ChicNmom
Crowing
We have been really fortunate that in 12 years of having chickens we had only lost 2 to predators. One to a hawk and one to a coyote.
The chickens and Guineas have been alerting to a persistent hawk and also looking onto the woods and alerting. But we couldn't see anything. Occasionally we would just fire off a shot to scare whatever it was away.
So late this afternoon while writing about my Guinea hen that is acting off I hear something and see a chicken flying across the yard and a hawk swooping low and chickens running AND flying, which was odd. We run outside my husband fires off a shot to scare whatever is still freaking out the birds and start to do a head count. Then my husband sees movement behind the coop and across a small stream. It was my other, most confident(and favorite) Guinea flopping on the ground. I got to her and was trying to help her as she died. I looked her over and she didn't have hawk wounds. She had a bite puncture on her neck and I think it just crushed her airway. Her neck didn't seem to be broken.
We have chicken cams around the yard so when my husband checked we can see either a weasel or a fisher cat going across the driveway and behind the coop to where the chickens were. And less than a second after the weasel you can see the hawk trying to swoop in.
So the weasel or whatever has been low enough to avoid the sensors in the woods, or when it set them off it was so low to the ground we couldn't see it.
Something has been freaking the chickens out early in the morning. And one time I saw something low to the ground for an instant behind the coop. But it was gone when I got there.
So far no dig marks around the coop and we have rocks and fencing below ground so I don't think it can get in.
What a crazy thing to have 2 predators at one time!
And now I have one insecure Guinea that already isn't feeling well. She was in a cage where she could definitely hear and probably saw the attack.
The chickens and Guineas have been alerting to a persistent hawk and also looking onto the woods and alerting. But we couldn't see anything. Occasionally we would just fire off a shot to scare whatever it was away.
So late this afternoon while writing about my Guinea hen that is acting off I hear something and see a chicken flying across the yard and a hawk swooping low and chickens running AND flying, which was odd. We run outside my husband fires off a shot to scare whatever is still freaking out the birds and start to do a head count. Then my husband sees movement behind the coop and across a small stream. It was my other, most confident(and favorite) Guinea flopping on the ground. I got to her and was trying to help her as she died. I looked her over and she didn't have hawk wounds. She had a bite puncture on her neck and I think it just crushed her airway. Her neck didn't seem to be broken.
We have chicken cams around the yard so when my husband checked we can see either a weasel or a fisher cat going across the driveway and behind the coop to where the chickens were. And less than a second after the weasel you can see the hawk trying to swoop in.
So the weasel or whatever has been low enough to avoid the sensors in the woods, or when it set them off it was so low to the ground we couldn't see it.
Something has been freaking the chickens out early in the morning. And one time I saw something low to the ground for an instant behind the coop. But it was gone when I got there.
So far no dig marks around the coop and we have rocks and fencing below ground so I don't think it can get in.
What a crazy thing to have 2 predators at one time!
And now I have one insecure Guinea that already isn't feeling well. She was in a cage where she could definitely hear and probably saw the attack.
) I hope this helps! Sorry for your loss also, I know how hard it is to lose such loving birds…
