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[tweetiepie]

I thought I would share this incase it helps anyone to avoid the mistakes we have just made.

 

2 weeks ago a dog who was staying with us escaped from the house while the chickens were free ranging (long story). We realised as he shot past us outside and all gave chase, but he reached the chickens before us and grabbed one of them. We ran round trying to catch the dog, and my husband managed to get the chicken away in the end by rugby tackling the dog.

 

We examined the chicken, and apart from a large loss of feathers and a small red mark, it looked like it was just fine. We thought the mark was from where the feathers had been pulled out. She ate and drank as normal and didnt even seem too shocked. The next day it was impossible to tell which one had been attacked and we thought we had got away with it.

 

Then yesterday morning (10 days after the attack) we found the chicken dead in the run. It looked like it had split open. Apparently when the dog bit it, it had punctured the chicken and spread bacteria into the muscle. The small wound had then closed over making the chicken look just fine. But unfortunately the bacteria turned into an abscess which burst yesterday killing the chicken.

 

Obviously we feel dreadful. The things we did wrong :

We should have chased the chickens not the dog - we might have caught them quicker!

We should have realised the dog was in for the kill, not just playing.

We should have realised that a fully vaccinated and wormed dog still has a mouth full of bacteria.

We should have called the vet. The vet reckons the hen would have had a 50/50 chance with antibiotics and a wash out. At least we could have put her down, rather than having the abscess burst

 

Hope no one else gets their chickens attacked, but if you do assume the worst, you may well not have got away with it even if everything seems fine for many days.

[Egg Lou]

Oh what an awful experience for you

 

Thank you for the warning should any of us ever be in the same boat. I hope you are able to enjoy your other girls

[chelsea]

Sorry to hear about your experience and thankyou for sharing it with us, so that it may help other chook owners.

[Guest]

Sorry to hear about your experience and thankyou for sharing it with us, so that it may help other chook owners.

 

 

ditto.

 

I wouldn't have known that would happen either! Must have been a huge shock.

[beach chick]

a visiting dog killed our poor Tara about 2 weeks ago. we had seen both dogs having a glorious time in the field. our girls free range all the time, and tho our dog has the odd chase (likes to lick their bottoms!!) he is generally ok. went indoors for 5 mins and I came out to find the visitor with Tara in his mouth. meanwhile, our Lab was sitting to one side saying "I said not to do it". I dont trust him an inch now!!

its awful, but my only consolation was that Tara had a lovely life, and her end was VERY quick.

in fact, I think ours had pulled some feathers out a few days before, so it might very well have been the same story, only short-cut by the visitor.

so difficult, but I believe chooks should free range (my opinion, we have the space etc and lots of hiding places).

[Stevie]

How sad. I think this should remian as a sticky to remind everyone that you always have to be on your guard.

[Karen & co.]

So sorry to hear that you've lost your chook in such a way

 

Karen x

[MedusA]

How awful for you. You did what you thought was right at the time.

 

It's a brave person who is not frightened to share their mistakes, to help others. Keeping chickens is a steep learning curve. I still kick myself for losing one of my girls to a fox last year, through complacency. My run is like Fort Knoxx now.

[Nuggywoo]

I lost one of my hand reared Beauties to a dog. It broke my heart, she was 3 wks off being a year old - I've still got her sister (for a long time -fingies crossed!) but I'd tried so hard for almost a year to protect them from foxes only for a dog to get her.

 

I'm truly sorry for the loss of Tara, it's somehow harder to deal with when it's a dog that does the killing.

[Egluntyne]

Sad stories.