Quote History Quoted:I would have liked to seen that
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My itty bitty tiny Mille Fleur rooster beat the ever living shit out of a hawk while the 2 other Roos guarded the hens and herded them up under the vehicles. The hawk decided to find a softer target even though it was easily 6 times the little rooster’s size.
I would have liked to seen that
At one point we had a good sized free-range flock, but it's numbers dwindled steadily for a few months. One day I watched one of our hens in the front yard eye the sky and make irritated noises at a hawk circling high above. I was elbow deep in diesel oil wrenching on a truck nearby. I noticed the hawk go into a dive headed right at this chicken, and thought to myself, "Welp, we just lost another hen."
Wrong.
The hawk was coming in hot and the hen was watching him the whole way down. Right about the time the hawk gets to about 25 feet off the ground, the hen leaps straight up, does a backflip and kicks the hawk in the head with both feet. She made contact about 6 feet off the ground. Completely threw the hawk off his game and his flight plan. He smacked the ground with a "thwap!" and landed in a heap. After a couple seconds, he regains his senses and stands up, at which point the hen was waiting for him. She charged him at once. He does a running take off across the yard with the hen hot on his heels and makes his getaway.
We never lost another hen.
I'll also add my two cents about guinea fowl. Currently have 4 adults. Lost three to predators and one to stupidity. 14 more just came out of the brooder and moved into a small shed until they are grown. Gotta keep them locked up for the first few months or they WILL depart the region for lands unknown. The 4 adults are really good about returning to the coop every night. They'll sit outside the coop at dusk and yell at you to come open the door so they can go to bed.
First post nailed it. VERY loud and profoundly stupid. Every day I say to myself, "These birds could NOT get any dumber than this!" Almost daily I am proven wrong. You've heard, "Make something idiot proof and somebody will make a better idiot."
Guineas are the ultimate idiot.
All that said, our tick population is WAAAY down from last year. They definitely work for tick control. Far better than the chickens.