BYC Café

They seem to for the first couple of weeks and then get a bit lazy (maybe comfortable is a better word) about it. Not sure my chickens have ever seen a hawk, I don't know if that's why or if they were just too far away from mom to matter. The chicks will get 20-50 feet from the hens when they are wandering about the yard. I would think the gander would be more likely to back a hawk down, but who knows how far away he was when it happened.

You have quite a few hawks around, don't you?
I'm not sure that there are more hawks here than other places. I notice them more than some people is more likely the truth. We have one main proper hawk here and that's the Goshawk. The Goshawk is about as bad as it gets when it comes to hawks. We have a few falcons but they very rarely bother the chickens. I've only seen one falcon strike from start to finish since I've been here and the falcon nerfed the strike.
The problem with the Goshawk, despite it's size (females have a wing span of four and a quarter feet) is they are superb fliers and normally hunt in the woodlands, flying between the trees. They fly low and fast and more often than not unfortunately the impact on strike is violent enough to give the chicken internal injuries even if the outside injuries are fairly minor.
Chick survival probability is age dependent to some extent. For the first few days the hen will call the chicks to her and protect the with her body. I rarely lose a chick under such circumstances. After the first few days the chicks mobility improves and they have enough wing strength to move quickly. When they get to this stage the hen ends them away from her to cover and takes on the threat directly. I don't tend to lose chicks at this stage either. In the worst case the hen dies. However, if a hen is going to fight a predator rather than run, for the predator this is probably the riskiest strike. A hen defending her chicks is going to be very risky for a hawk.
At three weeks to a month, depending on the breed and the mother, the chicks tend to wander further afield. It's as close to this point as is possible I like to see the chicks introduced to the tribe and learning to follow it. While mum may not be quite so protective the tribes rooster will at least give warning and this does actually help.
The worst stage is when the chicks have been integrated into the tribe, but are nervous around the senior hens. If there are a few siblings they tend to wander around together but often not keeping close enough to the tribe to notice the hens behavior if the rooster gives a warning call. They do however hear the general panic alarm and run to find cover. This often splits them up and this is when most chicks die.
 
Sorry to hear about you father in law, Cap. :hugs

Thanks for the coffee, Dobie!

I've lost three chicks in the last two days. Decided to take the remaining chick away from the mom in the big coop. Was quite sad really, but I didn't think it'd be there when I got home tonight if I didn't. Also, locked up the 2 month old pair (was 3 :hmm) and left the other five with mama's (3 hens raising 5 chickies). Brahma mama is down to one as well, but it's a pretty good size. When she weans, it will be locked up with the others. It seems I was falsely accusing the barn cats of treachery...I left for work this morning to see a hawk sitting on the run roof :smack

Sorry about the losses Meg
 
I'm not sure that there are more hawks here than other places. I notice them more than some people is more likely the truth. We have one main proper hawk here and that's the Goshawk. The Goshawk is about as bad as it gets when it comes to hawks. We have a few falcons but they very rarely bother the chickens. I've only seen one falcon strike from start to finish since I've been here and the falcon nerfed the strike.
The problem with the Goshawk, despite it's size (females have a wing span of four and a quarter feet) is they are superb fliers and normally hunt in the woodlands, flying between the trees. They fly low and fast and more often than not unfortunately the impact on strike is violent enough to give the chicken internal injuries even if the outside injuries are fairly minor.
Chick survival probability is age dependent to some extent. For the first few days the hen will call the chicks to her and protect the with her body. I rarely lose a chick under such circumstances. After the first few days the chicks mobility improves and they have enough wing strength to move quickly. When they get to this stage the hen ends them away from her to cover and takes on the threat directly. I don't tend to lose chicks at this stage either. In the worst case the hen dies. However, if a hen is going to fight a predator rather than run, for the predator this is probably the riskiest strike. A hen defending her chicks is going to be very risky for a hawk.
At three weeks to a month, depending on the breed and the mother, the chicks tend to wander further afield. It's as close to this point as is possible I like to see the chicks introduced to the tribe and learning to follow it. While mum may not be quite so protective the tribes rooster will at least give warning and this does actually help.
The worst stage is when the chicks have been integrated into the tribe, but are nervous around the senior hens. If there are a few siblings they tend to wander around together but often not keeping close enough to the tribe to notice the hens behavior if the rooster gives a warning call. They do however hear the general panic alarm and run to find cover. This often splits them up and this is when most chicks die.
Thank you for your detail on your experience, Shad. We do have goshawks here but generally in more wooded areas. This was a Cooper's hawk, I'm fairly certain. Definitely a lot of changes in dynamics with the flock and the mother hen as the chicks age! It's an amazing thing. The two that were weaned found themselves a spot in a coop tonight. I never tried to herd them in there, but that is where I wanted them. All is well at the homestead tonight. Calves are on second day of weaning and are still bawling like mad but not near as mad as last night.
 
Good morning Cafe.
Coffee is made.
Could be in for more rain here.
The three witches are cracking eggs. Stuck my head in this morning to make sure everyone got off the nests for a bit and heard cheeping.
Hinge and Bracket got off the nest and went out leaving a slightly damp chick behind.:confused:
They were only gone a few minutes and the chick was still alive when Hinge got back.
The nests still look good. Eggs tightly packed and reasonably clean.
Nolia didn't get off her nest. A quick check by sliding my hand underneath her found 6 pairs of legs, tow pairs were very very small.:love
What I want is at least 3 more hens. This would give Punch and Mag 6 hens in total.
There are 16 eggs, half of which are likely to be males. Half again are likely to get predated at some point. That means if I'm lucky I may just get three hens.
Hinge Bracket and Nolia may have other plans.:rant
 
I've been trying to sleep off the vertigo - doesn't work. I can be sitting quietly in a chair- no computer etc., and the room spins around me. If I don't look up or down, or side to side - it usually goes away.:rant At least I have gotten rid of the headaches that usually accompany it.
 

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