Post by Mitra on Jul 31, 2007 14:59:57 GMT -5
She died defending her 5 chicks One of the chicks died too.
Early today, while Max and I were taking care of our two remaining meat birds (moving the tractor etc.) we heard the roosters sound the alarm and the ducks came flying out of one side of the lawn to get to their coop as fast as possible. Max ran to where we could hear the ruckus. On the opposite side from where the sound's were coming, I saw my best mother hen standing like a statue at the edge of the woods while she looked toward the noise. Her 5 chicks were also standing motionless.
When Max reached the coops and went behind one of them to look into the woods, he saw the problem before him. A giant eagle was on the ground in the woods. They made eye contact and with a huge whoosh the bird flew up to a low branch and then to a higher one. As Max advanced on it, it decided to get the heck out of there and with branches snapping and lots of wing beating through densely growing saplings, the eagle flew away. Max returned to the spot where the eagle had been on the ground and there laying on its side, legs straight out was a barred rock hen. He leaned down to look at her and she moved, so he gently picked her up and checked her out. We couldn't see that anything was damaged. Max set her down and she walked away! We were so glad that we'd made it in time because just seconds later and the eagle would have had her gutted.
About three hours later, I was hanging clothes on the line and I heard ear piercing peeping noises from the woods. When we got there, it was too late. A huge bird took off into the trees (the same one?). The mama hen was in the woods next to a log, missing her head and most of her neck. The chick peeping was deep in the woods and as soon as we started looking for them, they went completely silent. About an hour later, we were able to find four of them. My theory is that she died trying to save her chick, the one that is missing and presumed dead.
She was a great hen. Max saved her three years ago from Joann's hayloft. He hadn't realized the hen was setting in the loft when he moved a bunch of bales and inadvertently blocked her in. She was blocked in for about two weeks in the middle of winter. Then her chicks started to hatch and Joann could hear the peeping but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Some poor chicks fell to their death from cracks in the barn wall. They landed outside in the snow. Max was able to rescue the mama and 4 of her chicks and Joann kindly let us have the whole little family. She had since raised three batches of chicks and was just the perfect fierce protective mother hen.
This is the price we pay for free range hens. I guess this definitively answers the, "I wonder if the two missing barred rock hens are setting in the woods?" question
Early today, while Max and I were taking care of our two remaining meat birds (moving the tractor etc.) we heard the roosters sound the alarm and the ducks came flying out of one side of the lawn to get to their coop as fast as possible. Max ran to where we could hear the ruckus. On the opposite side from where the sound's were coming, I saw my best mother hen standing like a statue at the edge of the woods while she looked toward the noise. Her 5 chicks were also standing motionless.
When Max reached the coops and went behind one of them to look into the woods, he saw the problem before him. A giant eagle was on the ground in the woods. They made eye contact and with a huge whoosh the bird flew up to a low branch and then to a higher one. As Max advanced on it, it decided to get the heck out of there and with branches snapping and lots of wing beating through densely growing saplings, the eagle flew away. Max returned to the spot where the eagle had been on the ground and there laying on its side, legs straight out was a barred rock hen. He leaned down to look at her and she moved, so he gently picked her up and checked her out. We couldn't see that anything was damaged. Max set her down and she walked away! We were so glad that we'd made it in time because just seconds later and the eagle would have had her gutted.
About three hours later, I was hanging clothes on the line and I heard ear piercing peeping noises from the woods. When we got there, it was too late. A huge bird took off into the trees (the same one?). The mama hen was in the woods next to a log, missing her head and most of her neck. The chick peeping was deep in the woods and as soon as we started looking for them, they went completely silent. About an hour later, we were able to find four of them. My theory is that she died trying to save her chick, the one that is missing and presumed dead.
She was a great hen. Max saved her three years ago from Joann's hayloft. He hadn't realized the hen was setting in the loft when he moved a bunch of bales and inadvertently blocked her in. She was blocked in for about two weeks in the middle of winter. Then her chicks started to hatch and Joann could hear the peeping but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Some poor chicks fell to their death from cracks in the barn wall. They landed outside in the snow. Max was able to rescue the mama and 4 of her chicks and Joann kindly let us have the whole little family. She had since raised three batches of chicks and was just the perfect fierce protective mother hen.
This is the price we pay for free range hens. I guess this definitively answers the, "I wonder if the two missing barred rock hens are setting in the woods?" question