Yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from Miss Kat. That in itself isn't unusual, however she said the dogs were out of their pen. That is unusual, as this pen is pretty secure.
She then went on to tell me I'd lost a chicken. But all she could see were feathers, no body. I added 2 + 2 and got 4...meaning 2 dogs who got out of their pen + 1 missing chicken = well, dogs killing chickens. Logical, right?
Except...their usual MO is to kill the chickens, maybe disembowel them, but leave them for me to find. And the dogs didn't dig out, nor was the gate unlatched. Kev said they did push the fence post loose and must have squeezed out, but it wasn't a big area. Emily, our lab, was very stiff and sore last night, to the point that she didn't want to lay down, and she didn't want to get up, and she moaned and groaned while doing either.
We discovered that both of our remaining "adult" chickens were gone. No Rooster, no Americana hen. Just feathers, and not an abundant amount either.
So, I wonder if perhaps something other than the dogs got my chickens. That Rooster was a big fellow, and he had spurs at least an inch long. The hen was timid, and it looks like her feathers were those closest to the hen house. So, we are surmising that perhaps a coyote, or a fox got our chickens and took them away. If another "canine" type of animal were around, then the dogs would probably work at getting out of their pen, and that would account for Emily's stiffness and soreness.
I'm very disappointed to loose the Rooster. I was counting on him to assist my hens in hatching some chicks. (Hey, they can't do it alone!) And, I really liked my little Americana hen. You know what this means, don't you? It means that I'm going to have to buy some more chickens--and this time, I want a rooster.
But I still don't know what exactly happened to my chickens or how and why my dogs got out of their pen.
It's a mystery.
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