All My Chickens..... a coop opera!

[rural mouse]

I just wanted to let yall know that a dog got in my chicken yard and killed 12 of my chickens.. 5 are injured and 7 seem okay besides shock. I am devastated and heartbroken.. I can’t even handle this Cindy looks like she is about to die and Cake will have to be culled
The image of them laying everywhere will haunt me.
I feel like I failed them. This is horrific.. I can’t breathe

 

[Ponypoor]

No amount of money can ever replace a dear pet and friend.

So true, I was more thinking how to make the dogs owner/caretaker be held accountable to the fact their actions and their animal caused a huge amt of grief and stress not only to the Hoomans, but their cherished pets

Just really tragic

 

[bgmathteach]

I just wanted to let yall know that a dog got in my chicken yard and killed 12 of my chickens.. 5 are injured and 7 seem okay besides shock. I am devastated and heartbroken.. I can’t even handle this Cindy looks like she is about to die and Cake will have to be culled
The image of them laying everywhere will haunt me.
I feel like I failed them. This is horrific.. I can’t breathe

 

[featherhead007]

I can understand why she didn't do it but I would not have been so generous.

Nor would I

 

[ChicoryBlue]

It truly is and I would not wish this on anyone…. The first thing everyone kept asking me was if I killed the dog… gorgeous husky. But I could not.. besides by the time I got there he was done and too exhausted to do anymore damage. Now if I had a gun and he was in the act of doing it I would have easily killed him.. but to look at his stupid face and know that he was just being a stupid dog I couldn’t. My husband came to kill him but instead we sent him the the pound. Now if he gets put down there, oh well. The owners have two and they both keep getting loose and they got a complaint on Friday and the pound came out and they told the pound to take the dogs because it’s their nephews dogs and they cannot keep them contained but the pound will not take owner surrenders so here we are! They were apologetic and said they would replace my flock no thanks! We think the dog scaled my six wooden fence cuz there is no other evidence of where he could have gotten in.
I have heard the horrific stories and never thought it would happen to me I have done everything in my power to keep them safe a happy and then something like this happens
I just keep imagining them running for their lives scared to death and I wasn’t there to help them. I swear I can’t handle this. I am so heartbroken.

Oh WhoDat, this is a horrible thing. My heart breaks for you.

I know the replay you are doing as I have done it with a tragedy here, and it does not help to berate yourself. Try to forge ahead if you can. Because you need to survive it too, and your mind is not always being your friend by putting you through the imaginary scenes it makes up and replaying what you did see. PTSD is real and can become a problem if you're unable to process through the horror.

Your dear chickens that made it through do need you now and doing what is needed for them is your path forward, for you to save yourself too. Try to stay in the present with them. They aren't running the tape again and again, they are trying to calm down and feel good and get through the day too, they have to metabolize the fear chemicals generated, get a sense of safety back and have their routines resume. You do too.

OK sorry to belabor the point but this is a real trauma to you also, you know this. So you need to treat it too. This may help - when you feel the horror, let yourself feel it but don't run the imagined scene or the picture you got when you discovered them in your mind, that prolongs it, enlarges it, and you can get stuck there. Just stay with and acknowledge the feeling that has arrived, staying aware of your present surroundings, with the real things and beings around you. Be with your pets, your chickens. Let the feeling come but also let it go, let it pass through you and it will hopefully slowly diminish and you'll be able to breathe.

 

[BY Bob]

Oh WhoDat, this is a horrible thing. My heart breaks for you.

I know the replay you are doing as I have done it with a tragedy here, and it does not help to berate yourself. Try to forge ahead if you can. Because you need to survive it too, and your mind is not always being your friend by putting you through the imaginary scenes it makes up and replaying what you did see. PTSD is real and can become a problem if you're unable to process through the horror.

Your dear chickens that made it through do need you now and doing what is needed for them is your path forward, for you to save yourself too. Try to stay in the present with them. They aren't running the tape again and again, they are trying to calm down and feel good and get through the day too, they have to metabolize the fear chemicals generated, get a sense of safety back and have their routines resume. You do too.

