Even when you think you know what you’re doing, there’s a learning curve on the farm. I know broilers, I grew up with them, there’s not much about them that worries me.
The chicks hit 5 weeks old yesterday and I was doing a bit of self congratulation that we’d gotten this far with no deaths. I was looking ahead to the next 7 weeks thinking that we were through the hard part and now it was just a matter of keeping them fed, watered and safe at night. You should never count your chickens before they hatch, or in this case before they’re in the freezer.
Today I got home and went out to get them some fresh water. As I walked up to the barn I noticed that a bird was down and that several of the others were pecking at it. My first thought was, bummer, we finally lost one. I went into the yard and found that the dead chick had been more than half eaten. One whole side picked clean. That’s not so normal. Then I noticed that there was a second dead bird.
Hmmm. I picked up the dead birds and took them out to inspect them. The one that was half eaten was really half eaten. All the flesh on one side gone as well as all the internal organs and most of the feathers. The other was just dead. No marks on it, nothing obvious.
Mike got home and I told him that we had two dead birds. He asked what killed them. I said I wasn’t sure, maybe they just dropped dead, broilers do that you know. He wasn’t so sure and said maybe it was an eagle. I pointed out that an eagle could easily carry off one of the chicks – they’re around 2 pounds right now.
We didn’t come up with an answer, so I stood and watched the chicks for a while. Everyone else seemed healthy and happy and I decided to just keep an eye on them.
An hour or two later I was out in the garden and every once in a while I’d hear them send up an alarm. Every time I looked up and they were fine. The last time it happened I looked up just in time to see a hawk swoop out of their yard and go sit in the neighbor’s tree. Mystery solved.
The final theory is that the hawk killed the one that was mostly eaten. Then hung out and ate it’s fill. After that the other chicks finished the job (they’re merciless omnivores). The untouched but dead chick? I think he dropped dead of a heart attack from the scare.
The worst part of the whole thing is that I’m not positive if we’ve lost any others an eagle or this same hawk. Obviously today the hawk couldn’t carry it off, but the birds were lighter 5 days ago when we first started letting them outside. And an eagle could take one without leaving trace. Guess I’ll have to find some way to count them.
My dad is going to be here this weekend while Mike is gone. The birds are in the barn until at least Sunday when I’m hoping that dad can help me get some bird netting up over their yard. Now I just have to find the netting… that should be fun.
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Too bad about the chicks! We had a hawk problem, too. Rather than use bird netting, we ran twine over the run in a zig zag pattern. It needs to be visible to hawks, and worked like a treat. It made it too difficult for the hawks to get in or out of the run. You can see photos here.
http://henbogle.wordpress.com/2007/09/15/great-sadness-another-chick-lost-to-a-hawk/
Good luck!
I purchased some netting for keeping birds out of gardens at Wal Mart earlier this year. Don’t know if they would still have any though. The twine idea sounds good. You could also check out Meyer Hatchery’s or McMurray Hatchery’s online sites. I know their paper catalogs carried such stuff.