YES!!!!!
My main concern with the chicks in a secure coop at night and in an electric net fence is hawks, because we know for sure that we have them -- having heard their calls and occasionally spotting one.
I'm trying to give the chicks roofed spaces here and there inside the pen (DH not thrilled with a pallet up on blocks in what he thinks of as the front yard), but last night while I was "chillin' with my peeps" was the first time I witnessed them going into shelter after spotting an object in the sky.
There is a small airport nearby so I've been worried that they'll get too used to harmless objects in the sky and not pay enough attention to evade hawks. In the past month I've seen them ignore bats, single-engine aircraft, ultralights, mid-sized propeller planes, and military helicopters that didn't pass directly overhead. Last night it was a small-to-medium jet flying fairly low (probably military because the nearby airport can't handle jets though the airport in the southern half of the county can), and almost directly overhead.
When they heard/spotted it they gave a call and all ran under the picnic pavilion that shades their coop.
Of course that's not *really* hawk proof, but for 8-week babies it's a good start on sky-watching, I think.
My main concern with the chicks in a secure coop at night and in an electric net fence is hawks, because we know for sure that we have them -- having heard their calls and occasionally spotting one.
I'm trying to give the chicks roofed spaces here and there inside the pen (DH not thrilled with a pallet up on blocks in what he thinks of as the front yard), but last night while I was "chillin' with my peeps" was the first time I witnessed them going into shelter after spotting an object in the sky.
There is a small airport nearby so I've been worried that they'll get too used to harmless objects in the sky and not pay enough attention to evade hawks. In the past month I've seen them ignore bats, single-engine aircraft, ultralights, mid-sized propeller planes, and military helicopters that didn't pass directly overhead. Last night it was a small-to-medium jet flying fairly low (probably military because the nearby airport can't handle jets though the airport in the southern half of the county can), and almost directly overhead.
When they heard/spotted it they gave a call and all ran under the picnic pavilion that shades their coop.
Of course that's not *really* hawk proof, but for 8-week babies it's a good start on sky-watching, I think.
we also have an airport near by so this is common for us, maybe the realized after a while they were harmless?
