The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: northfifeduckling on September 17, 2010, 02:17:40 pm
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a mouse!
I did not want to believe my eyes, she gulped it down in a oner! The only other explanation could have been my eyesight and it was a gigantic slug but they do not have a tail or legs, do they ;D I hope she's not getting indigestion... :chook: :&>
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a friend shot a rat he had been waiting for in the chook pen went in put gun away went back to get the rat and it was gone lol 10 chooks 1 rat = gone in seconds
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Our hens have eaten mice, frogs, even sheep placentas :yum: The funniest are the muscovies who take ages to gulp down a placenta - you can pull it all back out again if you catch them in time. So much for people who eat eggs and think their hens are vegetarian - opportunistic, more like.
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chickens are cannibals they will eat/peck one of there own to death then consume it.
But I still love them.
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we discovered a sea gull well the remains of one anyway under an old van. sparrows and starlings also need to watchout. they really are not cute veggie birds.
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just not aloud to feed them meat though aint it?
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I often find mashed starlings in my Turkey shed :D They dont learn!
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I knew they weren't vegetarians but would have expected one to rather peck at it than swallow it whole ;D :&>
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Mine will eat slugs but prefer snails (saves me buying slug pellets!) and I have seen them chase a frog down the garden.
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I once caught my 4 buff-o's with a toad - one at each legg - pulling - toads are VERY Streeeeetchy! :P
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i hate frogs so i love chooks
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I had a light sussex that had a mouse - it took her ages to eat it as she was running away from all the other hens trying to get it off her!
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Chicken taste buds :o blurg!! Just think of all the nice things we make for them as a bit of a treat and then you go out and find them playing streatch the toad, or toss the vole.
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I am not very fond of my hens this morning >:( When I let them out there was a sudden huge kerfuffle from the compost heap - squawks and screeches and wing flapping. I thought the two hens which together have a brood of 5 halfgrown chicks, were having a huge disagreement, but when I went to part them I found there was something else under them - our special needs blackbird, who has one eye and a damaged wing and spends his time inoffensively stealing the fruit from my fruit cage, and the occasional bit of hen grain. They were attacking him and definitely trying to kill him. Poor little chap is bleeding and shocked. I am now wondering if the reason for his original injuries was a hen attack too - we had always assumed he had escaped a Sparrow Hawk attack. They were probably acting together to protect their chicks, but the blackbird is absolutely no threat, just an easy target :(
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they are quite mean, these birds. Yesterday top hen (the one who cought the mouse) went up to the eglu run with the new mother and chicks and started a fight through the wire! The adults are also giving the youngster a hard time, so much that she doens't want to go to bed! The kindest seems to be the boy! ::) :chook: :&>
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its the boys job to stop these fights. try pointing it out to him
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Had a mouse nest under my shed near teh chicken pen, let the girls out and job done, bless ehmm ;D they can clear your ants nests too :D
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its the boys job to stop these fights. try pointing it out to him
I tried to tell him but he's just not getting it, well, he's still young ::) Today I watched him charge at the eglu run himself - does wire not tell him that she can't come out, even if she wanted to?? ::) ::) :chook: :&>
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Yes, hens will chase/catch/eat whatever mouse, bird etc is within the vicinity. And if one bird has a mouse in it's beak, the others will frantically chase it and pinch it - then that bird gets chased etc etc.....
My birds free range and they will chase off my cats if they are in the mood to, for no apparent reason. It's a chicken thing but just bear this in mind if you have any poorly or old animal who might be a bit slow for any reason.
Also, if a bird in the hen house is injured for any reason, the others will go for it and peck at the bloody area, so separate the injured bird.
Hope this helps.
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one of my garden chooks chases the cat off it's tinned food and loves that