San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[luvanimals2]

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[tigerrrrrrrlilly]

I started an update for time, location and what's being brought for potluck on my original post page 1 to help make it easier to find and for any newbies that may want to join us.

Cari-
I used your last updated list. I will try to keep track of any additions so they can be added on page 1, if I missed anything let me know.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Poor little chickens in that fire!

That is sad. They must have been meat production birds to have that many 4 week olds?



HAHA, as I'm typing this, my little alarm clock just woke up and is crowing. He's so funny to listen too. As long as he sleeps in later than me, all will be fine.

 

[enzolove]

So, I saw a young hawk in our yard yesterday. Perched on the fence, then on the fountain edge. We have been free-ranging our 4 young hens (pullets?). At first they were out all day, but the amount of poop on the patio got to be ridiculous. Now I let them out in the yard around noon, and they return to the coop around 4:30. Now that I'm reminded about hawks visiting our yard, I'm worried. Don't know if I should keep doing what we've been doing, and if we lose a chicken - replace it and move on. Or, stop free-ranging (I can't imagine that). Any suggestions? We've only had chickens for 2 1/2 months.

 

[wwmicasa1]

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I'd be very careful with the girls outside if you have seen a hawk. If they are standard size chickens, you might not have a problem but if they are banties, they are..."Lunch"~!

My little Porcelain D'Uccle hen ( 5 yrs old) couldn't outrun the hawk last month. She ran into the chicken house with the hawk right behind her. He got her cornered & killed her right "inside" the house. He proceeded to eat her until I showed up. Granted, the hawk needs to eat, too. But I wish it weren't "my" chickens.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Enzolove- Ditto what Lynn said.

From what I've read here, if the hawk finds a good meal at your house, he'll be back, again, and again. I only let my chickens truly "free range" when I'm outside with them.

If you don't have any ground predators during the afternoon, I do use a screened sided 8x10 tent for my flock to forage under. I'm never too far away, as its not 100% secure, but it keeps them out of view of the hawks, which are my main concern during the daytime. You can buy those at Walmart in the camping section for about $25.00. Someday I'll have a permanant run, that will be better secured, but right now, I'm still trying to finish up the new coops!!

 

[enzolove]

Thanks Lynn and Sunny. I love the idea of the screened tent, I'll look into that. They are full size and look pretty big in comparison to the young hawk, but I'm guessing the hawk is faster and more aggressive than my sweet girls. I kept them inside today while I was gone. I used to love it when hawks visited my yard, they're so beautiful - but now they're a threat. I want to keep my girls reasonably safe, so we'll try supervised free-ranging plus the tent, until I can build out a proper covered run.

 

[flower]

Whenever my small flock notice a predator on the ground or air, they sound the alarm and I come running. Besides cats, there are plenty of hawks and would you believe that road runners fly and are omnivores. I have seen them eyeing my birds from both neighbors rooftops so I did a web search to learn about them and now they are no longer cute to me.

 

[desertdarlene]

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Yeah, you're right. I found out that roadrunners eat small birds and would definitely eat an adorable little chick of many species. I used to feel sad about accidentally hitting a roadrunner with my car years ago, but now my pain is lessened by knowing a little more about them. They're still fun birds, though.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

A few years back when there was a fire we evacuated out to the desert. My friends camped. They sat their canarie's cage on the ground in the shade. They were amused to see a roadrunner walk up to the bird cage.....not so amused when the roadrunner reached right through the bars, pull the canary out and ate it right in front of them, happened so fast!!!