Carnage on Home Turf - Hens Attacked by Dogs!

Notice Buff's feathers in mouth!

Last Thursday, about 7.30p my husband & I returned home from dinner to hear one of the hens "screaming" in the back yard. We both ran to the backyard where we discovered 2 dogs had been tearing our hens apart. The one large dog had Buff in its mouth, the other smaller dog was in the middle of the yard. The big dog dropped Buff and took off out of the yard as my husband tried to chase it down. I cornered the smaller dog (who had feathers in its mouth) and restrained it so it could no longer harm the hens. My husband tracked down the dog to a home 2 doors down and confronted the owners. I called my neighbor and asked her to call animal control; she then came over to see if she could help out.

 A short while later 2 gals came looking for the smaller dog, which we still had restrained on our property. Eventually the smaller dog was released to the owner who was warned to keep both dogs in their own yard. (incidently, the dogs has been in my back yard the previous Saturday, as I found out later by another neighbor; the nearby gas station had also notified these people that their dogs were loose!)



all of Buff's tail-feathers

When I was able, I checked on Buff - she was on her back, barely breathing, her neck appeared to be broken and I knew there was nothing I could do for her. My husband was able to get Daisy - who was huddled in a far corner of the yard - and put her in the coop. We could not find Red and assumed she was also dead. There were feathers EVERYWHERE; from the locations of the piles of feathers, it was evident that Buff had been chased and caught in 6 different locations around the yard. There were 2 piles of feathers from Daisy in the yard in close proximity to each other. **Keep in mind that the hens have free run of the (fenced) back yard - aprox 4500sf **




<><>

<> 

<><>

<>

Daisy all bandaged up



The three of us roamed the property looking for Red - who eventually came out of hiding from underneath the steps of our back deck. She was visibly shaken and upset, but appeared unharmed. We put her in the coop and scooped up Daisy. We brought her into the house and my neighbor and I started cleaning her up and tending to her wounds. She had large patches where her feathers had been ripped out and a large open gash - about the size of a 50cent piece - on her back between her wings. By this time is was after 9.30p; I told my husband to go out and "take care of Buff". If she was still alive, I did not want her to suffer any more than she already had. He grabbed a shovel and headed back to where the hen had been. He came back about 15 minutes laster and said he couldn't find Buff! Oh, hell... We did all we could for Daisy and put her back in the coop with Red. Again, the 3 of us grabbed flashlights and searched the back yard in the pouring rain for the missing hen. After 10 minutes, my neighbor left for home and said she would check back in the morning to get an update on the 2 remaining hens.

I was devastated - 1 hen dead, 1 hen badly wounded... I went back outside to search the property again for Buff. At this point I assumed an animal had taken her (owl, or Raccoon) and she was better off. As I headed back to the house in tears, I happened to look over at a storage tote against the house and walked over to see if maybe...

my poor hen so badly injured!

HOLY S#1T!!!! Somehow Buff had managed to upright herself, and get around the other side of the house (aprox 45') and wedge herself in this 5" space between the house and the tote. I  ran back into the house and yelled at my husband I had found her! She was in terrible shock and SO badly injured, but after being brought into the house and given a chance to warm up and calm down, she was able to stand and walk a bit. The puncture wounds, scrapes and cuts on her back were filled with dirt and debris, and she had a gaping hole in her neck where the dog had grabbed her. I was up until after 11pm tending to her and getting her cleaned up best I could. She was missing about 30% of her feathers and I was preparing myself to find her dead the next morning.



gash on Buff's neck





I turned on the heat lamp and tucked the hens in for the night, knowing that there was a very good chance I would only have 1 surviving hen the next morning.



Every day has been touch-and-go; the hens are on antibiotics and vitamin/electrolites. The first couple days were really rough and I was shocked Buff and Daisy were still alive. Red immediately became the protector and would stand guard while the other two hens rested. Friday morning, I even got a egg! It was extremely fragile, but at least those parts were still working! Once they made it thru the weekend it seemed they were doing better - at leat they were eating, drinking and pooing!

1st egg after attack (laid Friday morning)

They continue to get better day-by-day, although Buff's feet appear swollen and may be hurting her. I'm not really sure what to do about that. I put ramps in the coop so the hens would not have to jump up and down over the center divider but I'm not sure that's helping. The punctures and gashes on both hens are healing, although Buff is pulling the scabs off her back. I'm going to have to Neosporin her again...

