Please help - what can I do about a bald eagle?

[BennieAnTheJets]

OMG, you guys! I feel like my Guinea dream is over!

I lost two (!) of my birds Thursday a week ago and this was after I saw a bald eagle 30' over my car on the road home, about half a mile from my house the week before that. S/he was carrying a squirrel in the claws and dropped it and I thought, oh S$%^, not here, please.

I feel so bad about not protecting my guys better but I did let them out after that sighting, hoping for the best, and then April 28, two did not come home.

Yesterday I have seen the bald eagle being chased by two smaller birds 30' above my pasture where the Guineas usually hang out.

What can I do? This eagle is going to pick them off one by one if I let them out again... They are miserable inside and I lost my little Guinea paradise and tick control I have built up for the last 10 years. I am so distraught.

Any advice?

RIP Agali and Bernie - I hope they died quickly - nature is so cruel.

 

[SilverBirds]

We have a bald eagle that took my neighbors guineas as well. Other then locking them up, I doubt there is anything you can do as they are very protected birds. So sorry for your loss.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Yeah, you can't do anything to the bird. You could set places up for the guines to run under. But at best that will only reduce your losses. Also bird neting will help.

 

[Callender Girl]

I'm so sorry for the loss of Agali and Bernie. But, @SilverBirds is right that bald eagles are protected, so there's little you can do except protect your own birds.

There is an eagle nest about a half mile from me, and sometimes, both of the parents will fly over and/or settle in a giant evergreen in my front yard. They seem to return to the same nesting area every year. They are magnificent to see -- and terrifying for anyone with poultry.

My chickens, ducks and geese are locked up at night and are loose only when I am home in the daytime. I'm retired, so that's most of the time. When an eagle shows up, my American Buff geese sound the alarm, and everyone takes cover as fast as they can. I run out of the house just to make sure the eagles don't get to any of my birds.

I hope you don't lose anyone else.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

We have a bald eagle that took my neighbors guineas as well. Other then locking them up, I doubt there is anything you can do as they are very protected birds. So sorry for your loss.

Yeah - it is just that I did not get the Guineas to keep them inside all the time - they usually range on 4 acres and pick ticks and everything else.

Today I cut them some grass since they have been in for over a week and getting tired of just millet and meal worms and they squealed for the grass and I felt so bad. They want to go out!

I always was grateful for the day when my Guineas went out and came back safely, even if nothing else in my life had gone right that day. Now I don't even have that anymore... Sorry - I am just grieving a lot of things right now and this is a hard pill to swallow. Had my birds free ranging for 10 years and even got LGDs and an expensive fence (to contain the dogs) just for the Guineas and now everything seems to be over in one day. Sigh.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

I'm so sorry for the loss of Agali and Bernie. But, @SilverBirds is right that bald eagles are protected, so there's little you can do except protect your own birds.

There is an eagle nest about a half mile from me, and sometimes, both of the parents will fly over and/or settle in a giant evergreen in my front yard. They seem to return to the same nesting area every year. They are magnificent to see -- and terrifying for anyone with poultry.

My chickens, ducks and geese are locked up at night and are loose only when I am home in the daytime. I'm retired, so that's most of the time. When an eagle shows up, my American Buff geese sound the alarm, and everyone takes cover as fast as they can. I run out of the house just to make sure the eagles don't get to any of my birds.

I hope you don't lose anyone else.

So you can protect the birds from the eagle?

I am afraid I would not be able to do much since our property is hilly and convoluted so I may not be able to be at all places at once and the Guineas usually split up in groups.

Even if you see it, how do you keep it from grabbing a bird?

 

[Disheygirl]

We live by a large reservoir where lots of bald eagles nest. And here I thought they only fed on fish and the occasional small animal - I know they’re opportunistic but guineas are so big. Are you sure its the eagle picking them off and not a Fox or other predator?

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

We live by a large reservoir where lots of bald eagles nest. And here I thought they only fed on fish and the occasional small animal - I know they’re opportunistic but guineas are so big. Are you sure its the eagle picking them off and not a Fox or other predator?

They will kill anything they can. And an adult eagle is roughly 3 to 4 times with weight of a large guinea. (Especially the females, which are considerably larger than the males.) Guineas might look like a decent sized bird when they have feathers, but eagles are HUGE. Big enough to prey on things like adult raccoons and foxes.

 

[Callender Girl]

I see two main issues right now: You want and need to protect your birds; and your own sense of "security" and normalcy has been rocked.

A few years ago, a mink got into one of my coops, killed three of four hens and came back the next day to take a runner duck. The night of the attack, I knew the killer would return and sat, bundled up in coveralls, in the snow with a three-tined cultivator and gave chase when the mink came back about an hour later to take the last hen.

