A hawk ate my Buff Orpington

[Stippett]

I'm totally bummed, a red-tailed hawk came in and ate one of my Buff Orpintons today. Any suggestions?

 

[NashChic]

I'm SO sorry!

How old was your BO? I'm so worried about hawks. We've seen them several times and even had a close encounter when I saw one dive-bomb the girls. We were very lucky nobody was hurt. I'm really sorry for your loss! I wish I had advice for you. I'll be watching to see what the experts on here have to say...

 

[Quillgirl]

Lots of threads about this, as reference. One of my Aussies was taken not long ago and the she-hawk continues to patrol my yard every day. I have no choice but to keep mine in a covered run. No free ranging. Ever.

 

[toredano]

I amn sorry to hear that.. Hawks are bad news for all kinds of critters

Oddly enough.. we have a pair of hawks here for years that come back and have babies every year.They are really close to our house and know we have chickens and stuff but they never have tried to take any of our chickens or guineas.I wonder if they have enough to eat around here where they dont need to go after my animals..I see them circle everyday and hear them calling but no attacks yet.
Now that I said that ..I prolly jinxed myself and they will eat them...

As far as suggestions goes..well they rae a protected species I think and you cant kill em.
If you free range your animals.. then it cant be helped at all. Free ranging comes with its own hazzards .
Only 3 things you can do.. really.
1. is you dont free range or
2. Free range and watch em all day so nothing can pick em off.Or..
3. You make the coop predator proof with netting on top so no hawks can get to them.( or wire etc)

I chose to free range mine but I also lost 3 chickens so far to loose dogs. The dogs I can shoot but the hawk I would think twice about it. Not going to jail for a chicken .

Petra

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

 

[Uppity Peon]

Hawks are my biggest worry right now too. This morning I was filling one of the waterers with the hose, bent over, and whoooosh! a hawk passes about 3 feet over my head! It must have been going 60 mph and the sound was incredible! There was a wild bird hot on its tail. Fortunately whenever I see a hawk around here it is getting mobbed by wild birds. I'm going to decorate with more shiny CDs and parachute cord now.

 

[bufforp89]

I have lots of crows in my area and they scream and dive bomb the hawks. Tons of them will assemble to drive it away. They are a pretty good alarm IMO.

 

[Stippett]

I'm thinking of putting out a manniquin in the yard, so it "looks" like I'm out there... has anyone ever tried this before? Do you think that the hawk will figure out that the "human" doesn't move?

I will say that though I really was cussing the hawk out when it flew off, I was still in awe of it's beauty, and size........ (all of those people who think a hawk can't make it away with your adult chickens....... think again).

Thanks for all of the well wishes, luckily I did get more chickens than I really needed/ wanted intially, cuz I was sure I would lose some to something. So, though I am heartbroken to lose one of my ladies... at least I still have 19 more.
I somehow figured that since these guys had been so long with no problems, that the predators in the area must not be chicken hungry...... wrong.

I guess it's time to plant some more shrubs and things for them to hide in too, our yard is somewhat open. There are woods on the edges, I'm hoping they may stick towards those, instead of the wide open.

Do chickens learn from things like this? Having never really seen a hawk... will they know next time?

 

[feather leg farms]

I'm so sorry. I know how i felt when the pit tore open our coops and got in that way. Thats bad. Now the females puppies that did that to the cage are running.