Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[trsturself]

I'm in AZ today and got a call from my daughter that another hen got attacked in our backyard. My daugher said she went out to give them some apple and there were feathers all over the yard. The chicken was hiding between a pot and the fence. She has very similar injuries to Amber (who got attacked back in July) - tail missing, puncture wounds under the wings, and skin on the neck/breast missing. This time she has the skin over her crop missing. She is still eating/drinking and seems to be doing well. She's inside where it's warm and quiet. Hopefully she'll make a full recovery like Amber did. Her injuries, outside of the crop, seem less serious than our other one. Why does this always happen when I'm not home!?

We initially thought Amber was attacked by our dogs, but I think it's actually hawks and our dogs are actually saving the chickens. I think they see the ruckus and run down to see what's going on and scare the hawk off. The dogs leave the chicken alone after that. I think if it was the dogs we'd have a dead chicken. I just can't see them "playing" with the chicken then stopping all of the sudden and walking away calmly. The only way they'd stop is if their toy stopped moving.
Yesterday and the day before my husband and I both saw shadows fly by the windows while we were inside but we run out and see nothing. We usually have a lot of crows in the area so we assumed that's all it was. Guess not!

So, the girls are locked up in their chain link area that has netting over the top. I have heard of hawks getting through the netting though and we have a few small holes. I'm hoping it's enough to discourage them though. They won't be allowed outside anymore unless we are outside with them. I always loved hawks but now I'm starting to view them differently!

 

[jeremyhodges]

Holy cow that's a lot of food. Hopefully your fridge holds up.

Congratulations!! If you can, post a pic. We love to see Meyer's girls eggs

In this photo, the large white egg is a ceramic one I have in there to keep the girls laying in the nest. The brown one is from my black copper maran, the small white one is from my black silkie, the small tan one is from my splash silkie, and the green one is the first egg from my easter egger! All these girls are from Meyer.


Here's an up close shot of the 4 eggs. I love my maran eggs because they are speckled.

 

[trsturself]

In this photo, the large white egg is a ceramic one I have in there to keep the girls laying in the nest. The brown one is from my black copper maran, the small white one is from my black silkie, the small tan one is from my splash silkie, and the green one is the first egg from my easter egger! All these girls are from Meyer.


Here's an up close shot of the 4 eggs. I love my maran eggs because they are speckled.

Beautiful!

 

[chickadee5002]

[COLOR=333333]I'm in AZ today and got a call from my daughter that another hen got attacked in our backyard. My daugher said she went out to give them some apple and there were feathers all over the yard. The chicken was hiding between a pot and the fence. She has very similar injuries to Amber (who got attacked back in July) - tail missing, puncture wounds under the wings, and skin on the neck/breast missing. This time she has the skin over her crop missing. She is still eating/drinking and seems to be doing well. She's inside where it's warm and quiet. Hopefully she'll make a full recovery like Amber did. Her injuries, outside of the crop, seem less serious than our other one. Why does this always happen when I'm not home!?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]We initially thought Amber was attacked by our dogs, but I think it's actually hawks and our dogs are actually saving the chickens. I think they see the ruckus and run down to see what's going on and scare the hawk off. The dogs leave the chicken alone after that. I think if it was the dogs we'd have a dead chicken. I just can't see them "playing" with the chicken then stopping all of the sudden and walking away calmly. The only way they'd stop is if their toy stopped moving. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=333333]Yesterday and the day before my husband and I both saw shadows fly by the windows while we were inside but we run out and see nothing. We usually have a lot of crows in the area so we assumed that's all it was. Guess not![/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]So, the girls are locked up in their chain link area that has netting over the top. I have heard of hawks getting through the netting though and we have a few small holes. I'm hoping it's enough to discourage them though. They won't be allowed outside anymore unless we are outside with them. I always loved hawks but now I'm starting to view them differently![/COLOR]

Oh no! I hope she heals up ok. We had the same situation with our chickens. I thought the hawks were going after our chickens also. Our shepherd was always awesome with the girls when she was out. She couldn't care less about them. We started leaving her out to protect the chickens when we were gone. Everything was great and one day we came home from church and there was a chicken attacked and dead in our yard. Our dog was so sad that I thought it couldn't be her. I thought she must have scared the hawk away. So I left her out the next day while I was at work. I came home from work and the chickens were running around the yard with the dog chasing after them. She tore up 2 of them, they did survive but only because they stopped running. After that she was never allowed out with the chickens. The weird thing was the chickens were never afraid of her. Even after she attacked them hurt 2 of them and killed 1. I hope it was not your dogs but make sure they are not the culprits.

 

[babowman3]

My Meyer's Easter Egger laid her first egg yesterday!  It's a beautiful light olive green color.  I'm excited because I also have a Meyer's Blue Ameraucana who should start laying any day now, and I'm hoping her egg will be the expected light blue so I have two different colors!

Congrats! Can I ask how old she is? I have 2 Meyer EE's that are 23 weeks and I'm soooooo anxious!!

 

[NotableNancy]

I'm in AZ today and got a call from my daughter that another hen got attacked in our backyard. My daugher said she went out to give them some apple and there were feathers all over the yard. The chicken was hiding between a pot and the fence. She has very similar injuries to Amber (who got attacked back in July) - tail missing, puncture wounds under the wings, and skin on the neck/breast missing. This time she has the skin over her crop missing. She is still eating/drinking and seems to be doing well. She's inside where it's warm and quiet. Hopefully she'll make a full recovery like Amber did. Her injuries, outside of the crop, seem less serious than our other one. Why does this always happen when I'm not home!?

