Silkie thread!

[SilkieMom8875]

Lost our first chicken to a hawk this afternoon. We loved Batgirl and are very sad. Hoping she didn't suffer ! Everybody will just have to deal with being penned up because the hawk now know where to come for food !

 

[BuckNBark Farm]

Lost our first chicken to a hawk this afternoon. We loved Batgirl and are very sad. Hoping she didn't suffer ! Everybody will just have to deal with being penned up because the hawk now know where to come for food !

Awww. I liked Bat Girl. So sorry

 

[Urchin]

The second chick hatched and looks just like the first. I marked it with a bit of food coloring so we can tell them apart. Ella got off her nest and wasn't sure about how to get back on. She was standing at the edge looking back and forth like, "OMG! How do I sit down without smooshing them?" She was making such a panicked racket that I went in the mudroom to see what was the matter. First chick scrambled under her, but second is still kind of wet and wobbly, so she kept trying to drag it over towards her. I picked it up and placed it under her wing before she ended up hurting it.

Edited to add the first chick has been named "Gorgonzola" by my oldest daughter.

 

[SilkieMom8875]

Awww.  I liked Bat Girl.  So sorry

Thx we did too

 

[Urchin]

Lost our first chicken to a hawk this afternoon. We loved Batgirl and are very sad. Hoping she didn't suffer ! Everybody will just have to deal with being penned up because the hawk now know where to come for food !

Aww, I'm so sorry.

 

[Suzierd]

Lost our first chicken to a hawk this afternoon. We loved Batgirl and are very sad. Hoping she didn't suffer ! Everybody will just have to deal with being penned up because the hawk now know where to come for food !

Very sorry she was so cute. I can't let mine free range either because of hawks.

 

[kmollyhughes]

Lost our first chicken to a hawk this afternoon. We loved Batgirl and are very sad. Hoping she didn't suffer ! Everybody will just have to deal with being penned up because the hawk now know where to come for food !

Aww. Sorry to hear that! ...we had a red tail hawk attack a silkie this summer but our roo was able to keep it cornered under a big pine tree until we heard all the "screaming" and came running. The hawk dropped her...I was running to her just as fast as she was running to me. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done...but she's mine!!

She survived after a lot of rest and checking on her in a dark kennel. BUT...my point is...they almost need a couple sad experiences or close calls to really be aware of what's in the sky/trees watching them. Maybe the rest of your flock doesn't have to be locked up if they learned that lesson and have places to hide...?? Good luck, and sorry again.

 

[kmollyhughes]

My three broody girls.

Black copper Marans, splash silkie, and black silkie. On their last week off sitting. The temps are supposed to be super low the next couple days and they are starting to give a couple other girls ideas about sitting...so to the shop and kennel they went. Broodiness is contagious apparently. Lol They are sitting on Blue Ameracauna, Marans, and Cream Legbar eggs. Yay!!! ***fingers crossed for at least a few babies!!

 

[Urchin]

My three broody girls.

Black copper Marans, splash silkie, and black silkie. On their last week off sitting. The temps are supposed to be super low the next couple days and they are starting to give a couple other girls ideas about sitting...so to the shop and kennel they went. Broodiness is contagious apparently. Lol They are sitting on Blue Ameracauna, Marans, and Cream Legbar eggs. Yay!!! ***fingers crossed for at least a few babies!!

They're going broody like mad around here. Ella just hatched out two of the Professor's eggs, now the Professor is trying to go broody herself. She found a hole where she could wiggle under the shelf the nesting boxes are on. Until I got the lumber to close it up, I'd have to drag her out every day and throw her in the yard several times a day. Now that the hole's patched, she's sitting beside it and I still have to throw her out in the yard. But she's out wandering around for 2-3 hours before she remembers she's broody, so I think she's finally snapping out of it. No sooner am I seeing progress towards non-broodiness in her and Henrietta, who's a RIR, surprised me by spending two days on a nest growling at anyone who came near her. I had to wear gloves to get her off her nest because I found out she's a mean broody who will draw blood. I don't know what's wrong with these hens. It's cold out. You'd think nature would be telling them this isn't the best time to be raising a family.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Aww. Sorry to hear that! ...we had a red tail hawk attack a silkie this summer but our roo was able to keep it cornered under a big pine tree until we heard all the "screaming" and came running. The hawk dropped her...I was running to her just as fast as she was running to me. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done...but she's mine!!

She survived after a lot of rest and checking on her in a dark kennel. BUT...my point is...they almost need a couple sad experiences or close calls to really be aware of what's in the sky/trees watching them. Maybe the rest of your flock doesn't have to be locked up if they learned that lesson and have places to hide...?? Good luck, and sorry again.

I've always wondered about that. I know scientists have proven that the fear of the silhouette of a hawk shape is innate in chicks.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.23...2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103034682053

I fly my parrots outside, so have read a lot on hawk behavior and have consulted a lot with a friend of mine, an avian vet who specializes in falcons and birds of prey.

As far as I know, none of my chickens (oldest 8 months) have had any close encounters with hawks, but my parrots most certainly have. The parrots are housed outside 24/7 most of the year (inside for the next few days with this nasty cold front). The parrots alert when a vulture flies overhead although they have calmed down a lot in the 18 months they have lived in Texas and been exposed to vultures. In the past few days, it seems the parrots aren't even alerting for the vultures anymore.

Next door are a large flock of older chickens, a couple of peacocks and it sounds like a goose or two.

My chickens will react to alarm calls from my parrots, the peacocks, goose and the chickens next door, even my dogs although I'm not sure they are alerting to the dogs alarm calls or they are more worried that the dogs will attack them. The other day the free ranging flock were with me, foraging in an open area when the geese next door started yelling. My young flock ran very quickly to the fence line, which has overhanging trees. Another time, my neighbor called to say she had seen a fox on her property. My chickens were very upset, even the deer were upset. I'm happy to see that all the prey animals seem to alert off each other.

So far, touch wood, I haven't lost any to predation. I hope my roosters will do their job and protect the flock, which is why I have them. They've had some safe practices of protecting the flock from big birds when my parrots have gone to ground near the chickens and the cockerels have attacked and chased them off--good safe practices so when something really dangerous arrives, they won't hesitate and will just attack. Hawks in general won't risk being attacked on the ground when they are compromised by holding struggling prey, so they'll give up. Hawks have a ratchet system around the tendons of their legs so that once closed, it takes no effort to keep their feet clenched. It is a two step process to release their grip, they first have to open the tendon and then it can slide. When they are in a panic, often they can't release their grip, so they tend to avoid being down on the ground grabbing something too big to fly off with when they could be attacked.