Hen bringing up everything she eats. 12 days after injury by hawk

[mjplay]

We haven't extended the run yet, but we did buy the hardware cloth and the netting. I got a higher quality netting the is used in orchards. I hope it'll last. We probably will only add 1-5 panels because they cost a lot. After buying the hardware cloth aye Yi Yi. The extension will be add 25x25x25 ft of space.

We've just been letting them free roam, which I feel bad about. They hang out under the bird feeders! I can't figure out how to stop that, but the run that we built when they were smaller ( and we thought would be too much room for them, ha!!) Is just too small. They just hang by the side that faces the house.

We had a bear on our porch the other day, he went for the stored wild bird food. He didn't go after the bird feeders, nor did he go near the coop. Whew.

I'll post pics when we add the extension for sure. And don't feel bad about protecting the ladies!! I've totally accepted the sheer amount of worry and stress that my girls cause me! And I'm sure my neighbors are used to me running out and making a (terrible terrible) hawk warning call when the girls are totally oblivious to one spotted flying!

Oh same here.....the hens hang out under the bird feeders. I only read up a little more on this bird flu thing, today and saw that in a nearby county a backyard flock of 15 tested positive.
Our run is a good size but we have 2 roosters. They already compete because we don't have a ton of hens. They grew up together and on 4 acres they NEED each other. The girls split up into groups that go in different directions so they need multiple roosters. I feel like I spend my day as the third rooster. I try to find them and then bring them back together. I even try to make the "danger, Hawk in the sky" sound. Sounds like a Tim Allen grunt(Home Improvement), but they respond to it.
Whoa a BEAR! I'm in southern Ohio....not likely to encounter a bear here. We do have coyote's though. I've seen one that comes around frequently on our trail cam.
hahah I'm glad I'm not the only one.

 

[RockinFlock]

Oh same here.....the hens hang out under the bird feeders. I only read up a little more on this bird flu thing, today and saw that in a nearby county a backyard flock of 15 tested positive.
Our run is a good size but we have 2 roosters. They already compete because we don't have a ton of hens. They grew up together and on 4 acres they NEED each other. The girls split up into groups that go in different directions so they need multiple roosters. I feel like I spend my day as the third rooster. I try to find them and then bring them back together. I even try to make the "danger, Hawk in the sky" sound. Sounds like a Tim Allen grunt(Home Improvement), but they respond to it.
Whoa a BEAR! I'm in southern Ohio....not likely to encounter a bear here. We do have coyote's though. I've seen one that comes around frequently on our trail cam.
hahah I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Our rooster is at another home right now. My daughter's friend had her flock attacked by some animal. They are usually penned but they got loose and unfortunately, only one survived. My girls were being tormented by my randy rooster. Hopefully this will give them time to heal. They looked so beat up. Poor ladies.

I never expected to see a bear. The dog woke us up with some very low effort barking. We thought she was dreaming. My husband went to check and ran back into the room "Hon, do you want to see a bear!?" "A bear??!" "Yes, a black bear, come on!". So we got to see it. He was reluctant to leave the bird seed but he eventually lumbered off. They are cute and the eyes do not reflect the light - very very off putting! First time seeing a bear and I hope to never see one again, lol.

We have about 3 acres. The girls will sometimes hang together or sometimes they do their own thing. I have seen that only some of them will sound the alarm when a predator is spotted. The others will just hide and save themselves, lol. I'm going to see if we can build some random shelters for them so they have a few places to hide. How many birds do you have?

I read about the avian flu, unfortunately I have always fed wild birds... Also, we have a cornfield close by which seems to summon the birds! I am hoping we are safe here. We have a few neighbors with flocks of their own.

 

[mjplay]

Our rooster is at another home right now. My daughter's friend had her flock attacked by some animal. They are usually penned but they got loose and unfortunately, only one survived. My girls were being tormented by my randy rooster. Hopefully this will give them time to heal. They looked so beat up. Poor ladies.

I never expected to see a bear. The dog woke us up with some very low effort barking. We thought she was dreaming. My husband went to check and ran back into the room "Hon, do you want to see a bear!?" "A bear??!" "Yes, a black bear, come on!". So we got to see it. He was reluctant to leave the bird seed but he eventually lumbered off. They are cute and the eyes do not reflect the light - very very off putting! First time seeing a bear and I hope to never see one again, lol.

We have about 3 acres. The girls will sometimes hang together or sometimes they do their own thing. I have seen that only some of them will sound the alarm when a predator is spotted. The others will just hide and save themselves, lol. I'm going to see if we can build some random shelters for them so they have a few places to hide. How many birds do you have?

I read about the avian flu, unfortunately I have always fed wild birds... Also, we have a cornfield close by which seems to summon the birds! I am hoping we are safe here. We have a few neighbors with flocks of their own.

We currently have 15. I have a couple of "stations" I've built around the yard. They were meant to be a break from the summer heat with water. I turned one into a "Bath house". It's a hot spot during the winter months. I put greenhouse plastic over everything for the winter and shade cloth in the summer. It's hard to find a dry place that's not frozen, so It makes me happy they have a spot.
We are surrounded by fields as well. Every other year it's corn or soybeans directly behind us. Our girls go there too!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Hi, I have a hen that was pinned down by a hawk. He punctured her throat high in the neck, injured her eye and pulled off some feathers. She seems healed from all of those. Her pupil is shaped weird now but her neck wound healed perfectly. I managed her care at home. Initially poured betadine over the wound. Yesterday we let her go back with the flock. Although she's eating, it comes back up....she stretches her neck up several times and out it comes, then she flings it. It looks like softened layer feed and a tiny bit of grass. She looks weak and tired even though I saw her run fast across the yard to get to the chicken run. She makes a snoring sound sometimes, I don't know if that's normal for her. When I saw the Hawk on her she was making that sound a bit......kind of like a breathy honk. when she's resting I hear it more. I checked her crop last night and tonight. It seemed empty so i don't think it's impacted or sour crop. Any thoughts?
I'm attaching 2 pics of her neck and eye healed. It won't allow a video but I have one of her bringing up her food.

Tip: To add a video, upload it to YouTube, & link it back here.

 

[mjplay]

Thanks for the update. Glad to see she's doing well. A few months ago one of our girls was attacked by a hawk. She survived, but she stands funny now and is a little slower than the other girls. But she's alive, just with a lopsided stance. Chickens are tough

Today Maybel was attacked again by a hawk. This time I got there too late. Ugh, I don't have the heart for this.

 

[Lor]

Today Maybel was attacked again by a hawk. This time I got there too late. Ugh, I don't have the heart for this.

Sorry for your loss.
The hawk will keep coming back. They will even attack with you standing out there.
One tried to attack one of our ducks that was right at my husband's feet.