Friday, July 27, 2007
Novice Chicken Farmers Beware of Chicken Hawks
Posted in Small Space Homesteading
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I was humbled yesterday at my naive confidence that reading a few books and websites were all it takes to become a chicken farmer. We don't have a hen house built, but we made a nice little area for our chicks to brood. I even extended their run out from under the canopied protection of tarps so they could explore and eat lots of bugs. 50% of our yard is covered with tree canopies. I felt that I had done everything to make the chicks safe...the cat couldn't get in and the dog wouldn't try and she would keep other varmints away. I even made my 2-year-old grandson stop jumping at them to see them run, in case his toddler balance failed at the wrong moment. Yesterday morning as I calmly sat reading in my sunroom, a chicken hawk scooped out of the sky and killed one of my chicks. It didn't get away with any because I went screaming out the back door yelling like a banshee. But I was too late for the chick. The poor thing died from talon punctures to it's back. Needless to say, I needed a time out after that. My dd1 could see that I hadn't stopped shaking after 20 minutes and gave me a long and comforting hug. I spent the day watching the skies and waited for my dh to come home with ideas for guarding the chicks. He found netting at a local hardware store and we put that up. It makes it difficult to get in the pen, but the package lists one of its uses for predator deterrent. So I'll put up with mussed hair every time I need to get in and the plans for the chicken coup now include a six-foot high covered enclosure. Somehow, that doesn't fit with my ideas for free range chickens, but my ds pointed out the direction he had seen a hawk's nest. It is just up the mountain aways across the creek behind our house. I'll have to modify my plans or stand watch every time they are loose. That was a tough lesson to learn about pride and foolish over-confidence. |
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