Gosh, that didn't take long. This morning I was brushing my teeth--in the basement bathroom, no less--and I heard a cacophony of crows. I rushed outside, where I saw the barred rock lying on her back and a ton of her feathers around on the ground. I also saw a bird that I thought was Thelma in the yard. This bird flew on top the neighbor's garage, and then into a tall tree. Here I was thinking, number one, that it was the crows that were causing my chickens distress, and number two, wow, Thelma sure can fly! But of course, it wasn't Thelma--I realized that Thelma was behind the garbage bin. It was a hawk. Trying to catch itself a tasty meal of one of my chickens.
I called for the kids to come out and help me--they were both still in their pajamas!--and we got all the chickens back inside their cozy home. We put a partition between the barred rock and the others, since she's hurt, and the Auracanas already are fighting with her--they'd certainly peck at her wounds.
Now I'm wondering what in the world to do to keep my hens safe from hawks. I suppose we could build an outside run for them....I've always liked the idea of free-range, though. Sigh.
A large percentage of the barred rock's tail feathers are here.
6 comments:
Elizabeth. Have you looked into chicken tractors? They can be the best of both worlds. The chickens are in a large enclosed area on wheels that can be moved around your yard/garden - thus "almost" free range :) This is what we did when we had layers. Sadly, one did get caught by a fox (we suppose). Went out one morning to find a headless chicken in the coop. The predator must have figured out some way to get its paws or head in to grab whichever chicken was close.
Ok, maybe the attacked chicken should be named Fajullah, since it was attacked by a "hawk" ha ha.
Yikes.
I've never heard of a tractor? I'm curious how that works, I'd love a photo, Deb!
Hee--Monica, that was a good one!
Deb, I do know about the concept of a Chicken Tractor. Mimi, basically it's the concept of letting chickens do your clearing and plowing for you, so you can plant a garden. You make a cage without a bottom, and put the chickens in. It's small enough to be portable. The chickens eat the grass, bad bugs (probably good ones, too) and scratch up the soil. They add their fertilizer (poop) and then when they're done with one spot, you move the "tractor" to a different spot.
I like this idea, but I like the idea of free-range more. But I'm not happy about free-range equalling my chickens getting hurt. I'm thinking that one solution is to have more hens, as I think there is safety in numbers. As a last resort I will try chicken tractor, if I don't feel they can be reasonably safe free-ranging.
Ok, now I can envision it.
Giggle, Monica.
Mimi,
Here is a website with tons of pix of Chicken Tractors
http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html
My tractor never looked as good as any of these (except perhaps the one with guy sitting inside it. :)
Looking at this pix makes me miss my "girls" and their eggs. Its been 5 years since I had them.
Elizabeth - on nice days we would sometimes let the chickens out to free-range. I know its not quite what you are looking for and I had to be careful. I lived in a neighborhood in the 'burbs and I didn't want the neighbors complaining. Of course, the hens always found a way into my FRONT yard - the little buggers. ;) I didn't build the tractor for the garden either. It was to keep them contained and safe.
Hope all is well and enjoy those eggs.
Deb
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