We have two dogs. They have been trained not to molest the poultry and it is not unusual to see one of them napping in the yard, surrounded by poultry scratching and pecking. It took a little work and a few close calls, but they are completely trustworthy now. Well, that all changed. We were driving to town one morning and saw two pups scurry out of the way of the car. We live in the country, and people seem to think it's okay to dump animals out here. I don't know what they're thinking - giving the animals their freedom, returning them to the wild, supplementing the food chain - it's just plain irresponsible, no matter how you rationalize it. You have to harden up to some extent. You can't take them all home or you'll wind up as one of those crazy old timers you see on the news from time to time - being hauled out of the house on a stretcher while animal control goes in to round up hundreds of malnourished cats and dogs... I go out of my way not to make an abandoned animal's circumstances any worse, and carry a small bag of dog food in the car for impromptu feedings. Breaks your heart to see some of these poor animals....
Well, somehting about these pitiful pups really got to me. They were at death's door, doubt they would have survived another night.
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So, I'm a sucker. Kept telling myself we would take them and find them a home. We took them to the vet to get looked at - they got wormed and we picked up puppy food. A month later they got neutered and spayed. They are too small to run the property with the older dogs, so we built a fence to pen them outside during the day when we couldn't watch them. I figure these free dogs have cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $800, counting the fence and vet bills only. They are now fat and sassy, getting into their own routine. The vet said they looked like mountain cur, which I thought was tennessean for "heinz 57", but it turns out that's a breed. They must have each pooped out a pint of worms from the wormer.
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They have not been trained with poultry yet. They are fine, so long as somebody is with them, but cannot be trusted alone with the birds. We have one pair of royal palm turkeys for breeding next year. This was our first year with turkeys - we got 4, lost one to a predator and put the other in the freezer. Well, the hen flew into the new pen we made for the dogs and by the time I noticed they had mauled her. She was plucked and pretty well chewed. We doused her with peroxide and put her in a hootch by herself to recover. She lived throught the first night, so prospects were pretty good for a full recovery. Then yesterday the tom flew in. I caught that faster, but he lost some feathers. All the bleeding was from where primary flight feathers and tail feathers had been pulled. In both instances we have used the situation as a training opportunity and someday we'll be satisfied they can be trusted, but not today.
Regards,
Pat
Well, somehting about these pitiful pups really got to me. They were at death's door, doubt they would have survived another night.
So, I'm a sucker. Kept telling myself we would take them and find them a home. We took them to the vet to get looked at - they got wormed and we picked up puppy food. A month later they got neutered and spayed. They are too small to run the property with the older dogs, so we built a fence to pen them outside during the day when we couldn't watch them. I figure these free dogs have cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $800, counting the fence and vet bills only. They are now fat and sassy, getting into their own routine. The vet said they looked like mountain cur, which I thought was tennessean for "heinz 57", but it turns out that's a breed. They must have each pooped out a pint of worms from the wormer.
They have not been trained with poultry yet. They are fine, so long as somebody is with them, but cannot be trusted alone with the birds. We have one pair of royal palm turkeys for breeding next year. This was our first year with turkeys - we got 4, lost one to a predator and put the other in the freezer. Well, the hen flew into the new pen we made for the dogs and by the time I noticed they had mauled her. She was plucked and pretty well chewed. We doused her with peroxide and put her in a hootch by herself to recover. She lived throught the first night, so prospects were pretty good for a full recovery. Then yesterday the tom flew in. I caught that faster, but he lost some feathers. All the bleeding was from where primary flight feathers and tail feathers had been pulled. In both instances we have used the situation as a training opportunity and someday we'll be satisfied they can be trusted, but not today.
Regards,
Pat
