Thanks to all that have shared over the past. My 10 chicks just started laying about 3 weeks ago. When they began laying, they became much more more brave about ranging out in the open and have been roaming our 3 acres like never before. Up to the point of laying, they stayed within 25 yards of the coop and always under the trees. I witnessed the first hawk attack yesterday. One of the hens had wandered off down near the wooded creek area and a broad-shouldered hawk hit her twice as she skedaddled for the coop with me hollern' and shouting the whole time. All the others ran for the shrubs around the house. Fortunately, she just lost a good size clump of feathers. I'd seen another hawk doing reconnaissance a couple of months back and had strung two lines with some streamers from our 2nd story deck to near the coop about 10-20ft off the ground. Think I will add a couple of more today to other points at the edge of the woods to increase the coverage and maybe add an owl decoy. I haven't given up on free-ranging yet, but I guess my next step would be to build a penned chicken run.

We have no shortage of either crows or blue jays here in the Laurel Highlands of PA. I put bread, pasta or other goody out in the morning and within minutes there are crows in the yard, they must post a sentry to watch for me. The jays love peanuts, we put them in the platform feeder each day and they are gone quickly. I love having the crows around, they act as the guardians of the feeder, chasing squirrels and making sure that the hawks are held at bay. I enjoy watching and listening to them interact, their society seems to be highly structured with many different calls and duties assigned. I love the crows, they are welcome in our yard. We have ponds and water gardens, I also have several lotus pots with standing water in them. I too am concerned about mosquitos and have used dunks for the almost 10 years that we have had the ponds. They won't harm birds or critters sneaking a drink but they will put an end to the larvae.

When I end up moving out there I will have a cat in tow. I'm not overly fond of it, but would hate to see it meet with that kind of end. So I was curious and found this on a raptor site. Based on this I'd say a 15 pound kitty is pretty safe. Here's what they say: Will a raptor attack my dog or cat? Raptors are wild animals and need to hunt their own food in order to survive. Even though they are predators, typically they will not hunt something that is larger than they are. They target what is most abundant and easiest to catch. Most raptors can carry only two thirds of their body weight. The average red-tailed hawk or great horned owl only weighs 2-3 pounds. However, there are isolated instances when a raptor cannot find enough food within its territory or is a young inexperienced hunter. In these cases, it would not be unheard of for a larger raptor like a red-tailed hawk or great horned owl to turn to small, domestic animals if the opportunity arises. However, cats and dogs will bite and claw to defend themselves, and are therefore more difficult to safely catch. Most raptors after the first attempt will leave them alone, making attacks uncommon.

I don't know why, but the last 2 times in as many days that I've tried to respond on this thread, my comment has just disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle or something. Today, from inside my house, I heard the same screaming. Stepping out on my front walk, I could tell it was up in my pine tree. Look as I might, I could not see the hawk, but there was a ton of noise and commotion up there. I think I saw some grackles and some bluejays hoppping around, and I still wasn't positive there was even a hawk up there, despite the screams (not being a bird expert, I don't know the calls for certain). I thought maybe it was the blue jays screaming. This time I had the camera. i took a step onto the grass under the trees to aim for a better vantage point, but before I could do anything else, a HUGE (wide wingspan) bird flapped out of the tree, away from me and my house, and flew off into the distance. With him flew at least two smaller birds (same as last time). He didn't seem to be chased by them. They seemed to be companions? wingmen? LOL I dont' know. Anyway, I stupidly was trying to turn on my camera although it was already on and I didn't get a picture. I'm marvelling at the fact that this large bird can hide itself in the trees so well. This is the second time I was certain of it's location in a particular tree but still could not see it. Anyway, I think it's pretty cool!