I was confused when I found the body. I thought it was a CCL pullet at first, about the same size and feather coloration. Then I saw the talons and took a close look at it's head. I imagine the alpha roo engaged the little hawk and it might have been able to defend itself against 1 roo, but the others would not want to be seen by the ladies as less couragous, and the ensuing testosterone-fueled battle would have been pretty lopsided. Each of the roos is bigger than the hawk was and they are used to a bird "fighting dirty". When I found the body, it was well hidden and obviously had been dead for several days, being quite dehydrated.
So it turns out that was not a Turkey egg. It was a double yolker from my Cali Grey! Poor thing, that one must've hurt.Yup, looks like a Midget White turkey egg. Sorry about the Legbar. If she is out there and finds a protected area, she might very well show up tomorrowSo sorry for your loss.. It's such a terrible time of the year to lose someone. X2! I know it will be very chilly tonight, but my coop is much better now that it's insulated! I think I lost a chicken. When I just came home, some of my chooks were outside the chicken door, laying on the ramp.
There was a turkey with them too and the Tom turkey was underneath the ramp. When I got everyone inside, I found I was missing a CCL.
. She could have gotten snatched earlier, but I can't imagine even if she was alive that she would make it through the night. I wonder if something spooked them at dusk, or if the door closed earlier than usual. I have it set for the light settings, not at a scheduled time. On the plus side, I think I may have gotten my first turkey egg. [@=/u/249441/dheltzel]@dheltzel[/@], what do you think? It's much bigger than my other girls have been laying. Unfortunately, it froze a bit and cracked.
Breeders try to select for regular eggs, not double yolked. For one thing, they are very hard to hatch, not something you want to promote. It may be an anomaly, or it could be a regular thing.
Hawks are neat birds, as long as they aren't eating our pets. I wanted to do falconry when I was a boy, but hawks were very scarce then. Now it's heavily regulated. Coopers are pretty birds and seem like an easy to handle size. Pretty common too, at least around here. Falconry seems like a fun hobby and would provide great opportunities to educate kids (and adults) about nature and birds of prey.
. Do any of you remember your first eggs and wanting to just collect them and not eat them? We've waited so long for these eggs to arrive it seems a shame to just eat them and throw the shells away! Haha!
