The killing of Darwin by the hawk was the dogs down fall. See they were the ones who found the chicken dead in the snow. Once a dog gets a mouthful of chicken anything can happen. Even with a dog who knows better. 
Yesterday I let the dogs out only to have Ginger return alone. 45 minutes later Moses. And 45 minutes later a dead rooster was found.
It didn't look good for the dog. This morning I let out the dogs and after a small bit I called them in only once again Ginger dog was alone.
I hurried into a pair of boots and headed out into the snow. There around the corner of the house was Moses plucking this poor rooster. 
Both dogs have been scolded as much as I dare anyway, just wait 'til dad gets home! Ginger sent to her kennel to sulk. Moses to the bathroom. We called Colby with the bad news. In the commotion the eggs Beach brought in rolled off the counter splatting on the floor. Shortly after that an optimistic egg buyer appeared at the door. I made a dozen by handing off a few from our personal stash. Rooster in box, dogs in cages, animal cruelty abound, selling food out the front door for a small mark up- I feel like I'm running a McDonald's. 
Reprogramming bored dogs in the dead of winter won't be a load of fun but you can't have chicken killers on a free range chicken farm and they don't let dogs run on the treadmills at the gym. 
As for the rooster, Young Dr. Ries says, "he will either die fast or he will die slow." Yep, she is a farm girl.
Sorry to hear about your chicken and rooster:( Our dog has killed 2 of our chickens and almost 2 more;( The first one she half ate before we got to her. As you know, not a good way to start out. The second one was our fault (leaving them free ranging just on the other side of the fence where one flew over because the grass obviously looked greener but wasn't). The almost third one we found and thought was dying as it was laying listless on the ground. We all crowded around and almost had a discussion about putting the bird out of it's misery (due to the previous one having a broken back), when it jumped up and ran back into the coop shaking like a leaf for the rest of the week. The last close call I looked out the kitchen window and our dog had a chicken in her mouth, to which I yelled, she dropped the chicken and it ran back into the coop unharmed, but quite shook up understandably.
ReplyDeleteHaven't had any more close calls like that in over a year, but we do not trust her anymore and are more vigilant when the birds are free ranging.
It is a balancing act for sure. Any animal including humans, left too long with not much to do may find trouble. Our good news is the rooster is looking great today. He is up and moving but what now? His bottom half is a bit under dressed for the weather...chicken sweater perhaps :)
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