Hen vs. Hawk?!

[bivol]

Hi!

i heard a story from a good acquaintance who has a small farm (about two hours drive from the capital, in the hilly region to the north), he told me he has chickens i actually don’t know how to describe. basically they are a bantam-normal chicken mixes, they lay and hatch in hedges, go about fairly free, and mother hen will, so he told me, attack the hawk when he’s try to snatch her chicks (he has to land when he pins the chick down), and they would even keep fighting in the air!:eek:
i imagine roosters be this aggressive, but i’ve never heard of a hen doing this!

[CharlyBonifaz]

i’ve never heard of a hen doing this!

mothers 😉

[dominiquer60]

Mother hens will risk their lives to protect their young, and some will risk their lives even when they don’t have young to protect.

We once had a Gos Hawk problem with the old hens on a pasture on the hill, my rooster at the time would stand in the middle of the field screaming while the hens took cover, it never got him, but did manage to grab a few hens.

Once a bird of prey got into our greenhouse where the hens live in the winter. My first thought was catch the fool bird and release it 50 miles away like you are not supposed to, so I shut the bird in. It would fly back and forth and try to land on the ground and every time it touched down a dozen hens would pile on top of the poor thing. I managed to grab it, using a grain bag to protect me from the talons. The hens helped by piling on and distracting it. Silly me when I realized that it was just a Sharp Shin Falcon, a mere 1/3 the size of the hens, just big enough to get the girls excited. I promptly released the dazed bird and never saw it bother the hens again.

Animals will do what it takes to protect their young or their group.

Erika

[bivol]

wow, a totally new view at the chickens! i knew roosters were dangerous, but i didn’t know of this much power in the roost!

where we lived before we moved i new an old lady who told me stories from her home republic, and i heard a story that the rooster was the most dangerous animal on a the farm.” what dog?! take cover, the rooster’s charging!! straight line across the yard, and right for the eyes!”

oh man….:eek:

[Author]

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