people with house chickens

[Tacampbell1973]

Quote: Sorry for the confusion, he had snakeys...

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Quote: Ha ha ha, doesn't that itch? Being all feathers and whatnot?

 

[Tacampbell1973]

My moms dog just attacked Sunni. She was under the table begging for food scraps, and he got mad and attacked her. I kicked him away from her before he could really hurt her, but I thought she was dead at first. Her eyes were rolled back and she wasnt moving. Now she's standing up in her coop, but she's in shock. I think she's asleep now.

The only injuries I found was a little scrape on the side of her face, and a large bruise under her feathers behind her comb. I really hope she has no lasting damage from this.

OMG hope she continues to be ok. We would be lost without little Sunni

I have been off line for a few days mopping up the wreckage in my yard. I had a redtail hawk invade the sanctity of my back yard and kill one of my Guinea Keets. I have raised those babies since eggs. They are three months old this Monday exactlyis my fault though because I got complacent. They have free ranged since two weeksold along with my Banty chickens. So I guess it nwas a matter of time. We have enough firepower here to ward off WWIII,as my husband is a Marine and an avid hunter too. But guns don't do any good if you don't catch the hawk in the act. So yesterday I bought several packs of bird netting and I covered the run yesterday again. No more free ranging unsupervised. I don't know what to do with the little bitty carcass,. I can't eat it. I won't. I want to bury it up on the hill where I buried it's clutch- mates that were still- born. Poor little sweet ugly baby. they are so ugly that they are cute. The guilt is just eating me alive though. Stupid hawk. I am trying to come to terms with it though. He was just trying to survive and eat, But he has a whole forrest to hunt in and I'll be ****** if he's going to make himself a meal in my back yard again. I sure hope everyone else is doing good. I have to go work on my coop and run some more today so that nothing else gets them.

BTW Chicken momma, that is a pretty typical reaction how you describe Sunni reacting. I have seen manyb of my birds act like that and come out ok. I stepped on my rooster when he was three weeks old and he did the sae thing. I too thought he was dead, called husband crying etc. But within two hours he was just fine, I am sure Sunni will be too.
Another BTW does anyone think a scarecrow would work for hawks?
i was going to put up a fake owl but realised it would terrify my birds....or make them unafraid of owls.

 

[kukupecpec]

Another BTW does anyone think a scarecrow would work for hawks?
i was going to put up a fake owl but realised it would terrify my birds....or make them unafraid of owls.

I believe hawks need something that moves. Our neighbor has a horrible dog that wants to eat anything that moves, including me, but consequently we have no other predators LOL
I had a hawk problem growing up and the only thing that ever seemed to work for us was a LGD, no fake owls (although they make mechanical ones now so who maybe??) or scarecrows did the job =(
There are also chicken saddles with "predator eyes" on them
http://www.hensaver.com/hen-apron-saddle-styles-colors-prices.html (scroll to the bottom)

 

[PhantomChikkinz]

OMG hope she continues to be ok. We would be lost without little Sunni   I have been off line for a few days mopping up the wreckage in my yard. I had a redtail hawk invade the sanctity of my back yard and kill one of my Guinea Keets. I have raised those babies since eggs. They are three months old this Monday exactlyis my fault though because I got complacent. They have free ranged since two weeksold along with my Banty chickens. So I guess it nwas a matter of time. We have enough firepower here to ward off WWIII,as my husband is a Marine and an avid hunter too. But guns don't do any good if you don't catch the hawk in the act.  So yesterday I bought several packs of bird netting and I covered the run yesterday again. No more free ranging unsupervised. I don't know what to do with the little bitty carcass,. I can't eat it. I won't. I want to bury it up on the hill where I buried it's clutch- mates that were still- born. Poor little sweet ugly baby. they are so ugly that they are cute. The guilt is just eating me alive though. Stupid hawk. I am trying to come to terms with it though. He was just trying to survive and eat, But he has a whole forrest to hunt in and I'll be ****** if he's going to make himself a meal in my back yard again. I sure hope everyone else is doing good. I have to go work on my coop and run some more today so that nothing else gets them.

BTW Chicken momma, that is a pretty typical reaction how you describe Sunni reacting. I have seen manyb of my birds act like that and come out ok. I stepped on my rooster when he was three weeks old and he did the sae thing. I too thought he was dead, called husband crying etc. But within two hours he was just fine, I am sure Sunni will be too.
Another BTW does anyone think a scarecrow would work for hawks?
i was going to put up a fake owl but realised it would terrify my birds....or make them unafraid of owls. 

So sorry to hear about your Guinea

I lost one of my baby Seramas late last night. Only a few days old, but that doesn't make it any easier. I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice something was a little off about him.. He seemed a little lethargic, and wasn't as active as the others. He was eating and drinking, but I didn't think he was acting normal. Sometimes they just don't make it, huh?

 

[kukupecpec]

So sorry to hear about your Guinea

I lost one of my baby Seramas late last night. Only a few days old, but that doesn't make it any easier. I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice something was a little off about him.. He seemed a little lethargic, and wasn't as active as the others. He was eating and drinking, but I didn't think he was acting normal. Sometimes they just don't make it, huh?

Sadly serama are just SO fragile!
I hatch them lots, and the hatch rate isn't awesome to begin with, but the survival rate is rough too. My last hatch got 9 out of a dozen(which is actually pretty good, I was very excited) and lost one within a few days, another around 2 weeks, and a third at nearly 6 weeks. They are about 2 months now, and cute as can be! But even my full grown birds occasionally have sudden unexplained deaths. Then again I also have a little roo that seems to survive EVERYTHING. So individual can definitely be resilient!


My fav little man Sylvester


Mid crow! LOL


Chillin on the roosting bar


Toy Boy the Resilient LOL

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Quote: Oh no. Im sorry about your little one. What a crapper of a week for everyone here. First Sunni and then my guinea and now your baby. What the hell is going on around here ? They say trouble comes in threes right? This sure the hell better be the end of it so we can all get back to normal. Well we got more snow today so I have to go put the finishing touches on my outside chicken run. I put chicken netting over the top of it and zip tying it to the sides . I know it wont keep the predators entirely out of my run but it will give me time to reload

. God help the next hawk that shows up in my yard intending to make a meal of my babies. take care and talk later.....

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Sunni ate some celery and grapes on her own this morning!! e She also put up quite the fight when we tube fed her her breakfast this morning. She has always hated being tube fed, even when she was little, but I don't feel comfortable syringe feeding her right now. I don't want to risk her aspirating.

The fact that she is interested in eating, and swirling her beak in her favorite water dish just thrills me. I can't believe how much of a fighter she is.

 

[Tacampbell1973]

Quote: Aww their adorable. I thought I was going to stick to fat little booted cochins with their cute furry legs, but I may be wrong. Every pio I have seen of seramas I have fallen in love with....

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Oh no. Im sorry about your little one. What a crapper of a week for everyone here. First Sunni and then my guinea and now your baby. What the hell is going on around here ? They say trouble comes in threes right? This sure the hell better be the end of it so we can all get back to normal. Well we got more snow today so I have to go put the finishing touches on my outside chicken run. I put chicken netting over the top of it and zip tying it to the sides . I know it wont keep the predators entirely out of my run but it will give me time to reload . God help the next hawk that shows up in my yard intending to make a meal of my babies. take care and talk later.....

It has definitely been a ruff week for most of us. I hope this is the end of the injuries and deaths for a while. Losing pets is so hard.