When your chickens are actually tiny dinosaurs.

[Icedangel11]

Today I was visiting with my lovely ladies as they free ranged around the yard when a bird, maybe a small sparrow, decided to fall out of a tree. Maybe it was young, maybe it was injured, but it couldn't fly away.

My "pack" of hens chases it down using very impressive coordination and pecked the poor thing to death. Then ate it.

I wonder if they said 'Mm! Tastes like chicken!'

To make matters worse I had to explain to the neighborhood kids seen it and now refuse to pet my 'monster birds' out of fear of being eaten themselves! I guess that explains why I never see any birds anymore. And maybe even the odd lack of squirrels recently...

I wish I knew what to feel. I'm stuck between 'That was AWESOME!' and mortified at the same time.

 

[Stiggy]

yeap that's chickens for you. when it comes to things like that they are the predators, they even have the predator eyes, rather than the sideways herbivore eyes. its a horrible thing for the kids to watch since most kids think all chickens eat is bread and pellets and don't know much else. I feel sorry for the little birdie though . you should see what they will do with mice, its amazing..... . My chooks do that when sparrows or other birds come in to steal their food, the young ones especially love the chase, they run as a flock, in apack like design and charge with their feathers all fluffed up like a dogs hackles and their heads down.

 

[seann]

Yes they are some mean pillbug killing machine. I was right next to my white leghorn when she scratched the dirt and found some pillbugs. As she finds and eats one, I too tried to at least see the pillbug before she could find it. I couldn't keep up.

If they were 4" tall, I'm quite sure humans would be on their menu.

 

[Icedangel11]

Well, it's official. I have a pack of tiny Dinosaurs.

 

[Stiggy]

wow that's an amazing thought.... they would lay huge eggs.... like a dino version of an emu . omg, a jurassic park with chickens...

 

[lularat]

One of my girls found a frog and before I could get it away from her, she took off like a rocket. When I caught up to her, she was banging it on the ground. Needless to say, it was dead. Then the other girls started chasing her to get the frog. The last I saw was two of them playing tug of war with the poor frog. Yes, they can be quite savage at times.

 

[Stiggy]

lol that's brilliant !!. we had meat birds ( full sized 5+ kg ones) in with our younger Orpingtons and my Silkies. when moving some hay bales for composting there were mice nests, the Silkies had no show but one of the Orpingtons called Splash grabbed one, it was wriggling and squirming and she didn't know what to do with it so he flicked it up in the air and let go. it hit the ground only to be grabbed by one of the meat birds ( Waddles) who threw it up in the air, dropped it and stomped on it before eating it. it was funny watching the tug of war games that followed

 

[Foghorn Cogburn]

Yeah...they can go from cute to mini velociraptor in 0.2 seconds. My cats won't even mess with 'em and I'd feel sorry for the kitty that does. Foggy and her "12 disciples" can prove to be quite the formidable unit. Sweet yet savage little gumballs marauding over the acre.

 

[JamieChickie]

My girls always chase all the cats out of the yard, they also chase off the doves occasionally, they dont seem to mind sparrows but the few times we've had a rat living under the house...

One time I was re stacking the woodpile, this massive rat almost the size of my shoe came darting out, my boss girl called the alarm, they went into formation, chased the poor rodent down the run before grabbing him by the tail and banging him against everything they could whilst fighting over who got to have him. Eventually they lost interest... Was happy for the pest control but kind of in fascinated/horrified awe at the same time.

They also tried scaring off a random golden retriever who had broken out of his house and into the neighbours and was watching them thru the fence... They called the alarm and i got there in time to see poor Snoopy getting holes drilled into his nose... No one messes with my girls


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[andreanar]

Eek! Ferocious beasts. I put some live crickets in with my 3 week olds last night thinking it would keep them busy chasing them around. No way! They chased those crickets down in 3 seconds flat!