INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ajay5]

Hello! I'm totally new to the world of chickens, but we have been "studying" for months and am thinking of getting some bantam ameraucanas. We are in north central indiana- does anyone know of anyone in driving distance that would have any? Thanks so much!

 

[Crafty chick]

Ok, so I have been telling my DH when we are out of chicken in the fridge I am going out to get Henny Penny and do the deed. Today he buys chicken at the store.... I told him I would do it, and he doesn't have to watch. This hen isn't laying, she pecks my hands, and the roo doesn't "romance" her. It would be a help to me to do it. His excuse today was... " its too snowy to be doing that outside"... I'll just have to do it next week when he's back at school. He can come home to a hen in the oven.

 

[Crafty chick]

Welcome ajay5! I'm down in southern indiana, but there are a lot of BYC hoosiers on here. They usually get on later in the evening.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Regarding deterring hawks.....

I wanted to post a couple photos and a story.

I was running errands Saturday morning and while I was out I talked to my husband on the phone (who was at home). He said he was outside by the chickens and, "Wait till you see what I did."

Then he said the had "done something" out there with the chickens but didn't tell me what "something" was. I thought about a couple of possible "somethings" that he may have done but quickly forgot about it in the busy-ness of doing stuff.

As I was driving up, I look up and see FLAGS.. 3 FLAGS FLYING UP HIGH by the coop. They are flags from "who knows what" nations flying way up high.

I literally

(except I wasn't rolling on the floor). HE REMEMBERED WHAT I TOLD HIM THAT A FRIEND HERE ON BYC (PIGEONGUY) TOLD US ABOUT FLYING FLAGS UP HIGH TO DETER HAWKS - AND HE DID IT!

Then, all of a sudden I thought, "whoa...I hope the neighbors don't think we joined some cult or something ... or what if those are flags from some terrorist nation... then...well at least they're not confederate...

)


So I went in and he told me that last week someone at work was going to throw away some flags and asked him if he had any use for them (he designs sets for a TV station/studio and does graphic design, backdrops, etc.) So he brought home these free flags and up they went!

Here are some photos:








So I immediately went to the next door neighbor to tell them we hadn't joined some cult or the Nazi's or something

(He was very gracious and told me he thought it was probably a hawk thing.

I went in to figure out what the flags are.... Belgium for sure; The other - if it is a red stripe it's Italy, if orange Ireland.... (I had thought of something a little more generic but...

)

Everyone was out all Sat. & Sun with no incidence...and today too. (That's good after having a hawk in the pen the first day I opened the gate for free-ranging last week!!!!!)

 

[danand]

Crafty- and that's why U get my packing peanut Roos!!!! I can't do it!!!

 

[danand]

Leah's mom- see they do listen to us after all!! How fun!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Leah's mom- see they do listen to us after all!! How fun!!

 

[Crafty chick]

Yeah danand... atleast Iwould know my table chicken was happy and free ranged, not caged until they explode.

 

[Crafty chick]

SPRING?!? Say Wha.........

 

[Mother2Hens]

Leahs Mom~ I think the flags are really great! -- they can welcome birds from many countries. I recognized Italy's. (I agree with you that at least he didn't use a confederate one). Did your husband happen to have giant flagpoles, too? What did he use?

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we have seen hawks fly over, but then we went through about a week's time seeing large flocks of what we thought we hawks, and a couple of members said they were probably black vultures. We haven't seen those big flocks of black vultures or hawks or whatever since.I read online that raptors flock together when migrating, so hopefully some of the increased hawk activity that members have noticed are from migrating birds.

CluckAcres~ I am sorry to hear about your losses. I remember a recent member post saying that hawks typically don't fly away with a chicken (or duck); they just eat part, and may come back later. I apologize for being graphic, but it seems like you would have found traces of your birds.