Turkey Mechanic-- Sad news...

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Woodnknots

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If anyone remembers this thread...

http://www.penturners.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22222&SearchTerms=turkey,mechanic

Our pet turkey, Zoe, was mauled to death by a dog tonight. I found her about 20 minutes ago when I got home from work. The dog plucked out ALL of her breast feathers and left her to die.

This turkey would literally sit down for my older dog to sniff her, but run away when my other, younger, dog would come around, because he tended to chase her. She was very passive, and would very often just come up and jump in your lap, sit down, and talk turkey with you. She will be missed...

I know what dog did it, but I can't prove it, not that it would do any good if I could. (And people ask me how I can possibly shoot dogs that come onto my property.) My grandmother always preached the 3 S's of farming. Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up! I have let a few dogs go that were very obviously not interested in my birds, and shooed away easily, but when they are determined...
 
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Oh man, I remember that well.
Very sorry to hear you lost your pet turkey.
I will remember the pictures in that post for a long time.
 
I too remember the post, Dave. And I was reminded of fond memories of my own experience with wild turkies when reading it. The loss is truly a shame. The guilty dog will strike again. Once they've tasted blood, they tend to amp it up a bit. We've had to put down (read shoot) more than one dog for "chasing" calves, sheep, etc. Just be ready. And your grandmother is right. At least mine always was.[;)]
 
I’m reminded of a time a few years ago when visiting relatives in Iowa. We were preparing for the evening chores of feeding the cattle in the pens when a neighboring farmer (mostly corn, beans and hay) drove up and search of his dog and asked my wife’s cousin if his dog had been seen. The answer was no. As the neighbor was driving away, cousin continues to work and calmly says, “He won’t find his dog.â€
 
Originally posted by alamocdc
<br />I too remember the post, Dave. And I was reminded of fond memories of my own experience with wild turkies when reading it. The loss is truly a shame. The guilty dog will strike again. Once they've tasted blood, they tend to amp it up a bit. We've had to put down (read shoot) more than one dog for "chasing" calves, sheep, etc. Just be ready. And your grandmother is right. At least mine always was.[;)]
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There was no real blood. He just held Zoe down like she was a toy and plucked out her feathers. My older dog used to chase roosters till I broke him of it. He inadvertently killed a rooster by just doing close to what this dog did. Stress killed it, just like Zoe, I believe.
Birds don't do very well with severe stress, they will get sick and die in short order, kind of like a heart attack. I hope that it doesn't happen again, because this neighbor is one that will definitely know what happened to his dog if it goes missing, and I really can't afford that kind of drama with these neighbors.
 
Oh Dave, I remember thinking how cute and funny your pictures were when you posted them. It's horrible when things like this happen. Unfortunately, it's not the dogs fault, it's the owners fault which I'm sure you know. Sometimes OUR pets pay for what other owners lack in owning their pets. I'm so sorry this has happened ........
 
I'm so sorry about your bird!

For what ity's worth, I'm a farm girl too and I understand shooting dogs that just show up. We often had dogs dropped on our farm and they'd chase calves and breed with coyotes and generally cause trouble. Or they'd just starve to death and that's worse. Rarely were we in a position to take one in and make a family pet of it.

All that to say, don't listen to anyone who gives you grief over the idea of shooting such an animal.

Julia
 
Dogs running loose often revert to feral behavior when away from their owners. A dog once killed two of my cows and a calf. It also attacked my daughter (then 7 years old), I had to beat it off with a stick. I later shot it but the owner saw me. The Sheriff, of the opposite political party from my choice, had me prosecuted. It got to court and was thrown out by the judge. He said I had a right to defend my property and family.
Your grandmother was a wise person. I keep a rifle near the door at all times.
 
Originally posted by Rifleman1776
<br />Dogs running loose often revert to feral behavior when away from their owners. A dog once killed two of my cows and a calf. It also attacked my daughter (then 7 years old), I had to beat it off with a stick. I later shot it but the owner saw me. The Sheriff, of the opposite political party from my choice, had me prosecuted. It got to court and was thrown out by the judge. He said I had a right to defend my property and family.
Your grandmother was a wise person. I keep a rifle near the door at all times.
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I've got a shotgun on the wall near the back door for just such occasions. It has been used on coyote as well as dogs. The last dog that met it's demise on my property came with a buddy. I tried to scare them away, one left, one didn't. They were hunting beagles. The owner (I think he was, anyway) showed up in my driveway about 15 minutes after I finished burying his dog. He never asked about the dog, I think he was just covering his bases. Nevertheless, I'm glad that it never came to a confrontation. I don't like to lie, ever, and I've often gotten the pot stirred inadvertently by telling the truth when a lie probably would have served better. I am much more comfortable with silence, hence the "shut up" portion of my grandmother's farming philosophy.
 
Originally posted by Woodnknots
<br />
Originally posted by Rifleman1776
<br />Dogs running loose often revert to feral behavior when away from their owners. A dog once killed two of my cows and a calf. It also attacked my daughter (then 7 years old), I had to beat it off with a stick. I later shot it but the owner saw me. The Sheriff, of the opposite political party from my choice, had me prosecuted. It got to court and was thrown out by the judge. He said I had a right to defend my property and family.
Your grandmother was a wise person. I keep a rifle near the door at all times.
Click to expand...
I've got a shotgun on the wall near the back door for just such occasions. It has been used on coyote as well as dogs. The last dog that met it's demise on my property came with a buddy. I tried to scare them away, one left, one didn't. They were hunting beagles. The owner (I think he was, anyway) showed up in my driveway about 15 minutes after I finished burying his dog. He never asked about the dog, I think he was just covering his bases. Nevertheless, I'm glad that it never came to a confrontation. I don't like to lie, ever, and I've often gotten the pot stirred inadvertently by telling the truth when a lie probably would have served better. I am much more comfortable with silence, hence the "shut up" portion of my grandmother's farming philosophy.
Click to expand...

Folks get unreasonably emotional about their dogs. It's a psychological thing I don't understand. There are a lot of jokes about it being OK to mess with a guys wife but not his dogs. You were right to avoid a confrontation. Reason would not have entered into the discussion. I recall one time I was on a deer hunting stand and a small beagle came up to me and just sat down. It was skinny and starved but wearing a collar with the owners name. At the end of the day, I took it home but stopped and bought some dog food first. I watered and fed it. Of course, I called the owner. When he came and saw I was feeding the dog I thought he was going to get violent. Seems there is a notion that a dehydrated, starved dog is a better hunter. For the record, I like dogs. But only when they are civilized and controlled by their owners. I'll say it again, your grandmother was a very wise person. Yes, gun and shovel on hand at all times.
 
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