Lost a chicken today...:(

I lost one of my chickens today when my dogs got out of the fence. He was the only one out otherwise there would probably have been a bunch of them lost. I put him out because he was my mean one that I had been asking how to tame a few weeks ago. It is upsetting to me the way it happened because I was there when it happened. I tried to rescue him from the dog, but my dog would not let go. Once he finally did the chicken was gone. I just wanted to get it out of my head more than anything...hubby doesn't understand. I decided the best thing to do was butcher him and put him in the freezer. At least he won't go to the raccoon like hubby wanted to do. I spent money on him to feed and house him - so I didn't want him to just die in vain. I know hubby won't probably eat any chicken for a while thinking it might be the 'one'. Anyway thanks for letting me do a mind dump....

Here is the casualty...

I know the drill titanium. I had a beautiful golden lab, but he just could not resist the chickens so I had to get rid of him...Some dogs and birds just won't mix...Sorry for your loss and Yes it's good to share and get it off your mind...Hay

Awww.. I'm sorry. I know it hurts. You did good to keep the meat. Good decision!! I'm with ya on that one. Good job.

Me to,its been three years for me raising chickens and I am finally to the point where I am going to butcher the older ones as soon as my friend and I get togather so she can show me how to do it.She has butchered for years,we both bought killing cones a few months ago.She just called and we are going to do it in Sep.when its cooler and less flies.

This message was edited Jul 11, 2011 9:39 AM

Never worry about "Dumping" your feelings here Sweetie. The pain you just went through touches home with just about all of us and we can certainly relate!
Ive been there so many times and like Haystack , Ive had to find homes for those beloved doggies. Painful in the loss of a good friend and the loss of chicky babies. Just one of the learning processes.

I hate that it was my own dog, but when you have retriever and terrier type dogs their instincts to chase birds are just hard to overcome. I thought it would be more likely that a fox or hawk would get them if anything. I not sure how they got out of the fence. I had just finished feeding the dogs and was taking care of the chickens when they came running. Only thing I can think of is that I didn't latch the door all the way and put in the pin. I don't always put in the pin so that is a shame on me....I feel awful that it was several missteps on my part. I guess I should think about how he was probably going to the freezer at some point anyway. Just hoped it would have been with a little more meat on him...

I did notice this morning that the chickens looked much more active since he's gone. When he was there before most of them spent time inside the coop on the roosts or outside on the roosts. This morning all of them were out in the run scratching around on the ground this morning. So this mean old thing wouldn't let many of them alone to act like chickens. I noticed most of the time that they had to sneak down to get food and water when I was checking on them at different parts of the day. So maybe this is better that he's out of the picture so the others are less stressed by his constant attacks.

I had a little brightening of my day today look who strolled through...

Sorry for the crappy picture of mom but trying to get a moving target is a little hard when the stinking camera's flash kept going off so I could get a good one of her.

here is baby...

Wow! That would pick up anyone's day! What a blessing. :) Like when one of my lil hummingbirds buzzed right in my face looking at me right in the eye! It made me cry! LOL It was sooo cute... I melted. Awesome feeling.. :)

Lucky Lucky You!! How wonderful!

I have seen them on the other side of the pond getting a drink a few times. I've never had my camera with me to get a pic of them. Usually, when I went to get it they were gone when I got back down there.

When I saw them this morning I had to call my son over to let him see...I only saw mamma at first, but then Jacob said look there is a baby too. I was getting the camera at the time. I got a couple of pictures taken but the flash kept going off and causing glare...I had to turn the flash off to actually get a picture so you could tell what was there...by that time they were up to the gravel road and almost out of sight. They weren't moving very fast, but they weren't just grazing either.

When I go back up to VA to visit family I need to get a picture of all the deer that are out in the clover pasture at dusk. I've counted about 30 one time. That is a sight to behold.



This message was edited Jul 12, 2011 6:44 AM

I love seeing wildlife,my dog was carring on the other day and I looked and mother moose and her long legged baby was crossing the field

I would love to see moose in the wild ...One of these days I may just make a trip to Alaska to see them, the aurora borealis and some wales. I would be able see them all in one trip.

Here's my new (since May) dog Roxie (dalmation x pointer) who is learning to live with my ducks and geese. She has to be on the bottom of the pecking order and needs to walk slow with them. I am so pleased with her , she has learned what hawks are. When I say hawk, she looks up and sees it and barks and jumps up in the air. She is being whistle trained. Once she chased a deer in the woods and once she jumped off a cliff to chase a flock of turkey. but now when she hears the whistle blow, she runs back to me for the awesome treat (stinky cheese). She is so happy to keep learning and trying hard to please.

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you have a smart dog there; is she a rescue?

That is awesome that you are teaching her to be good around the waterfowl and to chase away the predators. I was thinking about adopting some geese from a rescue org. and I decided not to because we have wild geese that come in on their own once in a while. I recently had about 30 Canadian geese come in to the pond - quite a few are now coming up with my 20 ducks to eat ... so I have more than I bargained for right now...

Welcome to the fourum sillenye.This is my dog Tilley,she does very well with the chickens with training.She is 1/2 sheltie and 1/2 boarder collie and 1 year old.I have left her outside with the older chickens and watched through the window and she lays down and watches them but would never leave her with them without me there,to much temptation to chase I think.Thats my hubby holding new chicks while I cleaned the brooder

This message was edited Aug 19, 2011 12:31 PM

This message was edited Aug 19, 2011 12:32 PM

Yes, Roxie is a rescue. She's 3.5 years old. Sad story that she made herself into a service dog for a person, but they wouldn't let her go with her owner when the woman had to go into assisted living. She is a very serious dog so I am glad my husband is around teaching her how to make weird talking noises , as well as show me the belly (for tickles) and cookie on the nose. When I got her they said her only bad habit is she sometimes takes the sheets off the bed. I think that could come in handy. When the rescue person and I took her for her first walk, she pointed (pointer in her) to a pile of deer poo. that's when i knew this could be a valuable service for me with my 4 cats etc. Wish Roxie had a bit of border collie in her because she doesn't get herding and she is afraid of me when I have the shepherding pole.

Here's my duck Alice and her babies I just sold last week, have too many already. Still missing them. They look just like their troublemaking dads.

Awww! Nothing cuter than a duckling.

Yes, awwww! Cute ducks and dogs! Sorry to hear of your loss.