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What began as a lovely March day...sunshine...snow melting...continued sunshine...lunch with family...Travis catching 40 winks on the return drive home...radio on...car window cracked...fresh air... note... local Dairy Queen open for the season...perhaps a good afternoon for the "girls" to stretch their legs... locate a blade of grass...find a bit of dirt...good mental health weather...
After pulling into the driveway... while Travis slumbered... I headed to the coop...mercy me...what I encountered was beyond belief...a hawk...a large...no... huge hawk had made it's way into the coop...yes...inside the coop...as I neared...the hawk flew out of the hen door ... up between the roof netting and off across the field...tragically... the remains of a massacred hen lay before me...Rosie, a prized egg layer and pet...I stood there momentarily dumbfounded...soon realizing I needed to find out the well being of my remaining flock... but... afraid of what I might discover...were they slaughtered too? ...thankfully... huddled together in a corner...traumatized...but safe... six hens...six ladies with all their feathers and toes were accounted for...
Sometimes life at Dog Trot Farm is a little too close to the Wild Kingdom.....I fear this saga has just begun...hold on girls it's going to be a bumpy ride....
23 comments:
Oh, my. So sorry to hear that but happy it was not worse. Good thing you got home when you did!
Hugs :)
Lauren
Sorry to hear about your hen, hard to find our pets like that. I lost a kitty once and found the remains in the field, not a sight I want to see again. The hawks here are going after the birds at our feeder, the hard winter is making all the critters more aggressive.
Debbie
ohmy. How awful for you. I'm sorry about Rosie. xo
So sorry about Rosie. So happy the other ladies are o.k. Glad you are having a little bit warmer weather.
Robyn
I am sorry about Rosie. How awful but glad you got there in time to save the rest.
Oh Julie, that is so sad ...I am so sorry for your lost. It could have been worst for sure. I wonder if a wire mesh over the coop would do the trick. Keeping hens sure has it's draw back. They are pray to all kinds of sneaky animals.
A neighbour lost all his hens one by one to a fox who made it's way into his coop last year. You may have to try geese.
Hugs,
oh how horrible! i would have to get out my gun!
I am so sorry Julie.
I know how aggressive they can get in the spring. But getting into the coop is just unreal. I am sorry of your other hens to have been in there. I hope it doesn't return.
So sorry! I have a hawk sitting on our grain bins waiting. After reading your blog I am going down t check my chickens and see for sure the hawk can't get in!!
So sorry to hear of Rosie's passing. We have had two birds plucked right from our bird feeders this year, to our knowledge it never happened before. And until all of the snow is gone I feel it will continue to happen
Oh Julie, my heart hurts for you, poor sweet Rosie. But glad to hear the six girls were unharmed, hope they are ok. Yes, life throws us curve balls, we must carry on. hugs Francine.
Julie, I'm so sorry to hear about Rosie. I hope you can find a way to keep the hawk from getting in. They're very intelligent. I read an article the other day about the birds this year and how the late heavy snow has prevented the birds from finding food, even the raptors. A few Eagles were found cold and starving because they couldn't find enough to eat. I've been putting out extra food for the critters around here along with fresh water which is hard to find in winter.
So sorry to hear what happened to Rosie, but very thankful the other hens were spared. Sometimes nature can seem so crule to innocent animals. I guess the killer hawk is an innocent creature too, but my feeling definitely side with the hens who were minding their own business. Sadly, even the hawk has to eat. No one said life was fair & I guess that applies to prey as well as preditors. All you can do is mourn Rosie's passing, hold on to your fond memories of her & find a way to keep everything unwanted out of the hen house. It was a sad end to an otherwise lovely day.
It's always so sad to lose one of our girls. I'm so sorry.
We, too have a Rosie here, she's a gray Araucana. Something similar happened in my friend's coop recently, only he caught it by hand! He released it of course, but definitely shored up all the netting around his girls. It has been a hard winter for us all, so sorry for the dramatic loss of your friend and pet. ~Vonnie
that is horrible !!!! got a question since your talking about birds in the coop....my husband likes to leave the coop door open, birds are in the ALL THE TIME. So if he closes the walk in door, the birds go in the "chicken" door. Note, my husband tends to give the chickens too much food, so I think the birds are eating the chicken feed. HELP !!!
Sorry to hear of the loss of one of you girls......
Hi Julie. I'm so sorry for the girls. They must have been so frightened when that old intruder took one of theirs. I know it is nature and that is the way it is, but you still can't hardly stand it. Our outside kitty caught a blue jay the other day and I can't help think that it probably was one of the babies that used our back yard last year as a playground and where they felt safe. I couldn't find a place to get your posts through e-mail into my in-box. It seems like that is the only way I can keep track of the special blogs that I like to read, which yours is one of. I try to get around to all of them but time just slips away so with the automatic e-mails coming through I don't miss anything..Happy Wednesday..Judy
Oh Julie. It is a massive hawk. It's been around here all winter attacking at the feeders and I've seen it head up to he large pines over your garage shed. Sorry it got into the girls.
Sorry for the loss of your favorite hen...
I am very sorry for the loss of your hen. You have a lovely blog. Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.
Poor Rosie, I'm so sorry! Thankfully your other girls were not harmed. Take care.
I well remember just such a terrible discovery. By now the remainder of your flick has recovered and all is well in the chicke yard! Big sympathy!
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