Sammiboo Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 I am currently typing this covered in dirt, nettle stings, leaves and twigs in my hair....... I know my hens have been partial to the odd frog attack. Managed to save one out of two they have caught. Not that they have eaten any, just run around with it excited not knowing what to do. OH was doing the washing up and shouted me, i rushed in the kitchen and saw that Phyllis was on the otherside of the garden with a baby sparrow in her beak which was screeching. She saw me running towards her ( barefeet i should add, treding in well i am sure you can imagine) Phyllis ran into the bushes 5 other hens in tow. I dived in after her, dragged her out by her tail which obviously shocked her, took the sparrow out of her beak. She was very submissive!! Unfortunately the baby sparrow died about an hour after (quiet and warm in the lounge) but now i know we have fledglings around i am going to be totally on edge. Naughty Naughty girls!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy ben grace Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 You would expect that from a cat, but chickens???!!! Little monkeys, whatever next. Shame we cant train them to attack foxes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammiboo Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 I know that they do as my friends chickens have done the same when they have baby birds in the garden. I felt really bad for the baby. Then I felt bad on the hen as she really was scared to death when i dragged her out. I went out later and gave her a cuddle and she has forgiven me. I still told her she was a bad girl though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 aww, nature is horrible sometimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Poor little sparrow. Moomin had a shrew snack this afternoon, there was no way she was surrendering her prize to anyone, I did draw the line at her dash for the open back door in an attempt to throw the others off her tail though. (Moomin believes that she is a house hen and tries to get in at any opportunity.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Mine killed a fledgling sparrow last year too. They also attempted to eat it, but the feathers must have been really unpalatable as quite some time later they were still, unsuccessfully, trying to snack on it. I removed it in the end. I hope this year's fledglings are less suicidal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryegg Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Nature can be very cruel. However we are over run with sparrows this year. In the garage, bungalow roof and neighbours house martins are being evicted by sparrows. I am also feeding goodness knows how many on layers pellets despite a treadle feeder so if the chooks get any I'll just look away. They attack blackbirds and on two occasions a rat but seem quite fond of sparrows. Perhaps their just trying to lull them into a false sense of security. They haven't seen any frogs or toads yet. I couldn't cope with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickichicky Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 oh dear. mine have had mad sessions with toads twice Had to get the OH to prise Benni's beak open to remove it whilst I held her She was not happy. They also found one of the cats half chewed mice... I think I would be quite upset if they had a fledgling, what with it being a fellow feathered being I was worried about the cats out there at the mo with all the baby birds about... maybe I should be watching the girls as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
