Hawk in the yard and my hen makes a better roo than my young roo.....

[123ChickieLou]

My birds have the run of the yard for now and I check on them several times a day. Yesterday I ran a cat out of the hutch and today I saw a hawk attemting to flee the scene with a fresh kill (my neighbors bird, not mine). When I first went out I heard Chickie-Lou "bawk-bawk-bawk-BAGAWK" several times so I called to her and she quieted and came out from behind the shed. NO ONE else was to be seen.

Weird.

Then out from the corner of my neighbors yard, closest to our shed, I saw what looked like two chickens fighting, both black/white/grey looking. Then one tried to fly off with the other. Holy sh*t! That's not a chicken! I watched it circle round and perch in a tree over the yard (and carcas that it dropped) and stare down at me and the carcas, alternately. I remembered I'd seen his little flock dirt bathing in that corner just a little while ago and that Chickie and my two juveniles were spotted in the garden frozen still with Chickie checking the sky every few beats. The juvies were following and mimicing her every move.

I start about looking for the rest of the flock, both mine and the neighbors and not a peep was heard nor a feather to be seen. Chickie had herded everyone under the shed. Including my young rooster who thinks he's king of the yard. He pecks babies and raises hackles all the time, generally acting big and bad but not exactly being a good watchful roo. I guess he'll learn that as Chickie-Lou teaches him, hahaha!

Well, everyone is accounted for now. Mine anyway, the neighbor is short one pullet. I heard their little-big-man rooster crowing from under their house

and saw one of their pullets running around on their porch.

I can't wait till Chickie-Lou has a brood of her own. She's going to make such a good mama.

Oh- before anyone starts in on me about protecting them..... The chicken pen is is progress and will be ready in a couple of weeks. Until then, I'll be checking on them several times a day as I do now.

 

[poultry09]

wow you are lucky that you also did not loose any birds and at least your birds hide mine will watch the hawk fly into the tree above the run and sit and watch him for a littlebit then go back to what they where doing and not care about the hawk:/

 

[Mattemma]

My hens are good at watching for hawks too. I just don't get the point of not moving out in the open.Do they really think if they stand still for an hour the hawk will not see them? I noticed this a few times(them still) through the window, and would run out to scare the hawk off so they could move to cover.

 

[aoxa]

I have a head hen that is the same way. She still respects my roo, but she is so brave and bossy

I'm so glad they are all accounted for, but it's sad that your neighbour lost one.

What breed is Chikie-Lou?

 

[123ChickieLou]

I have a head hen that is the same way. She still respects my roo, but she is so brave and bossy

I'm so glad they are all accounted for, but it's sad that your neighbour lost one.

What breed is Chikie-Lou?

She's a Buff Orpington. A great hen! She's young, 6-7 months, but she's like a born pro at everything.

 

[CMV]

I keep coming back to this post because I had a very unusual occurrence the day after Christmas. My best hen was killed by a hawk. I saw part of the attack and read the story of the rest in the trail of feathers that was left behind. The hawk struck my BR first. There was a feather explosion obvious where she was hit, and she had some injuries that were indicative of something hitting her hard. It was obviously a glancing blow, though, because she was able to run away. The roo stepped in at this point, probably with his side-kick (my favorite) who never left him, and started tangling with the hawk. He also has some minor injuries. At this point the fight zone got a little crazy with feathers from multiple birds all in the same spot. The roo either was bowled over or ran off, and Chipmunk (my favorite) stood her ground and fought with the hawk. She didn't stand a chance. They tangled for nearly 30 feet before the hawk finally killed her. The roo had obviously abandoned her to her fate after the big fray. And my valiant little Chipmunk died. I saw the tail end of the fight, but Chipmunk was dead by the time I reached her.

When my roo accidentally got stuck/trapped in a deadfall a few weeks back, I found Chipmunk laying over him with her wings spread out to protect him from the rain. She never left him, and probably saved his life because I had no idea where he was until I saw Chipmunk covering him. He was completely buried in wood/branches. He couldn't budge an inch and certainly could not have crowed to alert me as to where he was.

I am really missing Miss Chipmunk. She was the best bird in my flock. My family has been pretty broken up over her loss, and my flock has refused to step foot out of the coop since it happened. I managed to save her last egg and it has been under a broody since then. I am really hoping that this week we get Chipmunk's final gift to us. I have never hatched any eggs before, and this is a terrible time of year to do it, but it would make us all feel better if we something left of that crazy, brave little bird.

RIP Chipmunk. You were the BEST of all of them.