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Herbert...
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 205607" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>I strongly recommend you make a large run that is netted in on the top as well, for safety from hawks. It needn't be too complex or expensive.</p><p></p><p>As for the hawk, it was just doing what hawks do. It didn't know that this hen was special. If anything happens to that hawk, another one will just move in to take over its patch. You can't kill them all.</p><p></p><p>I remember when the foxes wiped out our flock - I was furious, I tracked the trail of feathers out to the clifftop and rang the rangers - while the feathers were there, a den of foxes was trackable. In our area, those foxes do not belong. But even so, the rangers never did anything. They were just too short-staffed.</p><p></p><p>So I built a fox-proof henhouse and put strategies in place to keep the chooks safe from dogs as well - gates, fences etc. Then I got more chooks. Apart from losing one to a snake, and another that flew over the fence to be met by a hungry and playful pit bull, we have not lost a hen since.</p><p></p><p>You gave Herbert a lovely second life. You can do that again - an alternative to chicks, is buying hens from a battery farm, hens about to be killed because they're at the end of their productive life. Such hens are never more than 2 years old, often younger, and will still lay eggs for years more, especially if you give them a happy life. They will probably have had their beaks trimmed and not have a clue about grass or worms, but they can learn.</p><p></p><p>Just a thought. Now is a good time for you to do this - the cull is usually in autumn when the days get shorter.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 205607, member: 1991"] I strongly recommend you make a large run that is netted in on the top as well, for safety from hawks. It needn't be too complex or expensive. As for the hawk, it was just doing what hawks do. It didn't know that this hen was special. If anything happens to that hawk, another one will just move in to take over its patch. You can't kill them all. I remember when the foxes wiped out our flock - I was furious, I tracked the trail of feathers out to the clifftop and rang the rangers - while the feathers were there, a den of foxes was trackable. In our area, those foxes do not belong. But even so, the rangers never did anything. They were just too short-staffed. So I built a fox-proof henhouse and put strategies in place to keep the chooks safe from dogs as well - gates, fences etc. Then I got more chooks. Apart from losing one to a snake, and another that flew over the fence to be met by a hungry and playful pit bull, we have not lost a hen since. You gave Herbert a lovely second life. You can do that again - an alternative to chicks, is buying hens from a battery farm, hens about to be killed because they're at the end of their productive life. Such hens are never more than 2 years old, often younger, and will still lay eggs for years more, especially if you give them a happy life. They will probably have had their beaks trimmed and not have a clue about grass or worms, but they can learn. Just a thought. Now is a good time for you to do this - the cull is usually in autumn when the days get shorter. Marg [/QUOTE]
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