This is a word of warning to any new or even seasoned folks who have backyard chickens. My son is pressing me to put out this dire warning for fear crows are going to eat all the baby chicks in the world. I, like some of you maybe, was not aware crows preyed on young chicks. That is until we saw the evidence and have learned a very hard lesson.
We recently bought 5 chicks to add to our flock. They quickly outgrew their little indoor “apartment” as we called it and were ready for the coop. After a few days of spending some time with the hens and all went well, we moved them out to the coop full time. Our chickens are free range. Well, they free range on half the property and our dogs get the other half. There is a 6-foot fence between just in case the dogs get any wild ideas, which they are prone to do.
Funny, but not really funny, our deaf Great Dane takes hens for walks whenever he gets the chance. He scoops them up in his giant mouth and trots around. Never hurts them, but they are certainly traumatized. Our neighbors probably think we are crazy. When he happens to get a chicken and takes off with the squawking hen in his mouth, we give chase, but he is deaf, so we flap our arms and make wild gestures to try and get him to come back with the poor chicken. I imagine it is quite a sight. We have since made sure he cannot take any more chickens for a stroll around the property.
Back to the story. After a couple hours in town, we came home to find a single chick hiding out under our camper in the dog zone. It was then we discovered we were missing a chick. I assumed, one of the dogs enjoyed a snack. I was wrong and just feel terrible for accusing my beautiful babies of such a horrendous crime.
It wasn’t until I was out planting MORE potatoes that I noticed a very large crow diving to the ground. I assumed there must be a carcass or something out in the field somewhere. A bit later, my son was out watching the chicks (he takes his chick father duties seriously) when he shouts he found feathers all over the ground. I told him it wasn’t possible the feathers were from our baby chick because they weren’t that developed. I was wrong. After looking closer, I discovered it was most definitely evidence of our baby chicken’s demise.
It wasn’t until a bit later in the day that darn crow came back for more. My son was on crow patrol and quickly scooped up the babies, hollered at the crow and threw a few rocks for good measure. The crow makes random flybys, but we make it a point to let him know he isn’t welcome.
The point of this little story is to BEWARE! Young chicks are prey for crows. If you are putting them out to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, ensure they are in a covered area. When they are about 3 months, they are not quite as tantalizing to a crow flying by.
PoorPrepping 