Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[GregnLety]

I've been told that the Red Kites here are much like the buzzards we had in Catalonia. While high up in the air they can move very quickly on thermal currents, but when they get close to the ground they are not very agile, or particulalry fast.
The real danger from the sky are the falcons and harriers. The chickens just don't see them in time. They'll fly at 200mph a foot off the ground. Most won't bother with full sized chickens but I know people who have lost chicks and juveniles to them.

There have been a few sightings of a Goshawk in the woods on the other side of the river Avon a couple of miles away.

I may have to change Stupid's name. His flock was foraging near the garage yesterday when a Mexican eagle did a low flyover. He saw it before I did and alerted his flock. They ran for cover nearby. No harm. But just prior to that he picked a fight with Cholo who is easily 3 times his size.

 

[GregnLety]

The buzzard was responsible for most predation by raptors in that thesis you linked to, if I remember aright. I was surprised, because before reading it I too thought they were mainly scavengers and went for smaller prey than a lf chicken.

I've seen several very low flyovers from buzzards. They haven't taken a chicken but when they get too low for comfort I'll fire off the 410 and they take off for the next county.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

67 mostly cloudy 94% Humidity feels like 67 rainy 29%.

Have a great day!

 

[GregnLety]

further to this, apparently it's a well documented phenomenon - occurring naturally as well as with penned birds, though all the refs are a bit old on the wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Gamebird_hybrids#cite_ref-12 .
If they do hit it off, it could produce some very special birds though - see the photo thereon of such birds in the Rothschild Museum Tring.

My father's friend frequently raised pheasant/game rooster crosses. They were some lovely birds.

 

[BDutch]

I've seen several very low flyovers from buzzards. They haven't taken a chicken but when they get too low for comfort I'll fire off the 410 and they take off for the next county.

Why shooting at a buzzard at all?

 

[Molpet]

Why shooting at a buzzard at all?

To put the fear of that property in them. Some buzzards are predators.

 

[BDutch]

To put the fear of that property in them. Some buzzards are predators.

I know buzzards kill sometimes. My lavender Dutch was probably taken by one.
Nevertheles I think shooting at birds has more to do with testosteron than with predator control. Personal opinion.

PS if you succeed killing them you give rats and mice a great opportunity to form a plague. (Happened in the north of my country with mice).

 

[Molpet]

I know buzzards kill sometimes. My lavender Dutch was probably taken by one.
Nevertheles I think shooting at birds has more to do with testosteron than with predator control. Personal opinion.

PS if you succes killing them you give rats and mice a great opportunity to form a plague. (Happened in the north of my country with mice).

I agree with rodents but have a different experience with shooting at predators.

I chase or shoot at coyotes to scare them off whenever I see them. They still come by at night but usually stay out of the poultry yard.
I do this because a coyote jump the fence during the day and kill a turkey hen on a nest.

 

[Shadrach]

I may have to change Stupid's name. His flock was foraging near the garage yesterday when a Mexican eagle did a low flyover. He saw it before I did and alerted his flock. They ran for cover nearby. No harm. But just prior to that he picked a fight with Cholo who is easily 3 times his size.

Some just don't care how big you are.

 

[Shadrach]

I've seen several very low flyovers from buzzards. They haven't taken a chicken but when they get too low for comfort I'll fire off the 410 and they take off for the next county.

I can think of a few times a 410 would have come in very handy. I had a sling shot in Catalonia which sounds more animal friendly than a shotgun but actually isn't; you have to hit the target in general for the creature to get the message. Something like 410 has the advantage of scare but when we had shotguns in Hertfordshire carrying them around all the time was a nuisance.