Chicken Assassins

Just to give you some background, we have a total of 40 chickens.  The 6 roosters were in a separate chicken coop and another 8 much younger hens and all are unharmed.  And there were 26 chickens in the new coop to start with where the attack happened but two of them (roosters) were in a cage inside the fenced run so they never free-range.  So only 24 were attacked in the new coop yesterday (September 6).  Here’s the damage. 

	Alive	Injured	Dead
Hen	10	6	4
Rooster	1	2	1
Total	11	8	5

 Among those injured, 2 (both roosters) are severely injured and probably not going to survive the night.  There are also 2-3 hens which I think are not going to last more than a couple of days.

Here’s what we think happened.  The dogs jumped on the link fence surrounding the new coop recently built.  The fence was not securely attached to anything but it was resting on the corner of the coop.  It was like that in the past 4 days as we are still doing some finishing touches to the coop.  So far it was working just fine until yesterday’s disaster.  The coop is built on stilts so it is raised about 2 feet from the ground so the chickens have more space to roam underneath.  Unfortunately, we haven’t finished putting chicken wires around the three sides of base of the coop.  We have temporary boards in place but it’s not securely attached to anything.  We left the chickens inside the link fence when we left early Saturday morning as we normally do. 

Here’s the picture of our new coop shown on side view.  It is not completely done yet (i.e. windows are not there yet and the front chicken door is not there yet.  It just needs to be drilled in. 

 

Our 2 dogs have a collar that ‘electrocute’ them when they reach a certain boundary that we have set on our wireless fence system.  Unfortunately, 3 days ago, the battery on both dogs’ transmitter collar died.  And the prong on Baloo’s transmitter collar had gone missing so we are still waiting for the new replacement collar prong to arrive in the mail.  So in the past 3 days there was nothing stopping them from going beyond where they are not supposed to go.  They have been respecting their boundaries in the past even without the collar.  They’ve never wandered on the road nor chased cars.  So we took a chance on Saturday morning leaving them without a collar as we had to go to the city to buy the replacement batteries as well as church.  Sadly the dogs must have realized that there is no ‘static shock’ stopping them from going close to the chickens.  When we’re here supervising them, they are fine with the chickens.  But unfortunately, no one was home, they must have gone to the new chicken coop and tore down the boards that were propped against the coop.  And that’s how chickens escaped and the dogs must have chased and killed them for sport.  According to our neighbour up the hill, coyotes or any predators attack chickens for food.  There’s no evidence that any chickens were eaten at all and no one is missing.  The dead ones are all intact with major injuries and one with the head torn apart (my beautiful Cochin hen) and left on the field.  Apparently, coyotes would not have come near if they knew there are 2 dogs there already.  And also if coyotes did come, the dogs should have injuries fighting the coyotes.  But there is none.  The dogs are unusually tired this morning and just peacefully sleeping inside the crate.  They usually do not want to be cooped up inside the house during the day (look at the picture below).  And the most convincing evidence that the dogs did this horrible attack on the chickens is the presence of egg shells in Baloo’s poop and I also saw a couple of chicken feathers near the front porch of the house.

 

 

The dogs had never shown aggressiveness against the chickens before.  But I don’t know exactly what motivated them to go after the chicken coop.  I can only imagine maybe the outdoor cat that live around the coop was the main target and during the chase, they tipped over the board that was propped against the bottom of the coop that is not completely attached yet.  Then the chickens got startled and started running around fast.  Our dogs love to chase and run and I guess instinct kicked in and discovered the chickens are fun to attack and kill.  And now, everyone’s probably wondering why we’re keeping the dogs.  But the dogs keep away the coyotes and the wolves and they’ve proven that in the past.  So which is the worser of the two evils?  The dogs or the predators?  We can control the dogs and if necessary we can put them in the kennel when we’re out in the day but the wolves and coyotes would slaughter the whole flock.  It’s our fault we failed to keep replacement batteries on their wireless fence containment system.  So is it better to have dogs that keep away raccoons, coyotes, and wolves?  Or is it better to get rid of the dogs and fully secure the coop which can be really costly? 

The lady who sold us the chicks back in the spring is so concerned that she came this afternoon to help us nurse the injured chickens and gave them antibiotics.  She insisted that I bring the 8 injured ones inside our bathroom while their wounds are still in bad shape.  I was hesitant at first about the idea of bringing chicken inside but she has a point.  The wounds will just get worse outside due to flies.  So here they are in the bathtub.  We’ve put peroxide and put a bandage on one that is badly wounded.  There are also 2 roosters inside the bathroom but caged inside the crate.  They are really in bad shape and may not survive the night.  She also kept telling me I have to choose between the dogs and the chickens.  She used to be a dog trainer and found Louie very aggressive for us and it is just a matter of time we would get in trouble because of her.  Baloo is a hunting dog (Hound mix) and not a good idea to be in a place with chickens.  So I’m really torn between getting rid of the dogs to save the chickens or keeping the dogs and risking the chicken.  [Pictures of the injured young hens below]

 

While the chickens are in antibiotics, we cannot eat their eggs for two weeks.  Therefore we will not be selling eggs for the next three weeks. 

What a heart-wrenching week it’s been.  I’m tired of digging graves especially just past week our cat Copper was euthanized due to kidney failure.  I’m hoping only time will help me become less emotionally attached to the chickens and expect things can go wrong.

Lessons Learned

1. Never leave the dogs alone outside without the wireless containment collar and fence fully activated.  Even though at times they respect their boundaries without the collar, it doesn’t mean they will respect it when no one is around.  Make sure that if the battery on their collar is dead, go out and replace immediately even if they show they are respecting their boundaries.

2.  Never transfer the chicken to a coop that is not completely finished yet.  Make sure if we are putting temporary boards, at least screw it in place that it cannot be easily tipped over.

3. Never take anything for granted.  What may be working well today may not work tomorrow.  Never take a chance.