Sdwd

[Serrin]

First things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day full of happy surprises, love and hugs.


OK, Nella: You aren't alone in the hawk attacks. Seems like yesterday was our turn to have our heart rates elevated a bit. That dang Cooper/Sharp Shinned made a strafing run at the flock out of nowhere! He didn't get anyone, thankfully. Chief was on the job, saw him coming and gave out a blood curdling battle cry!!

The girls scattered to the four winds immediately! FussyButt and 'Rissy even barged right past the dog laying in the doorway of the pump house to get closer to me.

It confused the heck out of the dog for sure. He's not used to the girls shoving him aside like he was just so much fur piled in their path!

Denny happened to be out in the yard when all of this was taking place. He saw where the *&%$*@ thing landed in the trees and so ran to get the shotgun. Unfortunately, he couldn't find him again when he got back outside with the gun. Oh how I wish he had called out to me to keep an eye on the little creep! But, I had been a bit preoccupied with two old girls who were besides themselves in agitation at the mere thought of a hawk in their midst.

Aaaah but my Chief! My sweet, magnificent, brave Chief! He never shirked for a moment. He stood right out in the open and screamed his challenge to the hawk, who was hiding in the trees. Stood right out in the open, eyes turned to the skies and the tree branches, scanning every square inch of his surroundings, trying to find that dang hawk.

We never did catch sight of him again. Hopefully he witnessed a yard full of chickens and humans, all of which were on alert and looking for his scrawny butt, and decided there were easier pickings elsewhere. There was no way he was going to get past that big beautiful rooster while he was on duty!

Toss in a couple of humans and a big black dog who wouldn't hesitate to kick his butt into the next lifetime, and hopefully he got the hint. Hit the road Jack....and just keep moving along. There are no free meals here!

 

[kathyinmo]

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. GEZZZZ, I am getting old ! !

Nella, Sorry to hear of your loss. I hate worrying about predators.

Well, I am thinking I broke my broody girl (Polly), by moving her. I am gonna leave her there one more day, just to see if she settles in or not.

My weekend is over, and I go back to work this afternoon.

 

[Bassleg]

Happy Birthday Kathy~~~~~~

 

[Cetawin]

Nella I am so sorry. Are you sure a hawk...I mean three birds? Normally one kill and they are out of there. Maybe girls are hiding somewhere. I sure hope so.

Amy...scarey stuff. Aren't good roosters amazing? Chief just standing there challenging and protecting his girls. They are such valiant honorable creatures those boys.

 

[NellaBean]

Well, I went ahead and "upgraded" 4 roosters into the big yard. 2 large fowl cochin teenagers (1 blue, 2 silver laced) and my evil bantam cochin rooster....he got upgraded because I needed his pen for some girls that absolutely cannot be eaten LOL.

The 2 silver laced are hanging out with the "kids' who are all either in my coop or in the covered 8x8 pen attached to the coop.......everyone is hiding, either because they are nervous from the hawk, or because it is so dang hot. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do, but I'll have to do something........I still have another 10 or so roosters I could upgrade! LOL

There were some definite hawk calls going out when the bird came in, but there are some pretty big wide open spots in my yard and I just removed one of my head roosters on friday. Sigh. So I had only my big cochin rooster who was at the top of the yard with most of the older girls. The 2 young boys that were with the girls are way too young to protect anything. I am going to make some "tables" tonight......the 3x8 panels I use to make my temporary pens.....I am going to put 2 foot legs on them and leave them around the yard. Hawk hiding stations. I think I have 4 panels available right now...... and i am going to lock up some of the small birds in the small covered pen tomorrow.

Sigh.

Happy Birthday Kathy! Mine was a few days ago as well. Yay August babies!

 

[NellaBean]

Cetawin, I noticed that my little gold laced cochin guy didn't have his girl with him a few days ago, but kept forgetting to see if she was with all the other babies. And last night was the first night the cochin girl was missing. I don't know when the blue mille fleur girl went missing as she was not there today but was one of about 50 small kids that are always milling around each other. I am thinking it is picking off 1 a day. Until I saw the hawk attack this morning, I had guessed the other two had gotten "stuck" out after dark in the back brushy area and would show up later. Once I saw the hawk attack, I figure they went the way of the hawk instead.

On a sidenote, the hawk attacked the broody plus baby this morning and she fought it off. This is the sister of my other chicken that fought off a hawk once before (another attack that happened when I was outside). That cross is amazing! Broodiest chickens ever and they can withstand hawk attacks.

 

[Serrin]

And what cross would that be Nella? Inquiring country minds REALLY want to know! You might be on to something there for those of us who live way out in the dingleberries!

Hawk Resistant Chickens! Capitol idea!!!

The only girl I've ever had who was attacked by a hawk and lived to tell the tale is my sweet old girl Abigail [Abby] and surprisingly, she came through the whole ordeal with nothing more than about five or six feathers missing. Not a mark on her other than that. What a brave little soul.