OK sorry to belabor the point but this is a real trauma to you also, you know this. So you need to treat it too. This may help - when you feel the horror, let yourself feel it but don't run the imagined scene or the picture you got when you discovered them in your mind, that prolongs it, enlarges it, and you can get stuck there. Just stay with and acknowledge the feeling that has arrived, staying aware of your present surroundings, with the real things and beings around you. Be with your pets, your chickens. Let the feeling come but also let it go, let it pass through you and it will hopefully slowly diminish and you'll be able to breathe.

You are truly wise. This is a marvelous post. I'm so glad that you came to support her. I hope this helps our grieving friend.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

You are truly wise. This is a marvelous post. I'm so glad that you came to support her. I hope this helps our grieving friend.

Wise? Thanks but...it took me two years, truly until early this summer, to realize what I was doing to myself with Queenie's death and to get a handle on it. To see how it was a form of unresolved PTSD, and knowing that, to find a way to get more or less through it.

I do hope she can recover!

 

[BY Bob]

Wise? Thanks but...it took me two years, truly until early this summer, to realize what I was doing to myself with Queenie's death and to get a handle on it. To see how it was a form of unresolved PTSD, and knowing that, to find a way to get more or less through it.

I do hope she can recover!

Me too. I'm very worried about her. I would be devastated beyond words. I hope she can concentrate on the survivors. It is a way forward. One step at a time.

 

[WhoDatChick]

Oh my gosh… yall are so wonderful! I needed all this and I will return again and again to what @ChicoryBlue said as I will need this reminder. Honestly, I am only okay when medicated and I am happy when tending to my old gals. I am not happy going out in the yard and to the coop… it used to be my happy place and now it is just dark and depressing I cannot get the images out of my mind and imagining them frantic
Daisy is wanting my attention so I do give her hugs… Minnie seems to have lost her mind cuz when I go in there she starts circling me and then attacks as a rooster would! If anyone could explain this behavior? She was in the nest box the whole time (I’m pretty sure) but I wonder if she is just on defense or is trying to establish herself as the new leader?? She used to just mind her own business, so this is strange. And all of the new ones I am not very close to… they are all very flighty, except for Ducky who is darling. So nothing is the same… there are horrible reminders everywhere! My egg basket is getting empty and had to buy some eggs
My old gals are not eating very much but seem okay.. Rosemary laid an egg right where she laid after he attacked her. She got wedged between the house and a pole and that may have made her look dead to the dog so maybe saved her life. Maryn and Kelly were together under a bush. I have no idea how they got away! Maryn’s injuries are pretty bad.. Kelly is bruised with a small cut and Rosemary’s are in between. Kelly laid an egg just about an hour after the attack and another one today! Rosemary also laid another egg on Tuesday! Remember, they are five and a half years old so I thought this was strange as well.
If it weren’t for my neighbors and friends I don’t know what I would have done! My neighbor next door was the one who called me… I was out walking. She came when I got here and did all the calling to the pound and talked to the owners for me. My other neighbor Darlene (btw, my neighbors are my friends) came and picked up every hen and put them in bags. Then my friend Cindy came and after she was here Cindy my hen passed away and she got her for me.. she also brought the Vetemicyn. Then my other friend Stacy came with her gun and they brought Cake to the back and put her down.. she was bad Mr. Frank lives next toDarlene and was out with his tractor so he went and dug a giant hole in Darlene’s backyard and my friends brought all the gals there to be buried! I was blessed through it all but the pain does not diminish
All I’ve been thinking about for the past eight months is planning my daughters wedding which is in two weeks! I do not have any thoughts about it as of now. I’m hoping this will pass.
I cannot believe how much I love these crazy birds and how badly this hurts

 

[WhoDatChick]

It was a horrible nightmare I keep waiting to wake up from