My week has been a bit tough. I guess with the lack of in foliage to hide in, my chickens have become target practice for the hawks and easy pickings to say the least. I lost my favorite white silkie named spike one day, then evil lester the blue cochin the next. This morning, I woke up to a hawk about the size of a serama chewing on maurice, my little black silkie. The hawk just kinda looked back at me like --what the fuck are you looking at, i'm eating breakfast here-- as he peeled away the skin on the neck of my former friend. So I was pissed off and all the ducks were watching from their little house as I ran to get the gun, not sure what I was going to do with it but still pissed off that this stupid bird was eating the head off the little chicken that I hand raised from a day old peep.
By the time I got back, the hawk was perched up in the tree, swinging it's tail around like a taunting kid on the playground, and I was damn pissed. Not like I did anything, but I guess I impressed him just by standing in my pj's, freezing with a cold clip in one hand and the rifle in the other, wondering how the two go together and how bad the kick it going to be.
In the end, I just stood there, staring at him, melting the snow around my boots as I watched him twitch his tail and move from one tree to a farther tree to a farther tree until he was a speck. I'm sure he'll be back. The ground was frozen and I couldn't bury poor maurice. I let the ducks out, despite my best judgment. The chickens, however, are staying in today.
Le sigh... such is life in the wild, wild open. It constantly comes down to the dichotomy of safety with no freedom, or freedom without safety. If I keep them in the pen all the time, they are fine, but then they never get to run around in fresh grass. But then again, running around in fresh grass could have them turn up dead.
I guess I subject them to what I would rather have; a life with the wind blowing through my hair, er feathers in their case, throwing caution to the wind and possibly becoming someone's lunch.
But I guess we all feed ourselves to the wolves sometimes....
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Not sure if you already have a dog or not... but our Great Pyrenees has kept most of the hawks away from our chickens. We do still have a problem if they go into the woods (coyotes, bobcats, etc) but in the yard they are pretty safe. I still think we'll have to fence sooner or later.
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