I spent the remaining few hours of the evening on the sofa, next to an open window so I could hear any alarm calls by the birds, even though it was well below freezing outside.

When I discovered that the drake was missing -- the ducks used to be able to wander the entire property during the day -- I was beside myself. Every sound, every movement was the mink returning, I was sure. And, that lasted for weeks.

However, I fenced off the back of the property -- runners aren't good at flying, so a 4-foot Menards fence panel is insurmountable for them -- and half of the front. The chickens, ducks and geese still have considerable space to be themselves, but all are contained within sight and sound of the house. Even if they slip through a hole in the fence and wander into the goat pen, I can see them.

I understand what you're saying about not wanting them to be cooped up all the time -- for their sake and because they can't do their "job" of eating ticks. I also know that guineas are much better at flying them most of my poultry, so that makes safety more complicated.

Can you afford to set up a large pen of chain link dog kennel panels, like a giant, tall chicken tractor for guineas? I KNOW they are expensive. I was able to salvage some from others' misfortune and built a pen that I can --with considerable effort -- move around. I used it when the geese were younger so they could have fresh grass to eat. If you were to put netting over the top, maybe that would give your guineas a chance to graze?

As far as keeping an eagle from grabbing a bird, when I have eagles overhead or in the big tree, I just make sure they are aware of my presence. I am, at least in their eyes, a much larger predator. Though they could easily take me in a fair fight.

None has ever come down to ground level when I am standing guard. I have been known to make plenty of noise and jump around to make sure they know I don't want them to visit.

It's easy to feel hopeless when it seems like everything is going wrong, and your "happy place" is attacked. I hope things -- even one thing -- gets better for you.

 

[BennieAnTheJets]

I see two main issues right now: You want and need to protect your birds; and your own sense of "security" and normalcy has been rocked.

A few years ago, a mink got into one of my coops, killed three of four hens and came back the next day to take a runner duck. The night of the attack, I knew the killer would return and sat, bundled up in coveralls, in the snow with a three-tined cultivator and gave chase when the mink came back about an hour later to take the last hen.

I spent the remaining few hours of the evening on the sofa, next to an open window so I could hear any alarm calls by the birds, even though it was well below freezing outside.

When I discovered that the drake was missing -- the ducks used to be able to wander the entire property during the day -- I was beside myself. Every sound, every movement was the mink returning, I was sure. And, that lasted for weeks.

However, I fenced off the back of the property -- runners aren't good at flying, so a 4-foot Menards fence panel is insurmountable for them -- and half of the front. The chickens, ducks and geese still have considerable space to be themselves, but all are contained within sight and sound of the house. Even if they slip through a hole in the fence and wander into the goat pen, I can see them.

I understand what you're saying about not wanting them to be cooped up all the time -- for their sake and because they can't do their "job" of eating ticks. I also know that guineas are much better at flying them most of my poultry, so that makes safety more complicated.

Can you afford to set up a large pen of chain link dog kennel panels, like a giant, tall chicken tractor for guineas? I KNOW they are expensive. I was able to salvage some from others' misfortune and built a pen that I can --with considerable effort -- move around. I used it when the geese were younger so they could have fresh grass to eat. If you were to put netting over the top, maybe that would give your guineas a chance to graze?

As far as keeping an eagle from grabbing a bird, when I have eagles overhead or in the big tree, I just make sure they are aware of my presence. I am, at least in their eyes, a much larger predator. Though they could easily take me in a fair fight.

None has ever come down to ground level when I am standing guard. I have been known to make plenty of noise and jump around to make sure they know I don't want them to visit.

It's easy to feel hopeless when it seems like everything is going wrong, and your "happy place" is attacked. I hope things -- even one thing -- gets better for you.

Thank you so much, Callender Girl, for the thoughtful reply!

It means a lot!

Not many people in my life understand this, but you and some on this forum sure do!

Seven of my guys are 10 years old now, five are 9 years old, etc. and we have been through a lot (baby training, feather mites, treatments, vet visits, searching for hours when one was missing and found, various diseases and injuries and treatments with baby bird formula nursing, etc.).

They are more family than livestock and yes, I do talk to them - Good morning, Guys! Etc. They come to "get me" at the front door, up the deck, on the railing, when I am late in the evening.

It is a special kind of satisfaction and happiness to know they have been free all day and are coming home, happy and full, after a day of exploring, sun bathing, dust bathing, mating chases, mating, nest building and getting a good amount of exercise, grasses and bugs. It is so special to see them out in the yard doing their thing, going where they please, and forming the bonds they prefer, and to know that I can provide a safe haven at my home for them to do that. It is hard to explain what your birds mean to you to people who never had any.