Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[Thatscluckinggreat]

Come see me and @OneMountainAcres Saturday.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Well that was interesting... after the swap (which was absolutely beautiful weather) the wind picked up dramatically and the storms rolled in. Our power went out at around 2pm and didn't come back on till about 5:30 this morning. There's still a ton of people around our area that are still out. How did all of you fare? I had freshly hatched chicks in the brooder being kept warm with hot water bottles and late eggs still hatching in the incubator covered in hand warmers. Everyone made it through the night though and the last of the babies are popping out of their shells We do have a generator but our power usually isn't out for an excessive amount of time so we didn't use it right away. We only turned it on around 6 or 7 when it became obvious that they weren't getting us power for a while. Then we shut it down before bed since nobody was going to supervise it.

 

[wingstone]

Well that was interesting... after the swap (which was absolutely beautiful weather) the wind picked up dramatically and the storms rolled in. Our power went out at around 2pm and didn't come back on till about 5:30 this morning. There's still a ton of people around our area that are still out. How did all of you fare? I had freshly hatched chicks in the brooder being kept warm with hot water bottles and late eggs still hatching in the incubator covered in hand warmers. Everyone made it through the night though and the last of the babies are popping out of their shtells We do have a generator but our power usually isn't out for an excessive amount of time so we didn't use it right away. We only turned it on around 6 or 7 when it became obvious that they weren't getting us power for a while. Then we shut it down before bed since nobody was going to supervise it.

This storm barely skimmed us. The one last weekend we are still cleaning up from.
Wanted to get over to that swap just couldn't make this one

 

[TillyPeeps]

Well that was interesting... after the swap (which was absolutely beautiful weather) the wind picked up dramatically and the storms rolled in. Our power went out at around 2pm and didn't come back on till about 5:30 this morning. There's still a ton of people around our area that are still out. How did all of you fare? I had freshly hatched chicks in the brooder being kept warm with hot water bottles and late eggs still hatching in the incubator covered in hand warmers. Everyone made it through the night though and the last of the babies are popping out of their shells We do have a generator but our power usually isn't out for an excessive amount of time so we didn't use it right away. We only turned it on around 6 or 7 when it became obvious that they weren't getting us power for a while. Then we shut it down before bed since nobody was going to supervise it.

We only lost power for a few seconds, but two trees fell down in my yard. Luckily, no damage. Chickens were scared to death though. They sang egg song for a long time.

 

[TillyPeeps]

It's interesting that my lavender ameraucana, Kitkat, only laid 3 olive eggs at the begining, now she lays 5~6 turquoise eggs per week. I guess she just had extra brown pigment at the beginning. Anyway, all my ameraucanas lays turquoise color eggs. I still think their dad may carry some brown egg gene, since they most likely have different moms.

 

[feliciadawn]

Yesterday while I was out in the garden about 50 feet from the chicken area, a full sized hawk swooped into the pen, I heard a hen screech and then saw the hawk fluttering away, (You can't see into the pen from where I was owing to a hills and trees.) No hens were hurt, and all are accounted for. Could my Ameraucana and Marans hens have fought off a hawk? I am not allowed roosters and don't have any.

 

[TillyPeeps]

Yesterday while I was out in the garden about 50 feet from the chicken area, a full sized hawk swooped into the pen, I heard a hen screech and then saw the hawk fluttering away, (You can't see into the pen from where I was owing to a hills and trees.) No hens were hurt, and all are accounted for. Could my Ameraucana and Marans hens have fought off a hawk? I am not allowed roosters and don't have any.

I think the only chicken a hawk can take is a bantam. I had hawk attacks a few times when I let my chickens running my entire yard, but the hawk was really too small to take any chickens including my half Silkie girl. Of course, there may be larger hawk types in your area. Now I have all my chickens in about 0.25 acre wood area and no hawk ever tried to attack them any more.

 

[feliciadawn]

I think the only chicken a hawk can take is a bantam. I had hawk attacks a few times when I let my chickens running my entire yard, but the hawk was really too small to take any chickens including my half Silkie girl. Of course, there may be larger hawk types in your area. Now I have all my chickens in about 0.25 acre wood area and no hawk ever tried to attack them any more.

Yeah that is what this is -- about a 1000 square foot very wooded area, but the leaves aren't on the trees yet so there is some visibility. I have lost one young pullet to a hawk a few years ago, and had my smallest bantam disappear a few months ago during the day.

 

[Yardmom]

Larger hawks could probably take full sized chickens. We see hawks frequently but only occasionally have I seen one swipe down. In 10 years of free ranging I have never attributed a loss to a hawk. My roosters do what most roosters do and it is not fight predators. Roosters lead the flock to safety. In the case of hawks all of my birds are quickly under brush. If I don't see birds in the yard, looking up a hawk is usually in sight. Your hens should have the instinct to hide as well.

 

[GoodGuinea]

So...this is worrying me a little. Does it sound like rabid fox behavior?

A fox crossed the driveway right in front of my daughter as she was going out to the bus stop (6:45am - early, but pretty light already). She said it barely looked at her, & it was "mangy." 5 minutes later, my son was walking up to catch his own bus. Our big dog was sitting in the yard, watching him go. The dog came in, & right as I shut the door behind him, a fox attacked our chicken run, about 40ft. away from the house. It was just jumping & crashing into the fence. My son ran back down, waving & yelling. I ran out, waving & yelling. The fox stopped & looked at us, but didn't run until the dog was almost on top of it. Then it took off into the bushes, & I haven't seen it since.

We're all fine. The chickens are fine, the kids are fine, & I'm fine. I was worried that the dog may have caught up to the fox in the bushes, but I can't find a mark on him. Also, he's up-to-date on all his shots.

However, I'm worried that the fox is not fine. I've never seen one bold or desperate enough to attack while people and/or dogs were close by. I've never dealt with a rabid animal, but I'm wondering.