Lost a bird. Questions about chicken fears and warning calls.

[mechanic57]

I will bait some traps and see what it draws out. the birds do stick their heads through the fence. I hadn't thought of that. It may have already been in that position when it got attacked. I like the idea of the chicken wire over the welded wire to reduce the size of the openings.

 

[centrarchid]

Any further developments?

 

[mechanic57]

Nothing new. Talked to a guy I work with who has been raising chickens in this area. He said he believes it was an aerial attack vs a ground predator because there was no marks on the ground where a ground predator tried to dig under the fence to get the rest of the chickens body out. I found it to be an interesting observation, but I don't know how common that is. Then again, how common is it for chickens to get killed by a predator on the opposite side of a fence?

 

[centrarchid]

I have had it happen many times, especially when good dog not on the job. Most such losses for me are at night and done by Great-horned Owl or Red Fox. During day Red Fox sometimes do it but they have to be able to run around a relatively small pen and worry chicken into a corner. My bother has had bobcats catch and decapitate. The digging business is far from the rule. Most predators even though very capable of digging will not do so when carcass already distracting them by being in reach. Most digging is when predator cannot see quarry or it has experience digging to get at stock.

 

[HnkyDnkyZZFarm]

They sound like they're all hitting a rolling boil simultaneously! It's like the egg song only scared and fast and louder.

I've noticed since adding ducks, I don't hear the alarms anymore. The ducks will do their greet/whats that shouts a few times a day, but they're so chatty it's hard to tell what they're talking about.

I've never heard the ducks really upset about anything. They seem to be pretty confident in their ability to handle intruders. They lead the charge and anything coming in had better be carrying food. That's why I want to increase the ducky goodness. I've also contemplated a goose, but I don't know what the drake would think of that.