Christine in FL Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Today we arrived home from church to find that one of our dogs had gotten into our 11 year old son's chicken coop and killed 16 of his chickens. Four had escaped and were hiding in the corner of the yard. It has been a long afternoon. We buried the dead chickens, poured concrete around the chicken coop, and are attempting to nurse back one chicken that has some serious bite marks/scalping. My son is handling it fairly well, but is so disappointed. He had just gotten to where they were laying enough eggs each day so that he could begin his "farm fresh egg" business. Now, he will have to start over in the spring with some new pullets. One thing to be thankful for...last Friday was the "Laying Hen Show". He had to pick three of his best birds to compete based upon physical structure for laying. His 3 Barred Rocks won first place. None of them survived the massacre, but at least he has a trophy and the knowledge that he had done a good job with them. Thank you for letting me share. I've not wanted my guys to see how sad this has made me, so I appreciate you letting me share with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinMominTX Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 I am so so sorry. I feel terrible for your son. Our local feed store sells more semi-mature pullets that are about 12-15 weeks old. This is what we buy so that we don't have to wait so long for the egg laying to begin. Perhaps you have a place nearby that sells the more mature ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Oh, that is too sad, for your DS and for those poor chickens. I'm so sorry that he has had to go through this and that he has to start all over again, and that you have help your sad boy through it all :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamommy Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Hugs, my girls were active in 4-H a few years back before we moved south. A pesky fox got many of their favorite show chickens and call ducks. It's heart breaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 I am so sorry! We had a neighbor's dog do that to a few of ours when we lived in Maine. Heartbreaking. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Your poor family! :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrid Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Awww... From one chicken lover to another, that's so heartbreaking. I"m so sorry. What a sad day. :grouphug: astrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Your poor dear son! My heart goes out to him. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 What an awful thing to come home to! I feel so bad for all of you -- and especially your son. It must be so hard to see him disappointed like that. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 My mother's dog came to town for Christmas. Remember Thanksgiving? Her dog managed to pull one of my rabbits from his locked crate and "play" with it? Last night it did the same thing with the other rabbit. Actually the dog destroyed the reinforced rabbit hutch. The metal bars are broken/snapped in two. AND the dog cornerd my cat and drew blood. My cat was so scared she pooped. Poor kitty. Deepest sympathies to your son on the loss of his pet birds. p.s. I'm pretty furious. But I don't want to ruin my relationship with my parents over a pair of rabbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Just a head's up. Once your dog has done this once, he is more likely to do it again. My Mom had to finally get rid of one of their dogs because he wouldn't stay out of the chicken and goat pens. He had gone years without doing it and then bam, just started up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 My mother's dog came to town for Christmas. Remember Thanksgiving? Her dog managed to pull one of my rabbits from his locked crate and "play" with it? Last night it did the same thing with the other rabbit. Actually the dog destroyed the reinforced rabbit hutch. The metal bars are broken/snapped in two. AND the dog cornerd my cat and drew blood. My cat was so scared she pooped. Poor kitty. Deepest sympathies to your son on the loss of his pet birds. p.s. I'm pretty furious. But I don't want to ruin my relationship with my parents over a pair of rabbits. I don't think you have to ruin your relationship with your parents, but is there something you can do to contain the dogs? Do they have crates? It really seems like there must be *some* way to keep your pets safe. That is awful, and my parents would absolutely hear about it if they brought a dog to my house that tortured my pets. Christine, I am SO sorry about your chickens. :grouphug: to you and your family. That's just awful. Your son has a lot to be proud of with all the work he's done with them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 I don't think you have to ruin your relationship with your parents, but is there something you can do to contain the dogs? Do they have crates? It really seems like there must be *some* way to keep your pets safe. That is awful, and my parents would absolutely hear about it if they brought a dog to my house that tortured my pets. Christine, I am SO sorry about your chickens. :grouphug: to you and your family. That's just awful. Your son has a lot to be proud of with all the work he's done with them! we thought we had. They were outside rabbits in big wooden, off-the-ground hutches with a cage front. They're backed up to our backyard fence and when my folks came to town we'd moved one of the kids play yard cubes in front of it to block the cages. The dog actually chewed through the end of the wooden crate. And then snapped the metal bars in half. This is a big dog. They've been here all week without incident. And then the last night it happened. The cat. . . well the snow was partly to blame. She got bogged down in the snow and couldn't run faster than the dog. She's doing OK right now and she spent the rest of the time happily in the laundry room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Today we arrived home from church to find that one of our dogs had gotten into our 11 year old son's chicken coop and killed 16 of his chickens. Four had escaped and were hiding in the corner of the yard. It has been a long afternoon. We buried the dead chickens, poured concrete around the chicken coop, and are attempting to nurse back one chicken that has some serious bite marks/scalping. My son is handling it fairly well, but is so disappointed. He had just gotten to where they were laying enough eggs each day so that he could begin his "farm fresh egg" business. Now, he will have to start over in the spring with some new pullets. One thing to be thankful for...last Friday was the "Laying Hen Show". He had to pick three of his best birds to compete based upon physical structure for laying. His 3 Barred Rocks won first place. None of them survived the massacre, but at least he has a trophy and the knowledge that he had done a good job with them. Thank you for letting me share. I've not wanted my guys to see how sad this has made me, so I appreciate you letting me share with you. I'm so sorry. Sending you all hugs. