With an unusual ending. We were out raking and burning off the old leaves in a vain attempt to knock down our rampant tick population when I saw the shadow of a hawk fly over.
Stood to watch where it went, because the early stuff is in the garden and my husband has the chickens confined to the run. All 4 roosters crowed about the same time, and the girls looked up, and then I saw him coming in, right for the run.
I dropped my rake and went running across the yard, shouting and waving my arms, and then the hawk hits the run, feathers went flying, I was sure someone was dead. The hawk didn't come up out of the run, and then the melee ensued. Brutus, my BO, was goind nuts on the hawk, the hawk was trying to get itself untangled from Brutus, hens were running and sqwaking everywhere, and finally the hawk got it's wing under him flew off dropping feathers everywhere just as I reached the run.
Brutus was so enraged from the battle, he flogged me pretty badly, I've got some steri-strips on it, so hopefully it'll heal without the benefit of stitches.
I checked every hen and counted every chick and no one is missing or has any injuries. The only conclusion I can come to is that the feathers were the hawk's.
This is our first hawk attack. They are always up there circling, but our free-ranging flock has never been hit. It's always when they're in the run that the hawks come in close.
So, I'm guessing this year, the hawks that nest in our big oak at the back of the clearing *aren't* going to ignore my chickens.
Em
Stood to watch where it went, because the early stuff is in the garden and my husband has the chickens confined to the run. All 4 roosters crowed about the same time, and the girls looked up, and then I saw him coming in, right for the run.
I dropped my rake and went running across the yard, shouting and waving my arms, and then the hawk hits the run, feathers went flying, I was sure someone was dead. The hawk didn't come up out of the run, and then the melee ensued. Brutus, my BO, was goind nuts on the hawk, the hawk was trying to get itself untangled from Brutus, hens were running and sqwaking everywhere, and finally the hawk got it's wing under him flew off dropping feathers everywhere just as I reached the run.
Brutus was so enraged from the battle, he flogged me pretty badly, I've got some steri-strips on it, so hopefully it'll heal without the benefit of stitches.
I checked every hen and counted every chick and no one is missing or has any injuries. The only conclusion I can come to is that the feathers were the hawk's.
This is our first hawk attack. They are always up there circling, but our free-ranging flock has never been hit. It's always when they're in the run that the hawks come in close.
So, I'm guessing this year, the hawks that nest in our big oak at the back of the clearing *aren't* going to ignore my chickens.
Em
