What could explain a childhood dream and a sighting afterward?

A vivid nightmare can leave a strong impression, and waking up frightened or moving around does not tell us exactly what happened during sleep. A glimpse into dark woods can also be hard to interpret, especially when you are already on edge. That does not mean you made it up. It just means the memory alone cannot establish what the figure was.

The dream, the sighting, and the chickens may feel connected because they happened close together, but timing by itself cannot prove a link. There may not be enough information now to reach a definite answer.

For the chickens, I would keep the question separate from the figure. A predator, disease, or another environmental problem could cause losses, but without details like what the birds looked like or what was found around the coop, nobody can identify the cause reliably.

Likewise, a light can make an animal's eyes look striking in the dark, though that alone would not explain the whole shape you remember seeing. It is fair to say the experience scared you and still leave the identification open.

Sometimes the most helpful answer is not a single explanation, but sorting what you know from what you inferred. You remember a frightening dream, a frightening glimpse, and chickens dying afterward. The idea that one caused the others is understandable, but it remains an interpretation.

If it still weighs on you, writing down the memory and talking it through with someone you trust may help you set it aside without having to decide whether it was paranormal. If experiences like this are happening now or disrupting your sleep, a health professional could help look at the sleep side of it.