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine in FL Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Thank you for all your kind notes and sympathy. Michael (my son) keeps coming in saying, "I can't believe all of my chickens are dead. I really loved them!" He was/is so faithful about tending to them twice a day that he feels a bit lost. He does still have a few, but is really feeling the loss now. Again, he has appreciated reading all of your kind words. CalicoKat...so sorry to hear about your bunnies. It sounds as if you may be blessed with a cat that recovers! Daisy...I fear that what you say may be true. This dog has never bothered any of our livestock. But this past month, we have found him in the steer pen and in the hog pen, and now the chicken fiasco. I am scared to death that he may hurt the boys' show animals (expensive ones at that). I'm just not sure if we should get rid of this dog (we have two of them, so that would leave one alone) or keep him chained (which is may be too cruel since he is used to running in a fenced acre). Thank you again for the hugs and kind hearts!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Daisy...I fear that what you say may be true. This dog has never bothered any of our livestock. But this past month, we have found him in the steer pen and in the hog pen, and now the chicken fiasco. I am scared to death that he may hurt the boys' show animals (expensive ones at that). I'm just not sure if we should get rid of this dog (we have two of them, so that would leave one alone) or keep him chained (which is may be too cruel since he is used to running in a fenced acre). This is so difficult, but we've had to re-home many dogs who couldn't get along with our feathered friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missplacedalaskan Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I'm sorry! I'm so sad for your Ds. He has put so much of himself into his pets. What a terrible thing to arrive home to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 My word. I'm sorry.:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill- OK Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Unfortunately, I know how you feel. Only we have NO chickens left. (Whine) I'm glad for your son about his trophy...that's neat. (Hug) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I'm so sorry!:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 (edited) Oh no! I would have just bawled! Bless his heart! 16 chickens? My Goodness...what kind of dog was this??? ETA: I just read the rest about the bunny and the cat. My mom's dog is not allowed at my house (different reason...she lets it potty wherever it wants and I don't deal well with animal urine and feces on my hardwood floors, bed, couch, etc. Not sure why??? LOL). After this kind of killing, I would tell your mom and dad that you would love to have them anytime, but the dog will have to be kenneled. They can kennel him/her in your town so the dog is not far from them, but that is just absurd. You lost 16 chickens, one bunny, and you have a bunny and a cat that are healing from wounds inflicted by this dog. Absolutely NEVER would I allow this animal near my home again. Edited December 22, 2008 by Tree House Academy Read the rest about the cat and bunny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenpatty Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Oh, how sad! ((hugs)) We've had our share of massacres here as well. (One of them caused by us! :( ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I'm so sorry. We had the same thing happen to us a couple of years ago, but the same dogs killed chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and finally our pygmy goats. One owner didn't believe us, but Animal Control did and after a repeated incident, they took the dog away for good. The other was a neighbor's dog, and her response was that we needed to build better pens so that her ROAMING dogs couldn't get into them.:glare: Nevermind that her dogs wouldn't stay off of our property. (Then again, they repeatedly came on our property and took things if they thought we might not want them anymore.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 The only difference is that it wasn't one of our dogs. I can still remember walking out there and the sickness in the pit of my stomach when none of my chickens came running. I can still picture the little fatties running over to the fence every morning to get goodies. Gosh I miss 'em. I haven't started over yet, but will consider it in the spring. It's heartbreaking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine in FL Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 The day after the "massacre", Michael was out back checking on his 3 chickens in the coop. He noticed the dogs looking out the back fence into the adjoining acreage and saw...one of his favorite Barred Rock hens running around! He quickly jumped the fence and retrieved her. Except for a few missing tail feathers, she is fine :001_smile: The injured hen is still alive. She laid an egg the morning immediately following the attack, but none since. She is currently living up at the house in a wire cage under a heat lamp. She is eating and drinking well and does walk around quite a bit. She chirps at us when we go talk to her, so we expect she will heal up and complete our flock of 5. As for the dog...he is now chained up (30 foot chain) in the back acre. It is sad, but I'm not sure what else to do. Who will want a Catahoula/Black Lab mix 2-year old with hip dysplasia and a taste for chicken? For the time being, we figure it is a better option than the local animal control facility. Another funny thing in this is that last Wednesday, Michael was applauded in an article in our local newspaper for winning the Laying Hen show. He was also written up as the 4H Member of the Week. The article highlighted the perseverence, determination, hard work, and patience involved in being a 4H member. The writer told the story of his chicken massacre, but also of his determination to strengthen his coop and start over with a new flock. What a great reinforcement of this life lesson! Once again, you all are the greatest! Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 As for the dog...he is now chained up (30 foot chain) in the back acre. It is sad, but I'm not sure what else to do. Who will want a Catahoula/Black Lab mix 2-year old with hip dysplasia and a taste for chicken? For the time being, we figure it is a better option than the local animal control facility. I found that, as long as the dog was otherwise well-behaved, we had no problem finding homes for our bird-loving canines. Just be sure to let people know about it. I am so glad that your fifth is doing well, and your son got some good press. I hope it helps just a bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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