Tragedy

February 10, 2020

Our youngest was outside playing in the snow. She came in to tell me that two dogs were fighting Kylo, our rooster, and the dogs had killed one of our Nuggets (our name for our Buff Orphingtons), and that Goldie (our Golden Wyandott)  was hurt.

I went out to find the dogs were gone but 6 chickens and the rabbit were dead, 2 chickens were injured, one seriously so, and 5 missing.
I followed tracks to find one. She seems fine, but 4 were still missing. I thought Kylo was one that I found dead but it turned out he was injured but ok.  I was hoping that the missing 3 were in a hutch that connects to the coop, but the access is buried in the snow.

My husband came home and helped gather up bodies and dug out the hutch access. We found Kylo the rooster under the coop, injured but moving, The other three were in the hutch there. Two a little injured, one worse of than the others but not as bad as Goldie.

The dogs managed to kill 2 White leghorns, One Buff Orphington, One Rhode Island Red, One of our babies that our Hen hatched,  that looked like a Black Sexlink, we named her Soy Sauce, and one white one we that was a White/Colubine Wyandotte, we called Ghost.

Stir Fry - The one who raised us babies last year, seems fine. She hid on the far side of the field.
Her daughter Honey Mustard is injured but I hope will be ok.
KFC one of the originals is alive and moving
One of the Buff Orphingtons/Nuggest is alive
One White Leghorn is more injured than some but is moving
Kyle our rooster is moving slow, but got himself into the coop
Goldie is really rough and I don't know that she will survive but we will see how she is.

For now they are locked up in the coop with food and water to give them a chance to recover.

Not a great day on the farm.

I could say this is another reason to not like dogs, but I know they were following their instincts, and sadly with the snow drifts, they were able to make it over the fence. It was just a tragedy.