That d****d hawk was still trying to get a good enough grip on her to fly off with his prize when I came charging out of the trailer and ran pell mell to Abby! Just half a second more and I would have had my hands around his scrawny little neck!!!

The dang coward let go and flew away just as I was reaching for his neck!

He later had an unpleasant encounter with a shotgun. Some birds just never learn!

Nella, I'm so sorry you lost some of your babies to this murderous little creep. I hope you get him/her soon!

 

[NellaBean]

Surprisingly its my white leghorn/Jerseygiant cross hens. I have 4 that are right around a year old. All 4 have been broody. 2 of the girls are on their 2nd batch of babies. 1 is blind in one eye from what a nighttime attack she survived and has still successfully raised babies.

A while back one got attacked by a small hawk while out in the yard....I heard screaming and squawking and by the time I got up the hill (darn hill) I caught the tail end of the fight.....where the hawk flew up into the tree they were under and then off across the back of the yard. The hen came running over towards me and this is what I found.

Good thing she had her saddle on. She had no other injuries and had been able to fight it off herself.

They are flighty like a leghorn (although not quite as bad as my pure leghorn girls) but bigger and heftier, lay a light brown egg, go broody very regularly.....and are sex linked to a certain degree. My girls from this cross have dark legs and black spots, boys had yellow eggs and barred spots or no spots. I didn't keep any boys long enough to see how heavy they filled out to be.

It was my white leghorn girls x my very aggressive jersey giant rooster. He is long gone now, so I can't make any more of them

I have my 4 girls, my neighbor has their sister I had given him (who has never gone broody, but his gals are kept in a dog kennel), and I have 1 more that is about 5 months old now. I'm curious to see how she turns out.

On a sidenote, the jersey giant rooster x RIR hen cross happened at the same time. I have a single RIR/Giant hen (looks like a black sex link) who has never ever gone broody. And her mom the RIR hen HAS gone broody. Must just be something about the leghorn/giant cross. And not only are they broody, they tend to go broody in pairs.....either two of the mix girls or one or two plus one of my cochins. So that when something scary shows up, one girl keeps the babies while the other attacks the scary thing. Best broodies ever.

eta: it is this hen and baby I had posted the other day that were attacked this morning.

You can also see two of her sisters in the back left and her "mom" in the back right.

 

[Serrin]

Nella, if you ever decide to get another JG roo and create that cross again, let me know when they start laying eggs. I'll happily pay for a cross like that!

Such brave girls!

And momma and baby are just fine now?

Stupid hawk! Sounds like s/he is not exactly the brightest bulb in the package if s/he tries to get between a protective, brave momma and her baby!

Everyone around here is still a little spooked. But we learned a valuable lesson yesterday about imminent hawk attacks. Listen for the ravens/crows going nuts out in the woods. Especially if there are two or more of them raising a ruckus. It's likely all about an approaching hawk. So, a nickels worth of free advice. Keep an ear open for Ravens/Crows having a hissy fit. It just might be a hawk on the move.

 

[crtrlovr]

Quote:
Well....ummmm....it's a little bit of both actually. I mean, this is the thread of the Society for Delaware World Domination after all!

Eventually we do talk about Del's and everything related to them. But there are other things that pop up as well. Mostly what you have here is a group of folks that love their Dels, and the rest of their flocks as well. I don't think anyone that has posted to this thread thus far has had exclusively Delaware flocks and nothing else. Some of us don't even have a single Dellie. We just appreciate the breed: their appearance as well as personalities.

[pointing at myself here]

If you want strictly discussions on the genetics and breeding of these fine birds, then the "Show off your Delawares" thread might be just the place for you. Here's the link to that thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=249618

I think I've seen one or two other threads around for the sole discussion of breeding and genetics questions as well, but I can't remember the name of the thread. Just look around in the "Breeds, Genetics and Showings" forum. You're sure to find them.

Just know that you're always welcome any time in this thread Tim!

Yes I know what your saying is true but some of the folks I respect in this area are here. I'm here to promote Delaware Domination and keep everyone on track.

You have no Delawares? That's practically sacrelige.

Where do you live? Just don't be surprised if some day you see Delwares running around your yard and wondering how they got there.

Maybe I'll just go around the country sneaking into coops and sticking Delaware eggs under all the broodies. Kinda like a science fiction movie. That'll fix you.

Wonder how long a dog can stay tazzed?

Well I saw Dr. Phil this morning and considering what he was talking about sticking eggs in hen houses seems mild.

With the internet he'll never run out of topics for shows.

Well the sun is coming up let the insanity begin.

have a nice day folks.

um, I have no dog to worry about how long it will stay tazered, so send me a PM and I'll give you my address so I can wake up to some Delawares!

*hint hint*