We initially thought Amber was attacked by our dogs, but I think it's actually hawks and our dogs are actually saving the chickens. I think they see the ruckus and run down to see what's going on and scare the hawk off. The dogs leave the chicken alone after that. I think if it was the dogs we'd have a dead chicken. I just can't see them "playing" with the chicken then stopping all of the sudden and walking away calmly. The only way they'd stop is if their toy stopped moving.
Yesterday and the day before my husband and I both saw shadows fly by the windows while we were inside but we run out and see nothing. We usually have a lot of crows in the area so we assumed that's all it was. Guess not!

So, the girls are locked up in their chain link area that has netting over the top. I have heard of hawks getting through the netting though and we have a few small holes. I'm hoping it's enough to discourage them though. They won't be allowed outside anymore unless we are outside with them. I always loved hawks but now I'm starting to view them differently!

Oh no. I'm so sorry. I hope she makes it. If it's just small holes in the netting they should be ok. It's when it's just wire strung over top or patches of open space you have to worry. At least that's what I've seen/read so far.

In this photo, the large white egg is a ceramic one I have in there to keep the girls laying in the nest. The brown one is from my black copper maran, the small white one is from my black silkie, the small tan one is from my splash silkie, and the green one is the first egg from my easter egger! All these girls are from Meyer.


Here's an up close shot of the 4 eggs. I love my maran eggs because they are speckled.

Beautiful colors! Your Marans egg is nice and dark and love the speckles too. They look nice size for Silkies eggs! I thought Silkies always laid white eggs?

Oh no! I hope she heals up ok. We had the same situation with our chickens. I thought the hawks were going after our chickens also. Our shepherd was always awesome with the girls when she was out. She couldn't care less about them. We started leaving her out to protect the chickens when we were gone. Everything was great and one day we came home from church and there was a chicken attacked and dead in our yard. Our dog was so sad that I thought it couldn't be her. I thought she must have scared the hawk away. So I left her out the next day while I was at work. I came home from work and the chickens were running around the yard with the dog chasing after them. She tore up 2 of them, they did survive but only because they stopped running. After that she was never allowed out with the chickens. The weird thing was the chickens were never afraid of her. Even after she attacked them hurt 2 of them and killed 1. I hope it was not your dogs but make sure they are not the culprits.

I guess we never know about our dogs. Even though my Corgi seems perfectly fine around the chickens, I would always be hesitant to leave him alone with them. It's just their instinct and you never know.

 

[jeremyhodges]

Oh no. I'm so sorry. I hope she makes it. If it's just small holes in the netting they should be ok. It's when it's just wire strung over top or patches of open space you have to worry. At least that's what I've seen/read so far.

Beautiful colors! Your Marans egg is nice and dark and love the speckles too. They look nice size for Silkies eggs! I thought Silkies always laid white eggs?

I guess we never know about our dogs. Even though my Corgi seems perfectly fine around the chickens, I would always be hesitant to leave him alone with them. It's just their instinct and you never know.

I thought silkies laid white eggs too! But one of mine definitely lays tan ones. It's nice because the eggs are so easy to tell apart. I have 5 hens and I they all lay distinct eggs except for the two silkies. It's nice that I can tell theirs apart too!

 

[jeremyhodges]

Congrats! Can I ask how old she is? I have 2 Meyer EE's that are 23 weeks and I'm soooooo anxious!!

She laid right around 6 months old. She was hatched on July 29, 2013.

 

[chickadee5002]

Oh no. I'm so sorry. I hope she makes it. If it's just small holes in the netting they should be ok. It's when it's just wire strung over top or patches of open space you have to worry. At least that's what I've seen/read so far. 

Beautiful colors!  Your Marans egg is nice and dark and love the speckles too. They look nice size for Silkies eggs!  I thought Silkies always laid white eggs?

I guess we never know about our dogs. Even though my Corgi seems perfectly fine around the chickens, I would always be hesitant to leave him alone with them. It's just their instinct and you never know. 

I know I thought the same thing about their instincts. She was outside with them for over a year and never touched them then all of a sudden she decided she could attack them. :/ I wouldn't think an adorable corgi could hurt them though I just love those short legs

 

[trsturself]

Yeah, I'm not sure who's doing the attacking but we have witnessed a hawk attack and never anything from the dogs. The injuries and the fact that the bird is sitting in the backyard and the dogs are laying down ignoring it are leading me to hawk attack. My dog doesn't chase squirrels or wild birds, nothing. The only thing that will get a jump in that direction is a stray cat. But our cat is fine.
Also when the dogs are running around chasing each other the chickens fly over the fence into the garden area where the dogs can't get. So whatever is getting them, they can't escape from it.

I'm pretty sure it's not our little dog. While she's just a pup and very playful even our smallest chicken stands up to her and pecks her and she backs away.


Oh, someone asked me a few posts ago (just remembered so I can't go back and quote it) about our enclosed run. We have a chain link area that is covered in vegetable netting (it's white so hopefully it's easy for the bird to see it's there) that is over 200sq ft. Then inside that we have our chicken wire pen that is about 75sqft and that has their 16sqft coop in it (raised off the ground so it doesn't take up floor space in the pen). We have a total of 8 birds right now but plan to be at 10 by spring.