A hawk almost kills my chicken

[evelynchicks]

I went outside to find a hawk chasing my chicken. One chicken was hidding with a bloody beak. Both chicken had a bloody beak like a piece ripped off from maybe the nails of the hawk. The hawk was above the chicken trying to catch her and then I went outside to find a hawk trying to kill my lovely chicken. I then made a lot of noise and ran toward them and thank God the hawk went away. I would of being so sad. Afterwards my both chicken were so quiet and down, not eating for a while. They had to be traumatized. They are about to be three month old. I have a spaced for them with chicken wire and they can be there and nothing will get inside, but once in a while I let them go everywhere for a break. I hate to remember that hawk trying to kill my chicken.

 

[Pork Pie]

Thats a tough one. I'd suggest not letting your chickens out for a couple of months. At 3 months old, they are perfect bite-size hawk bait (and they lack a fully developed prey instinct, so it appears). The only birds I've lost to hawks have been around that age. I know keep them in a run until they are 4-5 months old.

 

[ChickNanny13]

The hawk now knows where there's "food" so it will be back. 2x Pork Pie Ken, I have a mobile run that I put my young ones in, they're not allowed "free ranging" until they're at least 6 - 8 months. Now I don't allow any free ranging, I have only 4 BOs at this time, they're confined to an 8 x 12 enclosure. We have residential hawks that fly over now & then, had a juvenile stop over at the neighbors when it got separated from it's parents. It cried out & parents came to "rescue" it.

Pix of my mobile run...

 

[tballard]

The hawk will keep coming back. Chickens are basically a hawk’s buffet and they will be back every few days for more. I lost six chickens to a hawk earlier this year until he made the mistake of perching within shotgun range, but that is not always a solution for everyone. Covered runs are the best bet, but my chicken pastures are too large to cover as a practical matter. I’ve built some chicken shelters for them to take cover under and planted some fruit trees to give them some cover - anything that will break up the hawk’s ability to swoop in from above to go after the chickens.

 

[Dee Dee N Desiree]

I went outside to find a hawk chasing my chicken. One chicken was hidding with a bloody beak. Both chicken had a bloody beak like a piece ripped off from maybe the nails of the hawk. The hawk was above the chicken trying to catch her and then I went outside to find a hawk trying to kill my lovely chicken. I then made a lot of noise and ran toward them and thank God the hawk went away. I would of being so sad. Afterwards my both chicken were so quiet and down, not eating for a while. They had to be traumatized. They are about to be three month old. I have a spaced for them with chicken wire and they can be there and nothing will get inside, but once in a while I let them go everywhere for a break. I hate to remember that hawk trying to kill my chicken.

Oh, I'm so sorry for you and your chickens. I hope they will be okay. I recently had a hawk attack also. I wasn't so lucky. We lost our Silkie, she was the smallest and slowest in my flock. I think the other responses were good advice. I wish you all the best. I'm glad you were there to scare that hawk away.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Coopers hawks love them young pullet sized chickens. Too young to be running around loose really as you have found. Coopers can even kill adult chickens but they really love the young ones. Sounds like you were lucky this time but I would keep them in for awhile and force the hawk to go elsewhere. Good luck

 

[Sparrowsong98]

I had a redtail nab one of my birds. She lived because:
A- the gawk only grabbed feathers and she was molting so he got her up in the air and all the feathers he was holding fell out, and b- she had her head turned around biting his feet (I think, that is the only thing I think this particular bird would be doing with her head like that).
Anyway, she plummeted out of the sky from 10 or so feet up, and lanes on the ground barely hurt.

 

[Justonemorechicken]

Those hawks are sneaky and patient. Our favorite little Pekin bantam hen was the first victim she disappeared without a trace until over a week later I discovered a pile of her feathers in the woods. About 3 month later we come home to find a hawk had just killed one of our grown sex link hens the beast even tried to carry her body away but only got about 10 feet off the ground then dropped her. Strange thing was she had to obvious injuries no blood at all her neck didn't feel broken but I'm no expert. By some miracle our mean little Pekin bantam roo escaped death by hawk a couple months after that. Three piles of feathers left on the ground! The poor little bugger had managed to get away 3 times! My daughter finally heard the raucous and went to the rescue.

Even if you lock them up for some time as we did the hawk will inevitably return. (It's a red tailed hawk and or hawks that we have here) If they free range just try to have some kind of chicken shelters, shrubs, or anything that they can quickly hide under. I have left the corn stalks, tomatoes and broccoli in the garden for now as they are the preferred hiding spot for our young ones. We also have coyotes so we opted to build a large coop with outdoor covered run to keep our peeps safe when I am not home.

 

[Sparrowsong98]

Those hawks are sneaky and patient. Our favorite little Pekin bantam hen was the first victim she disappeared without a trace until over a week later I discovered a pile of her feathers in the woods. About 3 month later we come home to find a hawk had just killed one of our grown sex link hens the beast even tried to carry her body away but only got about 10 feet off the ground then dropped her. Strange thing was she had to obvious injuries no blood at all her neck didn't feel broken but I'm no expert. By some miracle our mean little Pekin bantam roo escaped death by hawk a couple months after that. Three piles of feathers left on the ground! The poor little bugger had managed to get away 3 times! My daughter finally heard the raucous and went to the rescue.

Even if you lock them up for some time as we did the hawk will inevitably return. (It's a red tailed hawk and or hawks that we have here) If they free range just try to have some kind of chicken shelters, shrubs, or anything that they can quickly hide under. I have left the corn stalks, tomatoes and broccoli in the garden for now as they are the preferred hiding spot for our young ones. We also have coyotes so we opted to build a large coop with outdoor covered run to keep our peeps safe when I am not home.

Mine all huddled under the coop, except nieve speedy. But no one died.

 

[evelynchicks]

Thanks so much for every comment, I truly appreciate them. I'm still learning my way around this site.
My chicken are looking good again. I keep them in their confined nice space outside you may call it a chicken run. I'm not letting them be free range for a long time. I was so sad all day, remembering that hawk with the legs trying to catch my loving chicken and her going in circles fast. I didn't know I would love my chicken that much. One was hiding by the deck so quiet that I thought she was taken. Meanwhile I am a mess looking for her crying for my chicken then suddengly I checked behind the deck where she (he was and when I saw that litttle face I cried of now being happy. Still not sure if one is a rooster lol Thanks again! I take every advise!