Useless Roos

[FluffyButtBabies]

Well I never really bet on them attacking/defending against the hawk, 'cause they're all pretty small. But I at least thought they'd be smart enough to call out to the others or hide. I know one of my youngest hens did just that, she ran under a thick bush and hid herself by crouching. All the rest though ran right into the open in a panic, which I would think made them an even bigger target. Will they at least learn how to hide?

 

[FluffyButtBabies]

Yay! I guess I raised a bunch of hawk chicken nuggets. Lol it's fine, I still love them. I'll just have to be more careful and watch the skies better (with a stick).

 

[SulkyBantam]

Yes, sometimes they don't protect until they are actual roos. How much do you trim though? My polish boys give alarm call ALL THE TIME ( ) regardless of trimming, but other polish have vision difficulties.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Even though a chicken's understanding re aerial predator threats is often innate, sometimes their understanding only comes after an attack. Your flock is hopefully a LITTLE wiser now. Maybe. Unfortunately it sometimes takes a sucessful kill before the flock truly understands the danger. And of course that means a tragic loss. Do you have a dog you trust to be with the chickens? A large redtail hawk has included my chicken pastures & surrounding woods as part of its territory for years. It HAS sucessfully gotten several hens. However, the hawk has only attacked the flock that ranges in a 2 acre fenced pasture that my dogs dont usually enter. That flock has several roosters that DO alarm call the danger, and then the roos run back to the coop with the hens. Sometimes a hen didnt make it back safely despite the warning. The hawk has never attacked a chicken within the acreage where my dogs regularly sleep and patrol. Even though i often hear and sometimes see the hawk flying near that flock, it obviously sees my dogs flopped out on the ground snoozing. Neither the resident hawk nor any other has ever dared risk an attack. So even if you have a dog that mostly lives inside, & even if u can only trust the dog under your direct supervision, i believe a dog's presence would deter a hawk from attacking your flock. Meaning you could relax & enjoy time with your flock instead of serving as the flock "rooster," constantly on alert and scanning the sky. Of course the dog has to be big enough to not be appetizing hawk bait itself. Shitzous & pomeranians dont count!

 

[FluffyButtBabies]

Good idea! I have two dogs. One is a tiny evil little poodle who would tear through the flock like a madman. But the other is large enough and calm enough that I think I could teach her to get along with the birds. She's hung out with them quite a few times before while I watched. The problem is that she's still basically a big puppy (she hasn't figured out that she's SUPPOSED to be 5), and although she has no intention of squashing the chickens, she still ends up tripping over them.
As for my Polish, I trim enough that I can see his eyes from both the front and sides. But I think he has an additional vision impairment. He has a slow visual reaction time, gets lost from the girls even when they're two feet away, runs into random objects, etc. Funny story, he actually just got over a month-long concussion he received by slamming himself into a slide.

 

[cmom]

The best scenario is predator proofing an area for your birds. Free ranging is nice and so are dogs and roosters but they won't necessarily warn and protect your flock. When you free range even for a short time you will probably sooner or later loose a bird to a predator, ground or aerial, it's a risk you take. Bantams are nuggets for the predators. Even a large fowl male can be had by a predator. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

Some people have good luck with their dogs and roosters warning and protecting their flocks but many aren't as lucky.