Hi all - just a note of caution regarding our evidently bold local wildlife.....
A few days ago I was sitting out on a lounge chair next to a little pen we'd made for our chicks (just 4 T-posts with 48" plastic netting in a rectangle). We'd strung twine back and forth across the top to deter aerial predators, plus I was right there with my (admittedly small) dog. All of a sudden, all 7 chicks dashed to the side of the pen nearest me and pushed under the netting (they hadn't previously had any interest in escape so we hadn't put logs over the bottom edges yet). Before I could even process what was happening, there was literally a hawk in the crook of my arm. Maybe it was diving for the chicks in the pen, adjusted because it saw the twine or because they saw it and ran out, and ended up hitting me instead. I should have held onto it to make sure its talons were empty, but in my shock I let it go. It flew off and it took an hour to find the chicks, but they were all surprisingly safe and sound. Under the deck, under the coop, in the firepit, etc.
I've heard of predators taking chickens just a few feet away, but didn't imagine the hawk would actually be in my arms! It was like the seagulls grabbing food out of your hand at the beach. So now we have a reinforced pen..........and are speeding the integration of the chicks into the prior flock. They spent today in a big dog-crate inside the main run, double-protected!
