Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[MaryJanet]

In the post I said that those were the Vedas. No mystery there.

Yeh, the mystery is my inexplicable partial loss of vision

 

[micstrachan]

Poor Ruby.

 

[Scrambles83]

Poor Ruby.

Oh no

 

[Scrambles83]

I worked at the school holiday program today and we went with the kids to our small local native wildlife park/sanctuary.
They had one of these that had been rescued and was rehabilitating @Shadrach and it made me think of you!

And lots of these adorable things lazing about...

 

[Ribh]

Concern

I thought that something was up yesterday. Now I find alarm bells going off in my head. I thought I would do a real Coffee Klatch photo this morning like Ned, Lucky, and I used to have. I figured Aurora might pose in the other chair for me. At least it was worth a shot.

More background..... yesterday, the tribe was thrilled to see me. I got about an hour in with them in the morning. We had a splendid time getting reacquainted. Sadly though, it seemed Hattie was laying her egg at the time. Later in the day Hattie was about but my "spidey senses" were tingling. Something seemed off. She seemed passive when I put some mealy worms out for them.

So at this mornings Coffee Klatch I brought out her favorite, purple corn. Normal behavior is such that Hattie will not stop eating corn until I stop providing it. Today she left after a little more than a handful. She also normally defends her corn hand from all comers. Today even Phyllis got some from my hand while Hattie was eating.

After corn time was over, the tribe went about ranging in the side yard. Here they are. Can you find Hattie?
View attachment 2603426

Spoiler: Here's Hattie

View attachment 2603427

She has been sitting there for almost 40 min now while the rest of the tribe ranges. The tribe did stop by for 5 min of grooming with her but they then moved on without her.
View attachment 2603429

Aurora is serving as sentinel right now. I do think that there may have been some hawks around either while I was gone or this morning because Aurora has them a little jumpy. Lilly in particular is sprinting accross the open stretches of yard.

When Mrs BY Bob gets home from work, Hattie is going to get a once over. I do wish I could tell her eggs from the others. They are all so close in shape and color right now I have no idea if she is actually laying or not.

I am more than a little concerned.

Oh, no, Bob! Not my Hattie. I do hope she is just feeling a little off & it's nothing serious.

 

[Cynthia12]

This is a long response but you have a serious decision to make and I want to be thorough and give you all I can from my experiences.

This has been my exact experience with hawks.

Spoiler: the shock of Dolly's death

Nothing prepares you to respond to some bokking to find a hawk standing on you hen eating it.

When I lost Dolly in the first attack Trisha was hidden under our deck. I could not find her. She would not respond to my calls. I thought I had lost both hens. It took hours and a whole lot of tears until she would respond and come out.

The hawks themselves have zero fear of humans. None whatsoever. They are the only wild animal I have personally encountered that does not care if we are near or not. I try to be with them when I free range them to deter hawk attacks but the hawks will attack anyway. I did thwart an attack a few months back by simply standing up but the hawk was going to attack Sansa when she was a couple of feet from me.

Despite multiple attacks since then, I have not lost another hen to hawks. The tribe has gotten much better at identifying the threat and tries to stick to cover when free ranging. The hawks have gotten hung up in trees and bushes while trying to attack. This has given me time to respond to the threat. As the leaves come out onto the trees their cover will also improve.

As to whether you should free range them or not, this is something that is tough to grapple with. In some ways I have been influenced by how @Shadrach manages his tribes. My tribe seems to enjoy being out. I have provided them with a much safety as I can. Most times I am with them as added safety. But I am again letting them be responsible for their own lives to some degree and giving them the freedom of the yard as much as I can.

Frankly I have lost my beloved Maleficent while she was "protected" in the big run. It is all about what level of risk you are willing to accept for your hens. I think having suffered so many losses over the years to things other than hawks has given me a little perspective that while a definite danger, hawks are not the only thing that would take one of my beloved pets from me.

I will also point out, that it is likely that none of your tribe knew that a hawk was a danger where you live. Outside of Queenie, I'm pretty certain that they had no mothers or fathers to teach them that danger comes from the sky. (I feel safe in guessing that Queenie also did not but it is possiblefrom her time free ranging previously that she had learned such a lesson). I would expect that their sentinel will be much more aware of the sky in the future and that they will not wander in the open but rather scamper accross it to cover like mine usually do.

