"The bird hunting a locust is unaware of the hawk hunting him...”

On the weekends I love to let the chickens roam while I sit and read a book in the backyard. I'll scan the skies for hawks and watch the birds and squirrels romp or make a nest. There has been much nest building lately. I don't know much about hawks, only that they like chicken. I thought hawk season was in the fall and that they feared humans.


This afternoon, while I was on the phone with a friend, I heard a familiar, low shrill. I don't know how long this noise was going on as I was concentrating on the phone conversation. After I heard the noise I became distracted and noticed that I felt uneasy. I felt uncomfortable as if I were being watched by something and when I looked around me I almost expected to see a giant, angry dog or a lion or some wild animal. Not logical but that was the feeling. I happened to look up and saw a hawk coming straight at me! I moved fast...screamed and threw the phone, then collected my hens from the ground (like they were cotton balls that had fallen on my bathroom floor) then ran and threw them into the coop saying, " Hurry, hurry, hurry" the whole time. It was easy to collect them as they were stiff and still in survival mode  long before I heard the shrill. That shrill belonged to Twinkie. She made that same noise that day there was a hawk overhead. I thought that incident was close but I was wrong, I just had an extremely close encounter with a hawk. This aggressive hawk flew above me as I ran and I have never felt so scared before. After I threw the girls into the coop, I put my arms over my head and saw the hawk circle and leave.

I then noticed that there were birds flying just below it and in the trees but it wanted chicken. I was afraid of talons in my eyes or a sharp beak going through my skull. I saw The Birds, I know what can happen. I had that sensation of wanting to move faster but feeling like I was just operating in slow motion. I have never experienced that in waking life. I have had a few dreams where I am being chased by a wild dog or some huge, angry, wild animal and I try to seek coverage in my car or my home, only to find locked doors and fumbling for a key all the while growing more and more anxious, frightened and freaked out. I don't know how those dreams end.

I do hope that there isn't a nest nearby. I love watching hawks, from afar, as they glide in the sky, way, way above me. The wing span of this thing was impressive but my admiration is in retrospect, at the time it was scary. There is a rather large nest in one of the trees and I thought it belonged to a squirrel. However, I observed a squirrel just the other day running limb to limb until it came to the nest and then freaked out, running almost falling from the tree. It was funny but now I wonder if that could that have been a hawk Mr Squirrel saw or hawk eggs?

Looking up hawk and squirrel nests on Google images, I'm discovering that they look very much alike. Eek, horrors! Well, it could go either way. Time to break out the patio table umbrella and that chicken playpen thing I bought last fall. It protects the girls while they free range, I was hoping I could keep it in the shed.

What is the norm?

It's getting closer to Spring! This morning I went out to the coop and said good morning to everyone. Twinkie went down the chickstairs right away, wide awake and ready to take on the day with full determination. Fuzztop stretched her legs a few times before going down the chickstairs. She stopped midway, looked at me, looked outside, all the while mumbling to herself. I know how she feels. PeeWee remained in her nest until I had refreshed their waterer then she came stumbling out for fresh water.  By the time I was done, they were all gathered around their feeder eating and talking, awake and seemingly happy and excited. I walked off and no one waved goodbye, teehee.

It is hard not to anthropomorphize these guys. Live with chickens and you find them closer cousins than chimp. I do almost expect them to wave goodbye. When I held a meeting with other chicken owners in the hood they all told stories like this. I loved that meeting, we spoke of our chickens and their behavior for two hours and nothing else. I felt more normal among them.

It has become quite normal to tell chicken stories, worry about them , think of them at the grocery store and want to pick up some oats or bananas for them. I know how happy PeeWee gets when there are bananas and why not make PeeWee happy. I know how Twinkie gets so excited when she sees a clove of garlic she forgets all etiquette and greedily snatches the clove from my fingers. She is pretty rude but I understand, it's like me with creme brulee-gimmee!

I find myself looking forward to the time I spend with them and trying to hear all they have to say.  They go out and catch a few bugs, eat a few blades of grass then they'll stop by and see me and walk on my shoes and request to be picked up. Once they are done greeting me they take off.  They're good people.

Update on GMO free layer feed

Rainbow Egg Farm's layer feed is completely gmo feed as it does not contain soy or corn.  Ingredients include:Wheat, oats, barley, field peas, fishmeal, alfalfa, flax seed, kelp, live yeast culture (brewers’ yeast), natural amino acids, vitamins and minerals. IN my previous post regarding this feed I was under the impression that it still contained corn. The Girls love it and the eggs are tasty.