lindafw Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Last night i was bemoning the fact that it was a no egg day (this seamed strange as I have had between 1 and 3 eggs daily since before Christmas) the boys informed me there had been a hawk in the garden . After cross questioning I discovered that what was probably a sparrow hawk landed on the cube and was very interested in it . However the girls were down the garden by the feeder and he/she showed no interest in them, lets hope it stays that way . We had a female sparrow hawk visit about 3 years ago but in April (the local hawk conservancy suggested she was raising chicks and looking for food) but it seams a bit early this year Any ideas how to protect my free ranging girls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I awoke to some rather frantic feather patterns near one of my coops a few weeks ago; someone suggested it may have been a sparrowhawk; the feathers were indicative of a herring gull. Now, a herring gull is pretty much the same size as a medium hen = sparrowhawks could attack and devour a small, medium sized hen! Protecting FR girls I was pretty confident with (aka they only FR when I was *with* them) until last Saturday when a fox attacked my girls in the middle of the day, a few feet away from me!!!! Now, I feel that FR, at this time of year when other wildlife are struggling/prioritising feeding their babies, must mean I should not only be with them, but keep some small stones in my pocket as an "Ooops, word censored!"nal to scare away (not injure!) and preditors. Free-ranging is such a subjective issue: for some, it means letting nature take it's course (unsupervised by humans) which also means letting nature have it's retribution! For others, FR means, letting our girlies have the freedoms of space, natures bounty and our protection - but is not necessarily without risk. The hawk may have put your girls off lay (for very natural reasons); interest in your girls, from the perception of a sparrow hawk will depend on: a) how many alternatives there are; b) how desperate it is to feed it's chicks and c) how protected your girls are from a sparrowhawk perspective! How protective do you want to be? Are you prepared to only FR when you are around and with them? Or, do you want them to FR when you are not immediately on hand? Those are your real choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlisonH Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 We regularly have a sparrow hawk around but we put the kids climbing frame in the middle of the garden to break any possible flight path and we've never had any problems since - I was advised that they would be unlikely to try and chickens unless they are only very small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindafw Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 From the sound of it my Poland girl is the only one at risk...and she is canny and spends most of the day in among the shrubs. My girls FR from morn till night and have done for 2 years with no problems... so fingers crossed. There is plenty of shrub cover as well as the eglu and cube...and even a shed with gap down the side where no one could fly...so fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