Obviously only you can decide if you are going to keep them to the tractor or let them free range and I will not attempt to push you in any direction. I hope this has been helpful in some way.

Pretty sure something was after mine the other day. I had left the gate open that night, so they wandered out early in the morning to the big yard. I came out later, wondering where they were. I threw down some fresh grass. Surprised me they stayed under the nursery hutch. Finally Cleo and Silver came out. Mable is always the first to come! She wouldn't come out. Had to get her. Checked her over good. No injuries. Put her down, back under the hutch she went. Took half the day of me going in and out checking and talking to them. I've had hawks fly right over my head after a chicken. They hurried and went up as I had surprised then..during...an attack. These were the bigger ones..we also have the Cooper Hawk. Brazen little stinks, and I've seen two flying around here lately. Guessing they gave it a go on my girls the other day. Glad they got away..but it sure scared them.

 

[Cynthia12]

feather, congratulations on your PFM.

 

[Ribh]

am SO glad that you were able to rescue your chicken and that she ended up being just fine!!!

Thank you for the hugs. I HAVE seen that shock or safety reaction in chickadees, standing on a branch stock still, head tilted slightly up and non-reactive, when there's a near miss by a hawk, but didn't make the connection that chickens may do it too. Queenie was so vocal and sounded so desperate it was heart-wrenching, but she herself was actually not in direct danger.

Wow, what a story about your Wyandotte and that snake!

So good to know you saved her . She's lovely.

My goodness Ribh, how scary! I’m so glad she’s ok!

My purpose was not one~upmanship or a search for hugs [though those are always appreciated ] but to share that nowhere is 100% safe for a chicken. You choose where you take your risks. We have very few predators [the snake was something of a surprise], we are sub~tropical & our coop is open fronted, so once a predator gets in there is very little to stop it. The girls were lucky I was still awake & heard the alarm or it would have been a very different story. My biggest threat is wandering dogs & though we have hawks they prefer to scavenge than hunt. You can lock& bar as much as you like but a predator will almost always find a way in if they are hungry enough. I let my girls run their own risks free ranging but they have plenty of cover & enough savvy girls to be pretty safe. The worst attack was @ night when the girls were roosting & should have been safe & so often that is when death strikes, rather than in daylight when they are out & about.

 

[Ribh]

Pretty sure something was after mine the other day. I had left the gate open that night, so they wandered out early in the morning to the big yard. I came out later, wondering where they were. I threw down some fresh grass. Surprised me they stayed under the nursery hutch. Finally Cleo and Silver came out. Mable is always the first to come! She wouldn't come out. Had to get her. Checked her over good. No injuries. Put her down, back under the hutch she went. Took half the day of me going in and out checking and talking to them. I've had hawks fly right over my head after a chicken. They hurried and went up as I had surprised then..during...an attack. These were the bigger ones..we also have the Cooper Hawk. Brazen little stinks, and I've seen two flying around here lately. Guessing they gave it a go on my girls the other day. Glad they got away..but it sure scared them.

Chickens are smart & good learners. My girls alarm for 1 of my cats but not the other. They know which one is the hunter! They alarm for all dogs, certain of our native birds, monitor lizards & snakes. They will go on alert @ an unknown sound but ignore most industrial noises. I have had the whole tribe hurtle into the coop & stay there for about 45 minutes though I've not seen what alarmed them that much. I rely very much on my older girls knowing when they need to head for safety & alerting the flock. Even my new, young birds pay attention when the older girls cry danger.

 

[Lady Red]

Chickens are smart & good learners. My girls alarm for 1 of my cats but not the other. They know which one is the hunter! They alarm for all dogs, certain of our native birds, monitor lizards & snakes. They will go on alert @ an unknown sound but ignore most industrial noises. I have had the whole tribe hurtle into the coop & stay there for about 45 minutes though I've not seen what alarmed them that much. I rely very much on my older girls knowing when they need to head for safety & alerting the flock. Even my new, young birds pay attention when the older girls cry danger.

Smart ladies!