Animals « The Yellow Farmhouse Garden

October 8, 2015

Protect backyard chickens from migrating hawks this fall

Filed under: Animals,Chickens — bob @ 12:22 pm

Urban chickens are not making as much news as they were a few years ago but plenty of people still keep chickens in their backyard. Chickens, in a lot of cases, have become just another part of the garden.

Right now the fall wild bird migration is in full swing. It is not just song birds and waterfowl that fly south for the winter, hawks and other predatory birds are making their way south too. On some days, thousands of hawks will fly over certain areas during the migration.

That is causing big problems for some chicken owners, including me.

Last week while I was crouched down in the driveway working on my car, something compelled me to turn around. What I saw was a large hawk getting ready to latch onto one of my chickens.

I have about 75 hens in my flock and usually they are quite vigilant in spotting predators. At least one or two hens out of the 75 will spot a hawk and warn the others even if the hawk is quite a distance away. Even the blue jays will screech out a warning call to the rest of the birds in the area when they spot a predator.

This time however, a hawk was able to silently swoop down without anyone noticing. I’ve observed that hawks don’t usually bother my hens when there are people close by. The hawk didn’t see me until I stood up and turned around. I surprised it enough that it took off without a chicken and landed in a tree about a hundred yards away. By that time all 75 hens were making quite a ruckus.

Hilda narrowly missed a sure death by seconds.

That hawk never did come back to try again. I’m sure it looked for another meal as it continued flying south.

Don’t think that just because you are in a populated area that your hens are safe from hawks. I live in a rural area but have heard reports of chickens being attacked by hawks in suburban and even urban areas this fall.

Free range chickens are the most vulnerable because they often wander far away from cover that could protect them from attack. The best thing to do is keep your hens locked in a pen or chicken run covered with protective netting until the migration is over.

Keep in mind that hawks are protected by law. It is illegal to capture or kill them without a special permit.

Bob

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July 21, 2015

Plenty of tree frogs in our garden this year

Filed under: Animals — bob @ 9:37 am

Our garden has become a haven for baby tree frogs. Standing in one spot without having to move, I could see three of them. I’ve also seen many others hopping around in the yard.

The bright green frogs stand out against the yellow petals.

Tree frogs need water to reproduce, either permanent ponds or temporary pools of water. This wet summer with all of its rain has left a lot of standing water around. Some areas around here have had water standing for a couple of months, long enough for tree frogs to lay eggs, hatch into tadpoles and develop into frogs.

It’s always fun to spot one of these little guys.

Like other frogs, they eat all sorts of insects which makes them helpful in the garden.

They’re so much fun to watch too. Tree frogs blend in so well with their surroundings that it is hard to find them in their natural habitat up in the trees. They can surprise you by showing up in the most unusual places.

Many of us have seen them resting on windows or stuck on the side of a building. One time I was happily surprised by one sitting on an apple I was about to pick.

Adult tree frogs are about two inches long, ours are a little over half an inch right now. They range in color from gray, brown or green depending on their circumstances.

This tree frog is about the same width as the daylily leaf.

It seems like tree frogs are loudest frogs we have around here. Their call is distinctive and carries quite a distance. Like bird songs, you can learn to identify them by their call even if you can’t see them.

Bob

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February 24, 2007

Kitty Greens

Filed under: Animals,Indoor Gardening — Tags: Cat, Cat grass — bob @ 3:49 pm

From what I gather, cats require a certain amount of “green food” in their diet to keep their digestive tract on track and their general health…umm…healthy.

Because our cat, Friskie, prefers to stay in the house most of the time, Judy suggested a while back that we grow some “greens” for her ( the cat I mean, Judy already gets lettuce from the greenhouse ).

So, several days ago I liberated one of our used greenhouse flats from the recycling pile and sowed a crop of “cat grass”.

I decided to use some left over grass seed we had saved from last year. I just filled the flat with our regular starting mix then, in half of the flat I planted a fescue variety and on the other, a bent-grass variety.

Now, about a week and a half later, the grass is about 2-3 inches high. It is very soft and tender and does look good enough to eat, especially the bent-grass. This afternoon, when we brought the flat into the house, it took Friskie all of 2 minutes to find that lucsious tray of “kitty salad” and start chowing down on it.

We plan to just leave it in the house in an out of the way spot so she can have some whenever she wants… her own fresh salad bar!!

Now, where did I put that bottle of Neuman’s Own……?

Bob

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