I've got a story about chickens and bird dogs.
First of all, I have the sweetest little family bird dog who is also absolutely hell on birds. She's a Boykin spaniel. My 2-year old son terrorizes her and thank the lord she just puts up with it and loves on everyone and everything that isn't a game bird. Perfect house pet and just a force in the hunting woods.
A few years ago I went to visit a private landowner to negotiate a deal to get turkey hunting access. I drove over four hours to meet this guy at his place out in the country. He had some goats, sheep, chickens. Typical hobby farm setup. I had my dog kenneled in the car and it had been a long trip so I was anxious to let her air out a little bit. This guy starts to talk about duck hunting and wanting to teach his sons and needing some mentorship. We flirted around with a deal in which I would take them duck hunting a few times to show them the ropes in exchange for turkey hunting access at his property. Fair enough.
In my eagerness to ink a deal and show my credibility as a duck dog Jedi master, I thought it would be a good idea to show him my pup. Show off. Brag on her a little. So I asked the landowner if I could let the dog run around with us. He asked straight up: she won't go after chickens will she? I told him "No, she has been around chickens before and expressed no interest." This was true. So the guy says okay and we get the dog out and she hangs around us. I'm having to hack on her pretty good to keep her close. He's getting nervous, but I'm calm. I'm thinking I've got this under control, my dog's never chased chickens before, that I'm a great dog master and trainer.
Know this. Your thoughts are not your reality.
We are in a barn. My pup disappears underneath a tractor and starts acting funny, you might say birdy. I'm still convinced she's not a chicken getter, so do nothing. She's underneath this tractor for a while. 10 seconds? 5 seconds? It was 5 long seconds. All of a sudden a chicken explodes from underneath the tractor and my dog in fast pursuit. The landowner screams "Not the chickens!!" and then louder "NOT THAAAAT CHICKEN!!"
I'm speechless, sprinting after the chicken and dog, and wondering "Oh crap, what's so special about that chicken?" But before I know it the special chicken is in my dog's mouth and the dog is just trying to swallow it whole. I can hear the crunching. I say "LEAVE IT" and rescue the poor chicken from her mouth and it does this weird flying limp off to another part of the farm and underneath another barn. There are feathers in the air and blood on the ground. The landowner is frantic.
He goes on to explain that this is his wife's absolutely favorite chicken which she rescued from their small town during a parade earlier that year. That this wife would surely die if this chicken were to die. What are the odds that people have special chickens?
We spent the next 45 minutes trying to coax this special chicken from under an outbuilding. It's under there somewhere, and we have no idea whether the chicken is dead or just hiding in terror.
I'm deeply embarassed of course. I'm apologizing over and over and offering to buy a new chicken or pay whatever is needed. Eventually, we parted ways -- me just mortified -- and I never heard from this landowner again.
I pray for your chickens.