We had them bad this year, in west central Illinois, I lost one barred rock pullet, one easter chicken, one cochin banty and one year old light brahma rooster. The rooster started weezing real bad and I thought he was going to pull through but I found him dead three days after the weezing...
I would say it was a small hawk, like a coopers hawk, because it probably was to small to pick up the chicken and carry it away. I have had this happen several times and I knew it was this hawk because twice I left the victum were I found it and the next day the hawk returned to finish its meal...
Thank you all for the nice welcome, I can't believe how many posts this message board gets compared to some of the other chicken sites. This must be were all the action is!
I am from Illinois, married with two children 9 and 12 years old and I have 18 birds and getting ready for 8 new arrivals in July. I started off with Bantams and I have gradually migrated towards larger breeds to discourage coopers hawk attacks. Oh and the larger eggs are nice too. I hope to...