It's good to see Dinner adjusting to farm life. My chickens never went out into the snow; however, rain & flooding doesn't seem to stop them. Hopefully Dinner will learn how to impress your hens soon.
Oh no... what a dayToday was a rough day.
We got a HUGE water bill. I thought the meter was broken but after trouble-shooting discovered it was the toilet. Our last bill was almost doubled in Jan. We blamed the kids' long showers, the extra laundry from our elderly dog's accidents, a dishwasher that sometimes needs to run twice, and the new increased water rates that went into effect. Nope. The Feb bill was 4xs normal!
So we can't afford the water bill & also can't afford a plumber = Internet to the rescue! I was able to diagnose, find the correct replacement parts, buy them, and (with the help of my dad & his tools) repair the broken toilet and make the 2nd one more efficient. Of course the shut off valve broke when trying to turn the water back on, so after another trip to the hardware store, we now have 2 working toilets.
So here's the rough part.... As I return with the new shut off valve, the kids come home. One was crying, one was stressed, and our elderly dog poops on the floor. I clean up and bring the mess outside to the trash.... and a hawk flies right at me from the garage. The garage was open and the hawk was deep inside helping itself to our quail. A total of 5 quail were brutally killed and another 4 were too injured to save. (Thankfully DD’s silkie & chicks were safe. They were caged separately in the garage about 2-3' from the quail. I have no idea why the hawk didn't get any of them.) The poor poultry survivors were all in shock as they witnessed the carnage. I consolidated and relocated the remaining quail into the bigger (non-bloody) outdoor cage. Many have some scrapes, so we may have more losses. For the next few hours, the hawk kept flying into the garage as soon as we opened it. It also kept attacking the outdoor quail cage until I covered the whole thing with a tarp. Then it spent the rest of the day trying to get into the chicken run and looking through the window of the coop. It was so strange to see it walking on the ground along the perimeter of the coop & run. It was searching for an entry point! Of course my bigger scare was how close the kids were getting before it flew up to a tree.
What a day! I'm off to bed.
Today was a rough day.
We got a HUGE water bill. I thought the meter was broken but after trouble-shooting discovered it was the toilet. Our last bill was almost doubled in Jan. We blamed the kids' long showers, the extra laundry from our elderly dog's accidents, a dishwasher that sometimes needs to run twice, and the new increased water rates that went into effect. Nope. The Feb bill was 4xs normal!
So we can't afford the water bill & also can't afford a plumber = Internet to the rescue! I was able to diagnose, find the correct replacement parts, buy them, and (with the help of my dad & his tools) repair the broken toilet and make the 2nd one more efficient. Of course the shut off valve broke when trying to turn the water back on, so after another trip to the hardware store, we now have 2 working toilets.
So here's the rough part.... As I return with the new shut off valve, the kids come home. One was crying, one was stressed, and our elderly dog poops on the floor. I clean up and bring the mess outside to the trash.... and a hawk flies right at me from the garage. The garage was open and the hawk was deep inside helping itself to our quail. A total of 5 quail were brutally killed and another 4 were too injured to save. (Thankfully DD’s silkie & chicks were safe. They were caged separately in the garage about 2-3' from the quail. I have no idea why the hawk didn't get any of them.) The poor poultry survivors were all in shock as they witnessed the carnage. I consolidated and relocated the remaining quail into the bigger (non-bloody) outdoor cage. Many have some scrapes, so we may have more losses. For the next few hours, the hawk kept flying into the garage as soon as we opened it. It also kept attacking the outdoor quail cage until I covered the whole thing with a tarp. Then it spent the rest of the day trying to get into the chicken run and looking through the window of the coop. It was so strange to see it walking on the ground along the perimeter of the coop & run. It was searching for an entry point! Of course my bigger scare was how close the kids were getting before it flew up to a tree.
What a day! I'm off to bed.
This is the only pick so far. I will post more though later this weekend as I build the coop and start closing off the run.Oh no!!!!!!! I'm so sorry for all the troubles the water bill and the hawk. Your hawks must have a hard time finding food. Ours would never go in the garage. That's horrifying.
The hawk is beautiful but it's a heck of a lot easier to see it as not when it's smeared in the blood of your birds. I'm so sorry this happened. I hope the kids took it okay.
Glad you found a home for most of the chicks. Too bad the hawk is still hanging around.
I'm still thinking we need to find you some non-lethal means of fighting back/scaring it away. On the other hand if the kids catch it you can teach it to do card tricks too.
I would probably call the DNR and see if they can do something. Just tell them how many livestock you've lost to these things now. Or I would buy a big water gun and hope that deterred it.
Maybe a statue of another bird of prey or something idk. I'm just thanking my lucky stars right now that our hawks generally leave the birds alone.... Hope I don't regret saying that.
Congratulations! Aren't chicks wonderful?! We need to see pictures! That seems like a great starter flock.
