Thursday, June 19, 2008

expensive chickens

Back in April I ordered five Americauna chicks from the farm store. And after we had had them for a month,  the dog in a fit of jealousy and getting into things she shouldn't, let them out of their box, and proceeded to pounce or play or grab and shake them while no one was home. She killed all five of them.

I was heartbroken, and incredibly angry. The dog, was very close to being killed or taken to the pound. I know someone out there is thinking, but she is just a dog. Yep, just a dog. But a dog who tore up the kitchen, that day, drug a bag of garbage into the bedroom to destroy, and urinated and defecated on my bedroom floor. She was willfully  disobedient.

She did not chew mangle or eat the chicks, and that is the only reason she is not gone. She screwed up, she destroyed and got into things she knew she shouldn't, so she got in serious trouble, and she spent a week in her kennel, only getting out to eat and go out side to stretch, and "go". Hubby was ready to take her to the pound, I was so angry. And had she eaten the chicks, I'd have let him. There is no fixing a chicken eater.

We are partly responsible, as we did not lock the kennel. So the blame is split. Last week the boys and I went out to check on and play with the kittens and in a jealous fit she destroyed the kitchen garbage. So, she obviously can't be left out of the kennel if we are not in the house. And when I take showers or have to go to the basement to do laundry I lock her up.

I ordered more chickens. It was too late to get more from the farm store, and hatcheries who ship to you have to ship about 20 to ensure that the chicks are warm enough to survive the trip. After some investigating I ordered from a hatchery in Missouri, that Hubby could get a load going past and pick up the chicks. He got a load going the other way. :|  So, I had to go get the chicks or forfeit the order.

$100 in gas and 13 hours in the car. Half of which was spent listening to the chicks peep. Incessantly. Apparently the reason they don't travel well is because they don't sleep.  These girls has better lay some really fantastic eggs.

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5 comments:

  1. I have an older book, and the trainer recommends basically killing one of your flock and beating the dog with it when they show interest in it. I could not beat her with the carcasses, but I stuck her nose into the brooder box with the dead chicks and let her know in no uncertain terms how I felt: corporal punishment, and venomous vocalizations. She wont even look at the box with the new chicks in it. So I guess we all learned our lesson the hard way. but she will still be kenneled anytime I'm not in a position to have an eye on her.

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  2. Your plan is sound :) Bear in mind, it may need to be repeated if she's not the most reliable on these kinds of things. You did pretty much what we'd do. My fave is what city people always tell me, "I heard to hang the carcass around their neck and they'll get so disgusted with it, they won't come near a chicken again."Um, have you seen what dogs eat? I mean dogs that have real land to play on? They eat as much of something they killed that they can hold. Then, they bury it for anywhere from three to thirty days, dig it up and eat it. A dead carcass around their neck is like handing me an ice cream cone! ;p

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  3. lol, at the ice cream comment.. I don't know how just hanging it on them would do anything, for heaven sake they eat from the litter box like is a box of Godiva..So far she has not even looked in the brooder box, but it is in the dining room where I can see it almost all the time, and if I'll be outside I take her with, and if I'll be in the basement or shower I lock her up, (or asleep). She may just not ever be able to be out of the kennel when we are gone or busy. I kenneled our last dog when ever we were gone, until she got so old she could not turn in the kennel. But by then she had no desire to chase anything, and my only worry was she would not be able to "hold it" until we returned. This dog is only 1 year old. So in everyway she is still a puppy, and she is a Black Lab, and plenty of people have told me she will always be a "puppy." As long as she is a puppy who behaves that is fine.

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  4. Whoa, Nelly! Yeah, a year old pup has so little "restraint." Good luck with it, I know it'll turn out okay, even if for a sad mishap in between. :)

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  5. The good thing about Sabrina is that she wants to be a good dog, she is pretty sensitive to our moods with her. So if we can get past the hurdle where she learns she cant play with them, ever. We should be good. She leaves the adults alone, and she is learning she can't play with the kittens either.

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