Suddenly Terrified?

[steve232]

Yes it don't take much to make a chicken be chicken. I always wear a cap. One day I went to take mine a corn snack and didn't put on my cap. When I got down there they acted like I was some sort of horrible predator...... Hmmm, maybe I was just blinding them with no cap on.

 

[Zoomie]

All these stories are hilarious.

Yes, animals can be VERY observant. Some will notice every tiny thing. I've scared my animals by: wearing a raincoat when it's raining, putting on coveralls, setting a muck bucket near their run and wearing a hat. Today, the chickens were terrified to go out because it had snowed a few inches. Two days ago, I was seriously considering getting out my net and catching them because there were scared to go in the coop. I'd put in new bedding. And it's not like I never did that before; they have seen fresh bedding before, many times. It was just really scary this time, apparently.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would still keep an eye out for predators. Mine get weird when something has been lurking about.

 

[DuckMochi]

@oldhenlikesdogs we don’t have predators here lol we live in Phoenix, Arizona. The middle of a huge city. There’s no wilderness or animals (aside from pets) anywhere near here

 

[rebrascora]

Dogs and even cats can be predators. Just because they are domestic animals or pets, does not mean that they don't view chicken as a tasty dinner ... or a play toy. I don't know about Phoenix, but plenty of cities have urban foxes which are sometimes worse than rural ones.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Some poor poster recently realised that her chicken was racist against black people here. My little bantam rooster hates Amish. Chickens see and recognise differences, and they do not like them. Ducks are almost as bad. My dad claims that when he was a kid, they had one gander who only attacked people wearing coats.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

@oldhenlikesdogs we don’t have predators here lol we live in Phoenix, Arizona. The middle of a huge city. There’s no wilderness or animals (aside from pets) anywhere near here

I've watched plenty of nature shows. Cities are full of critters, especially coyote, so don't be too complacent. Hawks and owls can get your birds too.

 

[aart]

I've watched plenty of nature shows. Cities are full of critters, especially coyote, so don't be too complacent. Hawks and owls can get your birds too.

..and raccoons.....and rats...and who know what else in Ph.

 

[DuckMochi]

@oldhenlikesdogs yes there are coyotes in Arizona but where we live, the neighborhood we live in, is not somewhere you’ll find them. They come into neighborhoods next to mountains and on the edge of the city. We’re in the middle where each house has their own back yard enclosed by concrete walls. So even if there were coyotes around, they couldn’t get in. The worst we have are the ally cats and they don’t pay much attention to the chickens

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

My kids are afraid of everything I do for them... First it was the flock block...eeeekkk a hawk! Then...it was the lush carpet of leaves in the run...eeeekkk a coyote...then it was the dust tubby...eeeekkk a bear... I'm considering naming my coop Nervous Nellies.