Lost 6 chicks 5 dead and 1 still missing Warning graphic picture

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Kims-Little-Zoo

Kims-Little-Zoo

Chirping
Jul 28, 2021
37
77
59
California
Came home after being gone for 2 days to a trail of baby chicks from the coop to my garage. Somehow the gate to there run had gotten opened and one of my RIR adult hens was in the babies coop with the rest of the babies on the opposite side of where the adult hen was. i removed the hen and closed off the gate and that’s when i noticed the first dead chick lying right outside the fence. She was still in one piece no missing parts and no obvious signs of an attack. As i walked towards my garage i found a trail of chicks one after the other a few feet away from each other but again all intact, no missing parts and aside from a little blood and one of there beaks there were no bite marks or chunks missing feathers all still intact.
My initial thoughts were one of my hens killed them but the trail of birds leading into the garage tells me my 2 little chihuahuas are to blame. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
Background on dogs one is a rescue that we found on freeway super sweet and one of her puppies that she had after we found her. The puppy has tried “Playing” with the chickens before which results on 2 adult hens dying. I caught him in the act with the 2 hens and he wasn’t attacking them viciously he truly was just trying to play. anyone have experience with dog issues and is there hope for training the puppy not to play with the chickens? (assuming it was the dogs)
 

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Last edited:
rosemarythyme

rosemarythyme

Scarborough Fair
6 Years
Jul 3, 2016
19,933
41,348
1,122
WA, Pac NW
My Coop
My Coop
x2, reinforce the run door to prevent any accidental opening. Make sure to reiterate to any family, pet sitter, etc that the door must always be securely shut when they leave the run.

Can the dogs be trained, probably. You don't mention how much training they have already. I find it far easier to adhere to this rule: as I don't trust my dogs with my chickens if the dogs are out, the chickens are locked up. If chickens are out, dogs don't come out. My dogs have decent recall but I'd rather not test them with the temptation of a live, fluttering target.
 
P

Penpal

Chirping
May 30, 2022
111
189
93
The dogs should have been acclimated to the chicks and hens right off. Right now, train them both to "leave it". Using "no" is too vague. You specifically want the dogs to not nose the birds, not chase them. Use a leash and treats. If you understand how to use a clicker, use it.
 
fatimastic

fatimastic

Songster
Aug 26, 2020
495
222
131
Pakistan
Kims-Little-Zoo said:
Came home after being gone for 2 days to a trail of baby chicks from the coop to my garage. Somehow the gate to there run had gotten opened and one of my RIR adult hens was in the babies coop with the rest of the babies on the opposite side of where the adult hen was. i removed the hen and closed off the gate and that’s when i noticed the first dead chick lying right outside the fence. She was still in one piece no missing parts and no obvious signs of an attack. As i walked towards my garage i found a trail of chicks one after the other a few feet away from each other but again all intact, no missing parts and aside from a little blood and one of there beaks there were no bite marks or chunks missing feathers all still intact.
My initial thoughts were one of my hens killed them but the trail of birds leading into the garage tells me my 2 little chihuahuas are to blame. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?
Background on dogs one is a rescue that we found on freeway super sweet and one of her puppies that she had after we found her. The puppy has tried “Playing” with the chickens before which results on 2 adult hens dying. I caught him in the act with the 2 hens and he wasn’t attacking them viciously he truly was just trying to play. anyone have experience with dog issues and is there hope for training the puppy not to play with the chickens? (assuming it was the dogs)
Click to expand...
The position is similar to that of a hen died due to heart attack
 

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