Double K Poultry Ranch

So Thurs morning around 1 am my BF came home from work to a tragedy. A stray dog had gotten into our large outdoor chicken pen. Also one of our own dogs had broken off of his chain and joined in the carnage. We lost almost our entire flock of EE's, our Blue Andalusian Rooster, all but 1 of our Silver Spangled Hamburg Hens, our Silver Lakenvelder Rooster, a Golden Sebright hen, our only Self-Blue D'Uccle cockeral, an Indian Runner duck, a Silkie and several assorted chicks. All total we lost over 30 birds :(. Thankfully, and I have no idea how, most of our Silkies, and Frizzles survived. I am guessing they managed to hide. Most of the birds that survived flew up to high perches. This has been a devastating loss. We will now be looking for replacements. Domestic dogs can be the worst predators out there. They almost seem to enjoy carnage, and kill for sheer pleasure. We will be investing in electric wire for the outside of our pen. We were trying to avoid this for the worry of our children getting shocked, but in hindsight, we should have taken that risk. I know that it is hard to believe, but as many birds as we have, we are quite attatched to them all. Most had names and some are beloved pets. I am happy to report that Patty, (the Self-Blue D'Uccle on our home page), has survived. I admit that I cried like a baby when I found her perched in the rafters of our garage. We will not be able to offer hatching eggs again until late fall, maybe even early spring. 

Oh, how terrible. We can help you out if you need any EE's. We have been fighting coons. I started looking for a puppy to be raised outside and be the critter watcher. I had contacted the Humane Society and they want 150.00 to adopt a dog.  I was telling a friend of mine and she asked if I wanted her Female Rotweiler they don't have the time to keep her so,  she has made permanent residence here. Last night was her first night and no sign of any racoons. I even left a bowl of dog food and nothing was touched. Thank you Suka!  If there is anything we can do to help you, just let us know.

Kim

Thank you. I have not been online for quite a while. Right now I have been re-evaluating our flock to see which breeds we want to stick with. I have been incubating the few eggs that we have been getting. Most of them will be EE's. I really need to invest in a good LGD.