's normally a bit of a jerk but when he got his bearings he walked up to me an let me pick him up. He had swelling around his head and some scratches but no puncture wounds that I could find. He did eat a bit and I left him with the hen and she staying close with him... He was walking straighter too. We'll see in the morning I guess.
Such a crappy way to end the long weekend

 

[GitaBooks]

Then it likely wasn't her, I agree. She would likely act guilty if that were the fact.

 

[the poppster]

Dear Northie. So sorry to hear about your birds...it sounds like a dog, to me...I have resisted the temptation to Free Range my birds...just to many things around here in the U.P. that would love nothing better then a nice chicken dinner...As close as I get to Free ranging my birds is setting up a portable pen...in a nice lush part of my yard....with welded wire and pound in posts...the border collie herds them from the outside of the fence....keeps the birds safe from predators....and safe from their protector. As far as aerial predators...ive got 4 mature Roos that take their job seriously....and most predators don't like it when things flap in the wind...or a feed sack filled with grass clippings..is tucked half under a spruce tree, and moved frequently....the Corgi patrols the yard also....so critters thinking to get a quick easy meal have to try to figure out what is a real threat...lots of things going on....it seems to have worked so far...I'm not implying that your dog did the damage...it could have been a neighbor dog or dogs roaming the area.... your dog might have tried to chase them off...the other dogs could have made a Game out of the killing...kind of a Keep Away game...they would have had your dog running in circles trying to stop them....hence her barking and growling at the bushes...

 

[the poppster]

Dogs will kill...and once the bird isn't moving they tend to lose interest and go on to another...the bruising and swelling...and feathers all over seems to mean they didn't die quickly....if they had there wouldn't be any blood pumping...so wouldn't have much bruising or swelling...if any. It's a nice scene..birds wandering freely over the yard....happily scratching and pecking in the grass...but if you free range you will lose birds...sooner or later, guaranteed. No matter who or what is on guard. Even if they are secure in their pen....there's always a chance that some determined predator will get in...so far this year I've lost 8, month old chicks to a weasel....eliminated the weasel and it's mate...in the past I had a bear push a hole in my pen wire, big enough for me to step thru...then he pulled down the feeder, which was hanging from a chain....and squeezed into the coop and broke down all the perches....scattered the birds...the ones he didn't kill...and scared the others so bad I couldn't get them back into the coop...they migrated to the neighbors barn. So I feel for you..it's tough to lose them...

 

[chickenguy12]

That's devastating. sorry for that to happen. Probably a dog, we had lost two out of nine chickens to a pack of strays. the first thing was on their first day free ranging the dogs managed to take one and only left a few feathers and luckily, because we didn't get around to clipping their flight feathers, the other chickens flew up a tree and for a solid WEEK they only came down from to eat one or twice a day for two minutes or so. The second attack, a few weeks later, happened pretty much the same except that we were at home and managed to scare the dogs away and bury our lovley chook. I think in your case, maybe two dogs came and somehow got past your dog and then killed for the fun and stowed away a few somewhere and started to eat, but then became full and left.

 

[Northie]

The rooster that came back from the dead was up this morning and he seems to be holding himself better the kids will be happy if he makes it.

 

[123RedBeard]

The rooster that came back from the dead was up this morning and he seems to be holding himself better the kids will be happy if he makes it.

That's good news!

I don't thinking it was your dog either.

 

[the poppster]

Northie...I'm glad to here you didn't loose him to...and I also doubt it was Your dog that attacked the birds. But if you have a really nice big run for them...I would keep them in it....especially if there are neighbors dogs free ranging in your area....they will be back...and it would be a lot easier for your dog to protect them from the strange dogs if she only had to keep them out of the yard...you and the kids can add variety to your birds lives by simply collecting yummy weeds for them and putting them in a potato type sack and suspending it from the roof of the Run....move the perches around....add "Furniture" New things...move, rearrange familiar things...use your imagination!! They love it...and you can keep them as safe as possible.