Saturday 11 January 2014

The end of the hens


Sadly the neighbours dog visited us today! And killed the two roosters and eight hens. 
All I found was mouthfuls of feather around the yard and one little hen dead in the garden. 
I had let them out to enjoy the January sunny day.... :-(


7 comments:

  1. Oh thats awful Marie :( Its so often neighbours or visitors dogs that kill hens and much more rarely Mr Fox. We've had a few near misses with friends bringing their 'towny' dogs with them that have never seen poultry. I assume they have all ben killed? Sometimes one ot two will reapear later after hiding out. A challenge for neighbourly relations to be sure :0

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  2. Isn't it awful when the chickens fall prey to dog or fox.
    I'm with Natterjack, keep an eye out for the odd one that got away and hid, maybe several doors down as when they are scared they often fly higher than they normally would.
    Take care
    Gill

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  3. I hope the neighbours were upset and agreed to at least reimburse...they say good fences make good neighbors, or something like that....so sad.

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  4. I phoned them after the event in tears! They were very sorry and called down later to tell me they bought an electric fence & collar for the young German shepherd. This is there third dog now that they changed due to problems with our hens and other neighbours. They always choose working breeds but are gone out to work everyday leaving a bored dog at home. They do the farm work in the evenings and weekends. A small house dog would suit them better :-)
    They are wonderful neighbours and their older girls babysit our kids when needed. I would prefer to not have hens than fallout with them. A good neighbour is worth a lot... I say through gritted teeth ;-)
    They also give us free summer grazing for the cow.
    Now if it was another neighbours dog, I'd be asking hubby to get out the air gun or something!!!!

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  5. Hubby found two hens hiding in another shed, looking stressed and with missing feathers. I find that a fox usually will take a hen and escape quickly with her.
    A dog will kill everything in a frenzy and eat nothing.

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  6. I'm glad you found two of the hens safe, even if they were stressed.

    Dogs are worse than foxes in that to them it is a game the frenzied killing of hens, at least the fox takes the kill home with them to eat.

    It's one of the few times I will smack a dog of ours if they go for a bird when we first get them as puppies, they soon learn to respect the other members of our 'family'.

    I hope you have got over the shock of finding your chickens gone.

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  7. Thanks Sue. At least a fox will eat the hen. Other people's dogs are always worse!

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