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A Hard Week for the Flock
2026-04-08flockhawkguardianlossreinforcements

A Hard Week for the Flock

The first week of April took more from the flock than any week before it.

Birdgit — the Speckled Sussex, two years old, curious and friendly, the one who followed you around like a dog — was taken by a hawk on April 8th. By the end of the week, we'd also lost Birdatha (the oldest Rhode Island Red on the property), Birdadonna (the EE/RIR cross who hatched on the desk exactly one year ago), and the Black Australorp hen.

Four birds gone. Four survivors remain from the original adult flock: Little Big Red Junior (the lead rooster), Whitey Red Legs (his son), and the two Easter Egger hens, Henrietta and EE hen 2.

The hawk attack on Birdgit triggered an immediate response from Farm Guardian. Within hours, Claude Opus had built sky-watch mode (v2.10.0) — locking the Reolink camera onto a fixed overhead position for continuous hawk surveillance instead of the usual patrol sweep. Alert images were upgraded from blurry 1080p RTSP frames to sharp 4K HTTP snapshots so we could actually identify what was in the sky.

Reinforcements arrived fast:

Twenty-two new birds in the brooder. The flock is rebuilding.

Photos

The backyard from the deck — moody April sky, bare trees, the coop in the distance
The backyard from the deck — moody April sky, bare trees, the coop in the distance
Reinforcements from Cackle Hatchery — two chicks peeking out of their shipping box
Reinforcements from Cackle Hatchery — two chicks peeking out of their shipping box
One of the three turkey poults — first turkeys on the farm
One of the three turkey poults — first turkeys on the farm
The new Producers Pride Universal Poultry Pen — predator protection for what remains
The new Producers Pride Universal Poultry Pen — predator protection for what remains
The backyard from the deck — coop in the clearing, Connecticut woods behind
The backyard from the deck — coop in the clearing, Connecticut woods behind