The last of our "Old Guard" Manxes is a great hunter and showed a lot of interest in the first chicks we got some years back. We "claimed" them by allowing her to begin the stalk and then stopped her abruptly with the corrective sounds we use. Coupla times.. she was no longer much interested. When they became hens and started free-ranging, she went into their area, got a little too nosey (innocently so) and got chased by a RIR in full umbrage. She wanders among the new flock at will and they don't seem much bothered. We were a little worried about the chicks, but she wasn't much interested. Were more worried about the new Manx kitten, now 5.5 months old. She is very active and showed great interest in the tiny chicks. Momma Bea took care of the first encounter and we have been correcting her since. The chicks are now going on six weeks and too big for the kitten, who is now a lot more intimidated by their size. She now wanders in and out of the chicken yard without much ado, though Momma Bea still growls at her.
We have a lot more trouble with red tail hawks. Max defended against one just a few days back and had it backed into the fence, which it didn't like. We didn't see the beginning but apparently it got hold of one of the reds (lots of red feathers, but no apparent harm done) but either the red got loose or Max got her loose. When the wife got out there, the hawk was tangled up in the fence with Max. Both got away relatively unscathed (I saw a little blood on Max.). That's the third tussle for Max. Two more and he's an Ace! He's a great roo.
