Owl and Fox VS Rabbit and Chicken (At the MGM Grand)
Discussion
This isn't a thread about my ex girlfriends family, in case you are wondering.
Our remaining rabbit gets put away before dark, its fine to be left out till dusk as it's (roughly 12 square metre) day area is obscured by fence from prying eyes in the trees. Owls cant see the rabbit. We back onto woods. And have foxes, owls etc in these woods. Seen them, heard them.
We acquired chickens this year, they have a coup for night time but generally spend 8-10 hours hours outside in our back garden, roughly 200-250 square metres to run around in.
Its mid april, was/is still very sunny and warm at a quarter to 7pm, WELL before dusk, we felt it safe to leave them out whilst the sun is shining...
Fortunately I was working in my office with the door open, heard a HUGE flap of wings. I assumed one of the chickens had flown up onto something.
I ignored the flap.
Then heard the flap again, closer. Quite loud.
Decided to see which chicken was causing the commotion and went outside.
A HUGE bird of prey (huge compared to the usual birds we get/feed in the garden) took off and flew into the woods. Big wing span. Owls are not huge, but I reckon it was an owl. Right by the chickens, who instead of making a lot of clucking noises, were standing there looking bewildered.
The questions are.
1) Is your ex more like an owl, fox, rabbit or chicken.
2) Owls will take chickens is my guess, correct? A chicken may be 20 times bigger than a robin but they surely must be fair game to owls.
3) How does one go about deterring owls. Will a model bird of prey on the roof suffice or do they get wise to this?
4) Someone said last week dog piss deterred foxes. If I were to pee on the back fence, would it have the same effect? We are constantly on our guard, they tend not to come out before dark, unlike the owl!
Any suggestions welcome.
Our remaining rabbit gets put away before dark, its fine to be left out till dusk as it's (roughly 12 square metre) day area is obscured by fence from prying eyes in the trees. Owls cant see the rabbit. We back onto woods. And have foxes, owls etc in these woods. Seen them, heard them.
We acquired chickens this year, they have a coup for night time but generally spend 8-10 hours hours outside in our back garden, roughly 200-250 square metres to run around in.
Its mid april, was/is still very sunny and warm at a quarter to 7pm, WELL before dusk, we felt it safe to leave them out whilst the sun is shining...
Fortunately I was working in my office with the door open, heard a HUGE flap of wings. I assumed one of the chickens had flown up onto something.
I ignored the flap.
Then heard the flap again, closer. Quite loud.
Decided to see which chicken was causing the commotion and went outside.
A HUGE bird of prey (huge compared to the usual birds we get/feed in the garden) took off and flew into the woods. Big wing span. Owls are not huge, but I reckon it was an owl. Right by the chickens, who instead of making a lot of clucking noises, were standing there looking bewildered.
The questions are.
1) Is your ex more like an owl, fox, rabbit or chicken.
2) Owls will take chickens is my guess, correct? A chicken may be 20 times bigger than a robin but they surely must be fair game to owls.
3) How does one go about deterring owls. Will a model bird of prey on the roof suffice or do they get wise to this?
4) Someone said last week dog piss deterred foxes. If I were to pee on the back fence, would it have the same effect? We are constantly on our guard, they tend not to come out before dark, unlike the owl!
Any suggestions welcome.
Human piss does deter foxes, but it won't completely overcome their desire for chickens.
I was going to say chickens are pretty tough as far as birds go - but an owl swooping down for a surprise attack would probably win. If it was a straight deathmatch I think a chicken would win (having seen a medium sized chicken fight a grown seagull and come out on top)
I was going to say chickens are pretty tough as far as birds go - but an owl swooping down for a surprise attack would probably win. If it was a straight deathmatch I think a chicken would win (having seen a medium sized chicken fight a grown seagull and come out on top)
Meoricin said:
Human piss does deter foxes, but it won't completely overcome their desire for chickens.
