We have a half dozen chickens that are 12 weeks old (and this is my first time having chickens). I only let them out for 2-3 hours in the evening so I can keep an eye on them. Today, they wondered into my neighbors lot (neighbors welcome them) and I looked up to see two hens running towards a patch of trees, and my 12 week old leghorn rooster all puffed up heading the other direction. My first thought was there was a cat that needed to learn some manners. Just then a hawk nailed a hen less than 100 feet from me. Before I could get over there, apparently my roo scared off the hawk that was at least twice his size. Five minutes later the hen was acting like nothing happened and she allowed me to hold her. Other than missing 30 or so feathers there was no damage done.
Is this normal for a young rooster to scare off a larger raptor? Also, we were trying to teach them to stay in/near our backyard and away from the road by chasing them back, figuring they would get tired of being harassed. I should also add the open field of my neighbors to the list of placed I would like them to avoid. Is the fear of a raptor enough to make them avoid open areas? What about the fear of my 5 year old daughter chasing them away from the road yelling "HERE CHICKY CHICKY!!!"? Any chance of them learning or have their survival instincts completely given way to egg production?
I would like to avoid caging them. I got chickens so they could eat about 90% off the land and table scraps and for the most part avoid chicken feed grown in fields full of pesticides, fertilizers and harvested by tractor (it's my own way of going green). Any suggestions? The dog idea is out unless I fence them in and I think the chickens will fly out anyway.
Thanks,
Tide
Is this normal for a young rooster to scare off a larger raptor? Also, we were trying to teach them to stay in/near our backyard and away from the road by chasing them back, figuring they would get tired of being harassed. I should also add the open field of my neighbors to the list of placed I would like them to avoid. Is the fear of a raptor enough to make them avoid open areas? What about the fear of my 5 year old daughter chasing them away from the road yelling "HERE CHICKY CHICKY!!!"? Any chance of them learning or have their survival instincts completely given way to egg production?
I would like to avoid caging them. I got chickens so they could eat about 90% off the land and table scraps and for the most part avoid chicken feed grown in fields full of pesticides, fertilizers and harvested by tractor (it's my own way of going green). Any suggestions? The dog idea is out unless I fence them in and I think the chickens will fly out anyway.
Thanks,
Tide
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