Soujrnr
Songster
I think it was probably inevitable that at some point we'd lose one of our girls to a predator. We came home yesterday from a hike only to find a hawk eating one of our chickens. My wife chased the hawk away, but the damage was done. The poor girl was opened right up, but still breathing and fighting to stay alive. I couldn't watch her suffer, so I had to put her down.
A second chicken was missing and so I thought a hawk must have just completely carried her away. We live next to the woods, so predation is definitely a big concern, but we haven't had any issues until yesterday, and the threat wasn't all the racoons, possums, foxes, feral cats, or black bears. It was a raptor. Just to be thorough, my wife and I called for her, searched high and low, left the coop open for her while locking the others in the run, but she never showed up. We wrote her off because of all the predators. Last night my game cameras triggered 14 times with predators, so I thought she was a free chicken dinner for something out there.
There is great news in this though! This morning, my wife and I and some of our kids ran the annual "Turkey Trot 5K" in 39 degrees. When we got home, my wife put together some food for them and we went to check on the girls. When we got near the coop, the prodigal chicken came running out from behind the building. Somehow she survived the entire freezing cold night by herself in an area full of predators. We were overjoyed to see her return. We just got her and two others a couple months ago, but we haven't named them yet. We decided to name her Xena, the Princess Warrior. LOL
So, I say all that just to ask if anyone has had any success with fake owls or scarecrows in dealing with raptors. I don't think the four-legged creatures care about scarecrows or owls, but I could be wrong. I will probably end up building a big enclosed place for them to "graze," but maybe not until next spring. They currently have a run that is fully enclosed. It's 18 feet long and 6 feet wide, but it's not any good for foraging.
Thanks!!
Mike
A second chicken was missing and so I thought a hawk must have just completely carried her away. We live next to the woods, so predation is definitely a big concern, but we haven't had any issues until yesterday, and the threat wasn't all the racoons, possums, foxes, feral cats, or black bears. It was a raptor. Just to be thorough, my wife and I called for her, searched high and low, left the coop open for her while locking the others in the run, but she never showed up. We wrote her off because of all the predators. Last night my game cameras triggered 14 times with predators, so I thought she was a free chicken dinner for something out there.
There is great news in this though! This morning, my wife and I and some of our kids ran the annual "Turkey Trot 5K" in 39 degrees. When we got home, my wife put together some food for them and we went to check on the girls. When we got near the coop, the prodigal chicken came running out from behind the building. Somehow she survived the entire freezing cold night by herself in an area full of predators. We were overjoyed to see her return. We just got her and two others a couple months ago, but we haven't named them yet. We decided to name her Xena, the Princess Warrior. LOL
So, I say all that just to ask if anyone has had any success with fake owls or scarecrows in dealing with raptors. I don't think the four-legged creatures care about scarecrows or owls, but I could be wrong. I will probably end up building a big enclosed place for them to "graze," but maybe not until next spring. They currently have a run that is fully enclosed. It's 18 feet long and 6 feet wide, but it's not any good for foraging.
Thanks!!
Mike