Hen eating frogs!!

[Verinda]

Today was positively traumatic...well I am a softy and an animal lover...I was clearing a bank with the hens gobbling everything in sight. Suddenly I heard an awful shriek, I thought it might be a trapped rat but couldn't see anything, then I decided it must've been the sparrows who were arguing over some budgie seed I'd thrown out earlier.

So I carried on and suddenly spotted a little frog...the hens saw it too and the frog positively screamed (I didn't know frogs can scream ) I tried to save the frog but one hen, as quick as lightening snapped him up and charged off with the others in hot pursuit. Awful

Then after that trauma, I was watching one hen eating budgie seed with the sparrows, next thing she tried to catch one!!! Ran at it like a mad thing with wings out stretched, the sparrows just flew off but I'm sure the hens would eat them too if they could catch them

[Verinda]

Don't mind me...I'm not hunting for frogs...honestly!

[jessmorris]

I saw one yesterday, running off away from the flock with a nestling it was about to eat...possibly a jackdaw...

[Verinda]

You mean a hen ate a baby jackdaw I've renamed my hens, the teredactals (can't spell it though!!)

[jessmorris]

I didn't see her eat it, but she looked pretty determined. It was at the unfeathered big head, squashy body stage - probably looked quite tasty for a hen!

[Verinda]

Oh dear, poor chick!!

[dogsbody]

I rescued a mouse once from the cats and thought the safe place (from them) to put it was in the chicken run - cue one hen doing the cartoon trick of grabbing it by the tale and bashing the poor thing from side to side before tucking in.

I now put rescued mice elsewhere, although there did use to be a mouse nest under the scratching box in the run...

[fishpond]

Chickens are quite amazing with what they can eat.
If you see a wide open beak on a chicken, have a look down the hole of the throat? its huge.
Mine have eaten Frogs in the past, also watched 2 of them hunting and cornering mickey, then 1 of them swallowed it whole.
Put me of eggs for a few days.
Free range area is now separate from pond, no Mickeys to be seen as ratty moved in and cleared them out before I cleared out the rats.
Its a vicious world out there.

[Verinda]

Oh so that's how they can swallow lumps of...well other animals like mice. I'm not sure I want to look down their huge throats I might see something staring back at me whilst being digested...ugh

This morning my friendliest hen Milly wandered up to my harmless dog Molly, who was having a snooze, and suddenly for no reason launched an attack on her, and as I tried to defend Molly the other three decided to join in! Lunging and pecking, wings out, really aggressive. Poor Molly shrieked and shot off!!

I just wanted to ask, do you still have plenty of frogs? My pond is teaming with tadpoles but even if I fence it off I'm afraid, when the tiny frogs leave the pond my girls will get them, or most of them.

[fishpond]

Yes, I have gazillions of frogs seriously), but they now all reside in and around the wildlife pond which the chickens have no access to, the frogs appear to not want to stray from their very cosy pond, log pile, uncut grass etc.
Seems to work o.k and has done for about 4 years

[Verinda]

Oh, that's so good to hear, I'm definitely going to fence off my wildlife pond then.