The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

I spent a good part of yesterday picking up leaves. I have filled their old enclosed run & hoop coop full of them. The rest the hens spent spreading throughout the veggie garden for me.

The bottom pic is of a calendula bloom I took yesterday. Amazing how nature can wiyh stand freezes & cold temps & continue to thrive. There are still a lot more blooms on the plant. I surrounded them leaves in the hopes they continue to bloom. I've been picking blooms to dry off the plants all summer After using them to make salve I dry the leaves and put in the nesting box for the hens.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@armorfirelady
Beautiful!

 

[armorfirelady]

Imagine my shock when my neighbor texts me there is a hawk in my coop!!! I'm at work but thankfully when he went out to check on his hens he realized something was wrong when his pullets were quiet and then heard a commotion from my coop. Thankfully my girls were ok. They jammed themselves into the feeding area....the farthest point from the hawk. Initially he thought one was killed but apparently it was playing dead....it let put a squawk and tried to run when he picked her up. It is one of my original PR girls. She's almost 5 so she has lots of experience with the darn hawks. This is the first time one ventured in the cooo but the 2nd time in a couple months one was so close to my hens. I'll be rigging up some bird netting at the entrances to the coop. Hens can get in but not the hawks !!

 

[armorfirelady]

A better pic. Its a juvenile Coopers Hawk. Beautiful bird but it needs to long gone from my area !!!

 

[armorfirelady]

@armorfirelady
Beautiful!

thanks

 

[Molpet]

A better pic. Its a juvenile Coopers Hawk. Beautiful bird but it needs to long gone from my area !!!

what a bold bird!!! so glad your chickens are ok
My hoop coop has the man door open all day, guess I need to rethink that! I didn't put in a pop door, but it will have some changes now.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@armorfirelady

Wow.... Scary!

I did have one fly into the dog kennel run gate once. But never inside the coop or barn.

On the barn I was concerned that birds could get in and make nests...and that hawks would follow them right in so I've hung the plastic netting to keep birds from flying in that's worked so far.


They just get a small opening to duck under and in.

 

[h2oratt]

Hi
Very interested in raising chickens the naturally way.

 

[mlowen]

Hi
Very interested in raising chickens the naturally way.

Welcome! TONS of fabulous info in this thread. Worth reading all the way through (a little at a time, when you have time.) Questions usually get answered, it may take awhile. It seems like all of us have been pretty busy and not posting much, lately.

 

[armorfirelady]

what a bold bird!!! so glad your chickens are ok
My hoop coop has the man door open all day, guess I need to rethink that! I didn't put in a pop door, but it will have some changes now.

@armorfirelady

Wow.... Scary!

I did have one fly into the dog kennel run gate once. But never inside the coop or barn.

On the barn I was concerned that birds could get in and make nests...and that hawks would follow them right in so I've hung the plastic netting to keep birds from flying in that's worked so far.


They just get a small opening to duck under and in.

I have had hawks around but never ever this bold. A couple months ago one was sitting on top of the compost area & the pullets were making a racket!!! I beliebe its a juvenile hawk with its boldness. I have hung cds up to deter it but they got tangled up and fell in the high winds we have had the past few days so I bought some reflective tape I am going to try instead. The crows have been back but not to stay so I bought some fake crows to hang from the trees to try & deter the hawk.

I may just do that net hanging idea.......I was going to do it the past 2 days but the wind has been so out of control I figured it was pointless !!