Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

I'm happy to see that Mugs Monday is still a thing, so I have a contribution. I should probably confess that I have been reading this thread from the beginning, so sometimes I'm gone for a few days when I get engrossed in something. In the last few days I've been caught up in the story of Legertha and Sylvie ( I actually cried), which then made me start researching Coopers hawks. I watched the video Bob took of the murderous hawk sitting on the tool shed, and told my husband about it. He said that when he was five hunting with his father on the old family property in Mississippi, his dad told him to shoot what he called a chicken hawk while they were hunting. Turns out that's what they called Coopers hawks in the old days in Mississippi and they were shot in sight.
Here's Mirabel inspecting my daily poop clean out of the big girls' coop for Mugs Monday, and below is Easter Egger Emily, who is just beautiful but very standoffish:

I wonder why only Cooper's are called "chicken hawks" when ANY hawk is a chicken hawk? I'm just so happy we have Crow murders around here to chase off the Cooper's here!

 

[Labsandchickens8]

I wonder why only Cooper's are called "chicken hawks" when ANY hawk is a chicken hawk? I'm just so happy we have Crow murders around here to chase off the Cooper's here!

Could it be that Cooper's are the hardest to protect your hens against? It seems that the red tailed can only attack in a good sized open area, but the Cooper's are smaller and more agile and go down through the trees and brush? I don't know and am still learning.
The plan is to set up the electric fence ( first section today!!!!!) and add to it as soon as possible.

 

[Ponypoor]

You really do live in paradise. You just maybe need a little less snow!

And not as cold!

 

[Sylvester017]

Could it be that Cooper's are the hardest to protect your hens against? It seems that the red tailed can only attack in a good sized open area, but the Cooper's are smaller and more agile and go down through the trees and brush? I don't know and am still learning.
The plan is to set up the electric fence ( first section today!!!!!) and add to it as soon as possible.

Yep, we all can only do what time & $$$ allows us. We've been modifying/adding to our yard for 15 yrs. It never ends as new challenges or predators arrive on the scene. I mean, we have an 8 ft tall blockwall + 18 inches privacy added on top all around the backyard & still we've had coyote, possum, feral cats, & raccoon in the yard... not to mention the loose neighborhood dogs in the past plus occasional overhead Cooper's too.

For us, the more aerial obstacles we put up may not totally stop Cooper's but hinders them enough to give our quick hens time to duck-n-hide & we've got plenty of junk for them to hide in! We have 3 popup canopies, 2 patio roofs, & 4 trees to cut off overhead flight space in our small suburban backyard ~ w/ several doghouses, makeshift lean-to's, benches, lawn furniture, broken wheelbarrow, stools, shelves, tables, crates, potted plants, trash receptacles, etc etc, on the ground as hiding places.

 

[Sylvester017]

My fear is a friend buying an egg, with a partially developed chick inside. I would certainly loose a customer, possibly even a friend!

As long as there are males in the flock, that's the risk one takes w/eggs. My farm mom put drakes, ganders, & roo's in the freezer. The laying hens were penned separately so she got clear eggs & didn't have to hunt the farm for random nests.