I was going to say chickens are pretty tough as far as birds go - but an owl swooping down for a surprise attack would probably win. If it was a straight deathmatch I think a chicken would win (having seen a medium sized chicken fight a grown seagull and come out on top)
Bloody hell.I was going to say chickens are pretty tough as far as birds go - but an owl swooping down for a surprise attack would probably win. If it was a straight deathmatch I think a chicken would win (having seen a medium sized chicken fight a grown seagull and come out on top)
Ours are Bantams, so big as birds go, but not as big as regular chickens.
To be honest mobster if it was an owl that you saw it would more than likely be after the mice which are probably after the chicken feed, a barn or tawny owl wouldn't go for a chicken/bantam if it was a bird of prey then possibly a Buzzard, sparrow hawk chancing its luck, deterrent possibly an outline of a cat strolling in the garden?
for a fox again I would suggest pissing around the boundary or if you know where there run is, then localise it to that area it has worked for me.
for a fox again I would suggest pissing around the boundary or if you know where there run is, then localise it to that area it has worked for me.
Mobsta said:
The questions are.
1) Is your ex more like an owl, fox, rabbit or chicken.
after this line i had to look who it was who posted it, as i thought it was mobsta... I was correct lol1) Is your ex more like an owl, fox, rabbit or chicken.
sorry cant answer the q tho, it could have been a harris hawk, or any other kind of bird of prey, i know harris hawks love chickens as my mum went on a hawking day an had a harris on her arm an was flying it, and some bloke didnt realise my mum was there with the bird and he let a cockerel go in the middle of the country and the harris had it straight away.
highflyer said:
To be honest mobster if it was an owl that you saw it would more than likely be after the mice which are probably after the chicken feed, a barn or tawny owl wouldn't go for a chicken/bantam if it was a bird of prey then possibly a Buzzard, sparrow hawk chancing its luck, deterrent possibly an outline of a cat strolling in the garden?
for a fox again I would suggest pissing around the boundary or if you know where there run is, then localise it to that area it has worked for me.
Much as I enjoy the banter and advice here, as we all do, ended up doing some googling in the end. for a fox again I would suggest pissing around the boundary or if you know where there run is, then localise it to that area it has worked for me.
My partner reckons chickens are safe.
Google says owls love chicken, they are far from safe.
The only thing to to do is is just lock them up early.
I still have no idea what big bird took off from our garden. I read hawks hunt from above, chickens never see them coming.
If owls dislike cats, I'll stop chasing the neighbours cats away, there are several that come to bask in our garden.
I have previously always greeted them with pints of water, or the hose if its within reach
Slink said:
after this line i had to look who it was who posted it, as i thought it was mobsta... I was correct lol
One for the psychic phenomenon thread, more like 
Slink said:
sorry cant answer the q tho, it could have been a harris hawk, or any other kind of bird of prey, i know harris hawks love chickens as my mum went on a hawking day an had a harris on her arm an was flying it, and some bloke didnt realise my mum was there with the bird and he let a cockerel go in the middle of the country and the harris had it straight away.
Ouch.I read that foxes take weeks sometimes to stake out a coup, before making the attack. We dissassassembled the coup, laid down plenty of slabbing, then set it up again. Its now fox proof... but only when they are locked away of course.
Hawks I read will never stop coming back once they find good hunting ground, until the quarry is gone.
Not much more one can do. These chickens are really growing on me. I delight in shaking the feeding cup and watching them come running making their guinea pig noises (which is what they sound like, when in "casual chicken mode").
I am saying your chickens are safe from owls which are indigenous to this country ie Barn, Tawny, little, short,long eared etc, there shouldn't be any loose Harris Hawks about so I am suggesting a very hungry buzzard or female Sparrow hawk, there maybe a local falconer that has lost a bird ? and yes it is true a bird of prey that finds easy pickings will stay and wipe them out.
Foxes don't just hunt at night your chickens are in danger of being taken during the day, an electric fence is a good deterant,
Foxes don't just hunt at night your chickens are in danger of being taken during the day, an electric fence is a good deterant,
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