Hawk Sighting

Well our resident hawk is back! My hubby went out this evening to check waterers and collect eggs. He started in the baby coop. The youngsters were out in their run enjoying the cloudy cooler weather and promptly started harrassing him for treats! After spending some time with them he grabbed their waterer and was headed back to the faucet to fill it up. All of a sudden there was a really loud blood curling commotion coming from the main coop! My hubby turned around just in time to see the hawk coming right at him! He said it was like the hawk all of a sudden realized "crap that's not a chicken its a human" and diverted almost straight up , flew about 5 feet over his head....if he just had his gun!!!!! He ran to the main coop expecting to see a hole in the netting over the run......but there doesn't appear to be any damage. We think the girls just saw the hawk and started screaming! Apparently that cry is understandable to the babies because hubby looked over intime to see the Brahma and the Buffs chasing the smaller girls into the coop! In the main coop all the girls were in their coop on their roosts, still raising cain! They are not happy!!!
Hubby says the hawk looked to be about 18 inches or so long, really large wingspan!

We also have birds of prey: hawks, eagles and owls. Our rooster is really good at protecting his girls and would put his life on the line for them. So if you don't have one, they are great at sounding the alarm.

My hens will do the alarm for about half an hour after seeing a hawk. It is an unmistakable sound. Brings me running every time. Poor terrified girls. I hope they calmed down for you.

Had my first real hawk alarm today. It is definitely an unmistakable sound that'll get your attention every time.

Usually my rooster make a sound when crows fly overhead but today there was a actual hawk above. My hens ran into their coop faster than I've ever seen them and would not come back out - even for mealworms!

You know they're scared when they ignore mealworms!

It can put off the laying a few days. I have one hen that still lays body checked eggs. Never did it before the hawk but every egg since. (it has been a year now)

Roosters are great at sounding the alarm when they see a predator, the hens duck for cover immediately!
Lately, I've had some friendly resident crows that keep the hawks away. Since the crows live in groups and hawks are solitary, the crows basically beat the crap out of them. Nature is in my favor for once!