Well, after reading about hawks, I then read about free ranging chickens and wanted to give my girls that freedom.
My neighbor has been free ranging bantams for 15 years and has never lost one to a predator.
I heard crows going crazy so I run outside and see feathers scattered
....then I see my little terrier mutt come around the corner
with feathers (some skin attached) in her mouth. I give her some instant correction and drag her to the house so I can grab some towels. I know whatever I find is not going to be good.
I don't think of hawks at this point. I find a mess of feathers out in the open and one very badly injured hen....and of course, it's my favorite of the 20 birds I have
. .. the one that follows me everywhere and sits in my lap. I close up the run, missing one bird.
I doctor up my badly injured hen and what I discover is that her entire back is without feathers. She has three deep wounds along her back. Looks like she was raked by talons. I don't know if the dog scared the hawk off, or if the dog decided to get in on the action, but I know that the dog is too small to have made these wounds.
I'm also wondering if the dog got the bird and maybe the crows decided to go in for the chicken. I don't know. I get to work though. DH runs into town to get me some needed supplies. My dear Macie is a model patient. I get her doctored up, in a covered crate in the garage and on a heating pad. Hope she makes it through the night. She's in shock. I go down to the coop to close it up and waiting to get in is the missing bird.
Soooooo happy to see her...she gets kisses and hates every moment of it.
I learned one thing today....I'm not going to get romantic about free ranging birds anymore. I know lots of folks do it, but my birds have had their last day out on the range. I'm so mad at myself!!!
I heard crows going crazy so I run outside and see feathers scattered
I doctor up my badly injured hen and what I discover is that her entire back is without feathers. She has three deep wounds along her back. Looks like she was raked by talons. I don't know if the dog scared the hawk off, or if the dog decided to get in on the action, but I know that the dog is too small to have made these wounds.
I'm also wondering if the dog got the bird and maybe the crows decided to go in for the chicken. I don't know. I get to work though. DH runs into town to get me some needed supplies. My dear Macie is a model patient. I get her doctored up, in a covered crate in the garage and on a heating pad. Hope she makes it through the night. She's in shock. I go down to the coop to close it up and waiting to get in is the missing bird.
I learned one thing today....I'm not going to get romantic about free ranging birds anymore. I know lots of folks do it, but my birds have had their last day out on the range. I'm so mad at myself!!!
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