Hen freaking out whenever I get near her

[lazy gardener]

Quote: Did he do any damage? I had a huge hawk fly into my run a few weeks ago. The following weekend, hubby and I put a welded wire cover over their winter run, and will do the same over their summer run. That hawk delights in perching on the top of my run.

 

[Petra Pancake]

Well,see, I don't live in the USA. I'm in Israel. Possums and racoons exist here only in the zoo, they're not native here. The next zoo is 50 km away from where I live, safe enough. Hawks - there are neighbours here who have had chickens for more than 10 years in an open pen - no hawks. (They had a fox attack at night though). Owls round here are active only at night, they are tiny, and at night my chickens are in the coop - guaranteed owl proof. Only attack I've had so far was a roaming dog, massive beast that actally knocked some boards of the coop out of place - the crashing woke me up. Having said that, I'll look into a better cover for the run to contain the chickens.

 

[aart]

Well,see, I don't live in the USA. I'm in Israel.

Please put your location in your profile so it shows up under your avatar.

 

[centrarchid]

I would be concerned about buzzards and sparrow hawks in Israel.

 

[Petra Pancake]

@aart, valid point, I'll fix that. @centrarchid, I have seen buzzards here very occasionally, moving through in spring, high up. They don't seem to stay or nest here. But I'll keep in mind that they might like a snack on the journey.

 

[Spartan22]

Did he do any damage?  I had a huge hawk fly into my run a few weeks ago.  The following weekend, hubby and I put a welded wire cover over their winter run, and will do the same over their summer run.  That hawk delights in perching on the top of my run.  

This chicken run is 10x24 half roofed w/ clear corrugated vinyl with 10/12 pitch & half has chicken wire-top w/ a little triangular gap in between. Luckily just lost some feathers and all hens hid in the coop piled in the nest boxes. While the hawk flaps around couldn't get out I had to open top corner and chase her out, I think she has babies and just wanted breakfast (chicken kabobs) It was magnificent to look at w/ super sharp talons and I've never seen any up close since I grew up in the city.

 

[Spartan22]

@Petra Pancake just curious do you have rats or minks in Israel?

 

[Petra Pancake]

@Spartan22, rats for sure, where on planet earth do they not exist? On the other hand, I've never seen rats in our neighborhood, probably because of the huge feral cat population - any rat that wandered in here would get eaten within seconds. Theoretically there should be a kind of weasel native here as well, but I've never seen one or heard of anyone losing chickens to them. Guess the cats catch weasels as well.The cats leave adult full size chickens well alone during the day, by the way, and my coop for the night is cat-proof. People in the neighborhood who have lost chickens have lost them to roaming dogs and foxes - the cases where the protective cat force fails... that's our local ecosystem.
Anyway, the crazy hen that got this whole thread started is still acting out. I've kept my chickens confined in the coop for the last two days since I couldn't address the cover of the run yet, and even in the coop she starts raising the alarm and gets hysterical when I just put the food in. The others are all behaving normally, though they were startled when she started squawking at mealtimes.

 

[Spartan22]

@Spartan22, rats for sure,
just wondering lol

rats are universal

Anyway, the crazy hen that got this whole thread started is still acting out. I've kept my chickens confined in the coop for the last two days since I couldn't address the cover of the run yet, and even in the coop she starts raising the alarm and gets hysterical when I just put the food in. The others are all behaving normally, though they were startled when she started squawking at mealtimes.

Chickens are chicken I guess, it's their instinct to freak out. I will be bringing in a bag of feeds in their run some will jump and fly to high heavens, they get spook with stupid things. Yet they crowd by their run door seeing me coming out of our back door 100 ft away.