Friday, February 20, 2009

The Worst Day

Sorry, I've been gone so much this week. I have been so busy! It started out Monday morning with a phone call. My husband's grandpa wasn't doing well and they called everyone in to come and see him. We went up there and somehow convinced him to go to the hospital. They let him come home the next day, remind me not to go to that hospital.

Since then, we have been going up there and visiting almost daily and giving those taking care of him a break. He seems to be doing a little better. He has gotten up a little in the past couple of days. He's still got his sense of humor, and his mind is still great. I hope he will recover and be able to get around again.

That brings us to yesterday, it was the WORST day! My husband and I had taken a quick run to town when we got a phone call from our son. He said dogs were attacking our rooster Napoleon and that they were killing our chickens. We sped all the way home and made it in minutes.

When I got home, I saw dead chickens everywhere. You can't even begin to understand how angry I was. It was a massacre! One poor chicken was in at least 3 different places from one side of the yard to the other.

I immediately called 911. Now, I know this was not a true emergency, but I was so upset I didn't care. My babies had just been attacked and killed. They said they would send someone out.

They had animal control call and say they couldn't do anything unless we knew who the dogs belonged to. We didn't but, I told him not to worry, if the dogs came back they would be dead. They did tell me they would put out a dog trap on Monday to try and catch them. Animal control also said they don't trap coyotes only dogs. But, this attack was by 2 dogs.


I was very scared because I couldn't find the rest of my chickens. We had 28, and they were nowhere to be seen. After a bit of calling and looking we started finding some of them. We found about 10 not long after we started looking. But, after calling for about 40 minutes no more were coming. My husband took off on the four-wheeler looking for both the chickens and the evil dogs. I started walking towards the woods. I found 1 hiding under the jacuzzi and 1 under the steps to the house. I also found 1 in the woods who was alive, but died a few hours later.

It took a long time, but more chickens started showing up. Some from out of nowhere, a lot from the woods at the bottom of the hill. I just knew I had lost my 2 newest and prettiest pullets, but they showed up, a few hours later. One of them I had given up hope on coming back, but I guess she was so scared, she wasn't leaving where she was hiding. If you are wondering, the guineas flew to the trees to escape the attack, so they were safe.

In the end, we lost 6 hens. All but one of our polish hens died. Her rooster, Napoleon, was badly injured, but is looking a little better this morning. A total of 9 chickens were injured enough that I can tell something is wrong with them. All of them were traumatized by having their friends killed. I don't think we will ever let them free-range again. I don't think I can take it if something like this happened again. Sorry for this post being so long, I guess I just need to vent.

20 comments:

Jodi said...

I'm sorry, Nancy. I would be pretty upset, too. :(

Anonymous said...

I understand how upsetting it is to lose our animals.
We live in a very rural area and dogs have killed more chickens and goats here, than coyotes or hawks have.
I am sorry for the chickens you loss and that the injured ones are on the mend.
I hope they catch the dogs that did it..
Pam

Danni said...

Oh Nancy - I am SO sorry. This is so upsetting. I feel your loss. Your poor pretty chickens...
I'm very nervous because we've just had people move in down the road with a boxer and 2 great danes and they can't keep them on their own property - they're always on ours. We keep complaining and I'm so nervous now when I let the girls out to free range. It's infuriating when people don't accept responsibility for their dogs. My heart goes out to you. -danni

Mommie Daze said...

Not again! That's awful. I'm so sorry. I really hope you get those dogs.

QuiltedSimple said...

Oh I'm sorry you lost some of your chickens. We have a problem with wild dogs here - when we raised whitetail deer the dogs would come and chase them mercilessly. Fortunately, hubby is handy witha gun....take care
Kris

Nancy said...

Oh no!! I hope you find those dogs. That's so heartbreaking. :( I'm sorry about your hens.

Carolina Mama said...

Bless your heart. I hope things turn around soon. Prayers for y'all.

Carolina Mama said...

That was me! :) Carolina Mama

Alli said...

You have been tagged! Go to my blog for the directions.

Alli

Lori ~ The Simple Life at Home said...

Awww, the poor little things!! They must have been so scared and traumatized. I'm sorry that this happened, but am glad that you were able to find a good number of them. I hope those that are still not doing well heal.

(((Hugs)))

Sharinskishe said...

Nancy, so sorry for your loss. I grew up with chickens and even though they were in a fortified coop, we lost two or three a month to skunks and raccoons who found their way in.

It is always rough to see any of God's creatures killed and injured for no reason.

Thanks for venting. I do know how you feel and venting can help calm the soul, especially if you can vent to people who understand your misery.

Best Wishes,
Shari

By the way- I sent you an email about the .com comment you left on Happy's ... Blog. I hope you get it.

Paula said...

Oh Nancy- I'm so sorry... I'm just in tears after reading this. I'm sending a big hug your way today... and I agree- you need to just put those dogs down yourself. I sure would!

Sadge said...

How horrible - I know just how you feel! Before we fenced our lot with hog wire, we used to have problems with loose dogs. We lost all our rabbits, and some of the chickens a few different times. The last time, Aries caught three dogs in the act and closed two of them up in our chicken pen. He called the owner (one had a tag with phone #) and told him to bring his wallet. Legally, he could shoot the dogs (he didn't), and sue to be reimbursed for loss of livestock (he was). There are still loose dogs about, but our fence keeps them out now. Raccoons, however, are a different story.

Homemom3 said...

I don't have pets, but will one day. So sorry you had to go through this. I hope the hens left continue to lay eggs for you. Sounds like the woods hen died of fear. Do you know? Good luck with the rest and I hope he found those evil dogs.

Tatersmama said...

Oh honey, I'm so sorry for your loss.
*hugs*
You need to get the gun out, I think.
And what would animal control DO if they caught a coyote instead of a dog? That just doesn't make sense to me!

Michelle said...

oh Nancy that is just awful! I can't even imagine the carnage you came home :( I'm so sorry dogs attached your chickens :(

Kendra at New Life On A Homestead said...

Oh, that's so sad! I hate that for you. I hope you can find those mean old dogs and teach them a lesson! We have a problem with dogs coming onto our property too; a Rottweiler, a Pit Bull, and a German Shepherd in particular. I really hope that whenever we get our chickens the dogs don't get them!

Crazy Chicken Lady said...

Nancy, I'm sorry I missed this post earlier. I'm so sorry. I had a weasel get into my coop last year, but luckily I fought him off. Now I constantly have 2 long range baby monitors in their coops just in case. Did you ever find the dogs? I'm so sorry.

Crazy Chicken Lady said...

Nancy, I'm sorry I missed this post earlier. I'm so sorry. I had a weasel get into my coop last year, but luckily I fought him off. Now I constantly have 2 long range baby monitors in their coops just in case. Did you ever find the dogs? I'm so sorry.

nannykim said...

So did you ever get the dogs that did this???? Let me know.