Amazingly, all 3 hens are laying... sporadicly, but still laying! As the hens are on antibiotics, the eggs are not to be consumed so it is unfortunate that they go to waste.

Will keep you posted on their recovery.

~GP

Garden Treasure - Chicken Poo!

Galvanized floor trays pull out from either side;
4 nesting boxes allow for rotation.

There's nothing worse than wet hens! Well, there is, but we're talkin' chicken here... (yes, rain is the reoccuring theme - at least until after Rose Fest). The bonus in all this is that the hens spend more time in the coop.

Bonus??      Absolutely!!

My coop is equiped with galvanized nesting boxes and floor trays for easy cleaning. Just pack it over to the compost pile and dump!

I use straw in my coop; it makes for a great "green-to-brown" ratio in my compost pile! What's even better (and a bit gross) is that the hens scratch in the compost piles and churn everything up; effective (and efficient) composting aides!

My only request was that it had to have wheels...
this is what I got!   : )

The coop is my husband's design. It's perfect for the 3 hens; they even have a window to look out and see what the day holds before they go out!

It's built from scrap lumber, a reclaimed window, and the shingles are leftover from when the house was re-roofed a few years back. I failed to paint it last summer so will need to do a few light repairs  before it gets painted this Spring.

During the summer, it gets moved around the yard so as not to entirely kill the grass underneath. Since the coop has remained stationary all winter, this patch will get a bit of compost, grass seed and protection from the hens while it reestablishes.

Chicken poo is one of the highest nitrogen fertilizers/manures out there. It's awesome for mixing in your compost pile, but don't use it fresh or you run the risk of burning plants and contaminating fresh veg (if it is splashed up on leaves from rain or hand watering - think lettuce, spinach, chard). 

Play is safe - don't use any type of manure fresh in your flower or veg beds. Let it compost for a few months; active "hot" composting for 3-4 months, cold compost for a year or more.

I have 3 happy hens, which in turn give me 3 eggs a day.

Life is good.

PEAS OUT!

~GP

Look at the Bright Side...Good Snow Pack!

I guess if nothing else, we shouldn't have to worry about drought this summer! The amount of snow the Cascades are getting right now should put our minds at ease. Ridiculously cold and wet, but hey, Welcome to the Northwest!

I have been delinquent and not posting like I said I would... to tell you the truth, I was in Palm Springs for a week (had to dry out my feet for awhile) and I have been busy with events at The Wade Creek House. I will be better about it... I like blogging to myself so it's okay!

"Buff" showed off her home to guests on Saturday!

** So, for those of you who attended, you know what I'm talking about... the 1st Annual Chicken Chat & Local Coop Tour hosted by The Wade Creek House was a total blast! What a great event, and we're already gearing up for next year - mark your calendars for next April! Check out all the events and workshops - click on the schedule and tour the website.

I finally got my bulbs planted. Yes, I said bulbs... Daffodills and Tulips to be exact. I kept them in cool, dark storage all winter so they put on minimum growth. Now that they're potted up, they will take off - and bloom well into the latter part of May! I love Daffs and they make me smile, so when I tried this little trick last year, I was pleasantly surprised to have the bold yellow King Alfred Daffodills shining brightly after everyone else's were done for the season! I planted over 600 bulbs yesterday so there is pleanty to go around.

   Daffodills: King Alfred & Dutch Master (both dark yellow)

   Tulips: Apeldoorn (red), Darwin Hybrid (mixed colors)

* the above bulbs are $6/gallon pot

   Tulips: Parissima (white), and Queen of Night (black) are $8/gallon pot
They will all be available at The Wade Creek House starting Saturday April 9th.

So, I have not yet cleaned out my greenhouse... which means that I have not yet started any of my seeds... which means that I had better get my butt in gear so you can come out to The Wade Creek House and get your tomato, pepper & tomatillo starts! (The weather sucks -I'm ready for Summer!) This is the perfect opportunity to get out in the greenhouse and clean it up.

I have stacks of pots and planting trays which I reuse endlessly until they barely resemble a planting aparatus. I have been asked if I wash/sterilize my pots between uses. No, I don't. If you have a disease issue, it's a good idea to wash them in a 9:1 (water to bleach) solution. I do make sure the dirt is all out before I store them for the winter, but that's about it. It's up to you how clean you want to be!

Have a gardening question? Ask the Garden Purl!
I'm here to help  : )

PEAS OUT!
~GP