Who needs a day time fox, my dogs have just savaged and murdered my cockerel

[handlemecarefully]

Bastard dogs I hate them.

Ds (4) went down the back garden to throw some scraps into the chickens' pen. When he returned he forgot to close the gate to the back garden (my dogs are not allowed in back garden - they stick to the front garden and the house).....

The dogs got in and I surmise must have gone straight up to the chicken pen and sniffed and barked around the perimeter. The cockerel then must have valiantly decided to defend his territory and flew out of the chicken pen(he can fly over the fence around the chicken pen if he chooses, but generally doesn't bother) to take on the dogs.

I found his body (they had severed off his head) on the lawn and have cleared it up before the children could see it. Apart from his head being torn off, there was not much other damage - no spilt entrails etc.

It's irrational but I really loathe those dogs now. They are a Bernese Mountain Dog and a JR/ daschund cross. Perhaps I am naive but I didn't think they would be capable of such violence. I can't bear them atm.

Picture of dead cockerel on my profile. Can't believe how saddened I am....

Am also feeling really guilty (should have checked that ds shut the back garden gate, should have increased the height of the chicken pen when it became apparent that the cockerel could just about fly high enough to get over it....etc)

awww HMC, that's horrible

my cat is going through a spate of bringing in baby birds - I hate it when he does that - they look so tiny and helpless

oh that is terrible, the poor chap How awful for you to have to find him like that too.

The dogs were only doing what dogs would do i guess, i have a fox hate at the moment as one killed our bunny and our new bluebird a few months back. It is so horrible to find their poor little bodies

oh no

Somehow it's worse that he died at the 'hands' of my own pet dogs

Dreading telling dd (due to pick up from school in a minute) - she is very sensitive and caring...

Sorry about your bunny largeginandtonic - it's horrendous to find one of your animals savaged...

Message withdrawn

Can't you just tell her he died? She does not need to know the gory deatils imo.

Also, don't be upset with the dogs - it's only nature after all.

Despite myself Chequers, you raised a smile there when you said that you were worried the cockerel photo was going to be a headless shot.

You can't really tell from that photo because it is quite small, but he was a handsome, proud fellow

Sounded hars in my last post and didn't mean to.

Of course you are upset he has been killed, I mean try not to be upset with the dogs IYKWIM.

I won't tell her about the headless bit DrN, but I will tell her that the dogs killed the cockerel. Partly because I need to reinforce that when the children play in the garden they must close the back gate after themselves.

x-posts. Don't worry I knew what you meant.

Can't help it currently - really disgusted with them. I suppose it will pass in a couple of days (I realise it is in their nature)

Sad for you HC and your DD.

Tis a fact of life though and part of keeping chickens, when you have kids, is it does teach them about perceived cruelty within the animal kingdom. Kids who live on farms tend to have a very balanced view of death being a part of life, IM(limited)E.

Oh sorry hmc. How sad! I was another one worried that it was a pic of your 'dead' cockerel, but it is a much happier photo.

What shocks me most about the picture on your profile is that your birds are on GRASS! Mine decimate everything and live in what looks more like a pig pen.

Sorry about the dogs. Odds on it was the terrier doing what terriers do. I'd be angry too. But I think you will begrudgingly forgive them in a day or two.

Some consolation is that you probably have at least one replacement cockerel in your incubator at the moment.

Ah but you have more hens than me DoNB. The grass in the pen isn't the most lush though - close up there are bald patches.

You're right - I am now rather perversely hoping for cockerels from my incubator (when previously I was hoping for hens). Our new cockerel will be called Orlando II in memory of Orlando

Have got a restored sense of perspective about it since going out with a pal for a drink tonight. We raised a glass to Orlando and moved on to other subjects fairly swiftly [guilty emoticon]

How did the kids take the news HMC?

Sad, but I suppose he died with his blood up, doing what cockerels do, and like DoNB says, it was probably the terrier, so a very quick broken neck - he wouldn't have felt a thing.

Ds - Wahhh (mock crying) for about 5 seconds and then..."Let's get another one" - I worry about that child!

Dd- sustained crying for a solid 15 minutes followed by intermittent crying thereafter. Said: "But I loved him, he was part of the family...my heart is breaking" (must admit that was a bit too melodrammatic for me, although I am not disputing that she was genuinely very fond of him, as was I)

Incidentally dd is much more grounded than me. I was venting about the dogs and she said "But mummy, they are only dogs. They didn't know it was wrong" (that child puts me to shame)

It's a good lesson in life / death for them, I think...