Predator vs Black Chicken, Old Crow Medicine Show?

[JacinLarkwell]

If that first attempt goes wrong then that hawk will never be driven to hunt down a chicken again.

No, they'll try again. Otherwise within a couple generations ,you could have a whole hawk population that never preys on chickens. Remember, even hunting 'natural' prey, hawks (and especially juviniles learning to hunt) don't have a perfect success rate. If they stopped after failing each first hunt, they'd run out of food options. Remember that whole 'if at first you dont succeed, try, try, try again' lesson we were always taught as children?

 

[SossFarm]

Y'all, I appreciate all the information!!! I'm a planner and I do like to plan ahead and then plan a contingency. My girls are about 5-6 weeks and we are in the process of moving from the brooder box to the outside. I have a 20x10x6 1/2 ft run that we will have to assemble ( chicken wire). I also bought a 100' roll of 1/2" 19 gauge hardware cloth (mesh) to go around the bottom portion of this run (3 ft high) then bury about 1 ft wide ground cover to prevent borrowing. We assembled the coop over the weekend that will go in the run. We are also getting a house with a run(smaller) from a friend. With that said, we will be doing some Part-Time free ranging. That's why I asked about the Black Chickens. I'm thinking we will be okay with the hawks, but like I said.... I like to plan and have a contingency. I'm hoping the mesh on the ground will detour Raccoons, Possums, Skunks, and Foxes. We have the Concrete Jungle growing up around us, so the critters have a limited number of places they can safely go.... I just don't want my girls falling victim. I'm thinking of mounting a camera in/near the coops/runs. Again, Thank You all for all the information!
Lee

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

No, they'll try again. Otherwise within a couple generations ,you could have a whole hawk population that never preys on chickens. Remember, even hunting 'natural' prey, hawks (and especially juviniles learning to hunt) don't have a perfect success rate. If they stopped after failing each first hunt, they'd run out of food options. Remember that whole 'if at first you dont succeed, try, try, try again' lesson we were always taught as children?

They never do so in falconry, why would they do so in the wild? Especially to a bird that could be a crow?

I am not saying that they will stop if something goes wrong with their typical native prey, but they are more cautious when it comes to new animals (like black crow-chickens) which many hawks actually dont even know what are.

Hawks are not taught kindergarten lessons. They are wary birds and highly opportunistic. If there is a new animal that could or could not be prey, a hawk will be quicker for flight if anything goes wrong rather than fight.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They never do so in falconry, why would they do so in the wild?

Because if they fail in falconry, they don't starve.

Every year we have hawks and eagles that fail to catch my birds. Some succeed, most don't. Certainly doesn't stop them from trying

 

[TexasBlues]

A crow is more than just black. They move a certain way and have a specific silhouette that a hawk can detect. I’ve only lost 1 chicken. He was all black and a hawk attacked him.
Hawks love eating grackles (all black.)

 

[No Coop No Problem]

I'm hoping I can keep them away from my Lady Friends so I don't lose that love of the sound of their call. My girls are still in the brooder box, indoors right now but that is about to change. They are approaching the 5-6 week point and are getting too big to hang out in the people house.

It can be done. The hawks have entirely given up on my chickens. Lots of aerial coverage, ideally trees and brush, will really help. Expect casualties in your first generation but they'll adapt to the local predators and teach their young these same skills. Every generation outperforms the last one

 

[PhantomSlayer]

False on the leave the flock alone part. It may be true that the hawks wont go after the black ones usually but sadly we have red tail hawks that have gone after gold lace wyandottes and buff orpingtons despite having 4 black australorps. But I love the black australorps just because of their beautiful feather shine in the sun lol

 

[SamLockwood]

Doing some shopping at the Local Tractor Supply on Saturday and one of the "Chicken Ladies" suggested we get a couple of Black Hens. She said that Hawks, Eagles and other birds of Prey would think they were Crows, and leave the flock alone. Has anyone else had experience with this "Medicine Show"? Does it work? Or is this their attempt to sell more black chickens? I mean, I have been wanting some Barred Rocks! LOL

I have lost three chickens since November 2022 to hawk attacks. Two of them were almost completely black.

Plus, I've seen hawks ambush and kill lone crows whenever they get the chance.

I'm calling shenanigans on this theory.

 

[Gax000]

My Golden Comets are approaching 5 weeks now, so I'll need to add some more chicks so I'll keep a steady production stream as they age out.

I’m not following the logic of a 5 week difference helping as they age out. There can easily be a 5 week difference just in when they start to lay, much more in when they stop laying. If your intentions are to have a steady egg flow, you might do better having at least a year between adding layers.

 

[SossFarm]

I’m not following the logic of a 5 week difference helping as they age out. There can easily be a 5 week difference just in when they start to lay, much more in when they stop laying. If your intentions are to have a steady egg flow, you might do better having at least a year between adding layers.

and I mis-typed a little bit. I get in a hurry sometimes and I lose my stream of thought. I will eventually need to add. I do realize I'll need to do it a little further out, but I'm a planner. LOL. Plus I think I'm addicted a little bit.