A hawk has lifted our chickens into the air what should I do??

[chicken fam]

a few weeks ago my mom was standing in our drive way with her friends about 50 feet away from our chickens when a hawk attacked them that wasn't the first time either once we put our chickens out and another one was limping another time one couldn't walk. My mom says the hawk lifted one of our welsummers into the air about fifteen feet and then dropped it. We still have hawks in our neighborhood and we see them a lot but our chickens seem to be fine, physically and somewhat mentally (their not that bright to be honest) We have 2 welsummers, 2 Australorpes and 1 older chicken we don't know the breed of. It was only the Welsummers getting attacked but nothings happened for a few weeks so should I still be worried

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

If the hawk is hungry enough it will be back. It's probably a good idea to get them a covered run that they are confined to.

 

[chicken fam]

Thank you we have a covered run, but they like to free range better we have some bushes for them to go under maybe that'll help, but I don't know

 

[EggSighted4Life]

nothings happened for a few weeks so should I still be worried

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

Glad your bird escaped the attack..

Free ranging comes with dangers.. worry is a choice.. If you can't accept the possibility of a loss.. don't free range. Know it can happen at any time and take steps to avoid it.. but worry.. nah, life is too short for all that drama.

I like free ranging and choose to do so most of the time. There seems to be a high hawk season, maybe even twice per year for migration.. and sometimes I have to go on lock up so they see there is nothing here and they move on.. Most often chicks and bantams are easier targets. Some attacks get thwarted that we never even know about.

Like you said.. low bushes, lawn chairs, and other low things to hide under.. If you see the hawk.. blow it's cover.. they're ambush predators.. Keep blowing it's cover and harassing it with noise etc (within legal means, yes I look like a whacko flapping my arms, crowing, and being generally obnoxious) until gets miffed and flies away.. chickens have SHORT attention spans and quickly forget about the predator silently watching in a nearby tree.

Human activity helps SOME.. but they KNOW you are a slow moving ground based creature.. Limping and not walking chickens.. are easy prey.. Ultimately inviting predators.. AND disease (parasites, etc) to the flock.. It's a HARD choice.. but the main reason I don't/won't keep special needs birds... for informational purposes..

Fishing line strung across my Silkie pasture.. hadn't seen an attack since despite losing several chicks several days in a row prior.. anecdotal.. and sometimes a pain to keep high enough above my head.. BUT.. seems to have worked! I put a tall poll in the center and strung it out to the fence.

Hope this helps you think about what might work out best for your crew and set up and maybe even some tips to help them stay safe.

 

[Willow2253]

I’ve had a hawk attack before, my dogs chased it off before it was able to do serious damage to the hen. Like eggsighted4life said, lots of hiding places help. We set up one of those fake owls and haven’t had any issues since, maybe one of those would help you as well. This time of year you have to be especially vigilant of them because the seasons are changing, which means hawks are on the move and hungry, so a big slow chicken looks like easy pickings to them.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

We set up one of those fake owls and haven’t had any issues since, maybe one of those would help you as well.

My neighbor has fake owls.. hawks aren't stupid and they quickly figure out they are inanimate..
I wonder if rodents buy it?! I bet they don't.. but.. humans do!
I should go borrow one and see how my guinea pigs react.

My chickens don't give a thought to the fake owls, nor my cats, or my dogs come to think of it.. it's just garden decor.. but let a sparrow or even a humming bird or crow FLY over.. and they all respond. So at MY place at least, that has zero impact on hawk presence.. I urge you not to let your guard down despite not facing issues since placing it AND I will practice the same mindful vigilance with my fishing line! It's a great idea though, in theory and thank you for sharing!

It was my pig and a plethora of fluffy feather that saved one of my bantam hens this year.. who knew! The hawk had her on the ground and the pig was curious and ran towards the unusual commotion, he knows chickens get treats and he's always looking for something to eat. My husband said he saw the ordeal.. HAD he NOT.. I would have wrongfully accused my boy Waldo of wrong doing.. or at least wondered suspiciously.

Petunia, my female pig.. is a HAG.. chickens better move when she approaches and (I) hope they don't get cornered.. cuz she fires things up with her cute little "pimp" snout, mouth open head swinging.. (I'm still a bit ghetto and that shouldn't be funny to me that she keeps her pimp snout strong as prostitution and abuse is no laughing matter). Alas when I say it, it mildly annoys one of my adult children (nothing harmful), which sadly brings me true joy as parent who has paid my dues!

 

[chicken fam]

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

Glad your bird escaped the attack..

Free ranging comes with dangers.. worry is a choice.. If you can't accept the possibility of a loss.. don't free range. Know it can happen at any time and take steps to avoid it.. but worry.. nah, life is too short for all that drama.

I like free ranging and choose to do so most of the time. There seems to be a high hawk season, maybe even twice per year for migration.. and sometimes I have to go on lock up so they see there is nothing here and they move on.. Most often chicks and bantams are easier targets. Some attacks get thwarted that we never even know about.

Like you said.. low bushes, lawn chairs, and other low things to hide under.. If you see the hawk.. blow it's cover.. they're ambush predators.. Keep blowing it's cover and harassing it with noise etc (within legal means, yes I look like a whacko flapping my arms, crowing, and being generally obnoxious) until gets miffed and flies away.. chickens have SHORT attention spans and quickly forget about the predator silently watching in a nearby tree.

Human activity helps SOME.. but they KNOW you are a slow moving ground based creature.. Limping and not walking chickens.. are easy prey.. Ultimately inviting predators.. AND disease (parasites, etc) to the flock.. It's a HARD choice.. but the main reason I don't/won't keep special needs birds... for informational purposes..

Fishing line strung across my Silkie pasture.. hadn't seen an attack since despite losing several chicks several days in a row prior.. anecdotal.. and sometimes a pain to keep high enough above my head.. BUT.. seems to have worked! I put a tall poll in the center and strung it out to the fence.

Hope this helps you think about what might work out best for your crew and set up and maybe even some tips to help them stay safe.

Thank you this helped a lot

 

[Jerhanner]

Thanks for all the info. I caught Ms. Red Tailed Hawk perched on the fence of our run this morning, and the girls were trapped on the other side of the coop, away from the door... we're making new hidey places out of old doors tomorrow, and heck, we'll give the owl a try. We DO have CDs tied on a string hanging in the run - someone said that helps blind the raptors? And we have blinking red lights on the outside at night, assuming that helps scare away night predators? Anyone else ever tried that?

 

[Kaw]

Hi there and welcome to BYC!

Glad your bird escaped the attack..

Free ranging comes with dangers.. worry is a choice.. If you can't accept the possibility of a loss.. don't free range. Know it can happen at any time and take steps to avoid it.. but worry.. nah, life is too short for all that drama.

I like free ranging and choose to do so most of the time. There seems to be a high hawk season, maybe even twice per year for migration.. and sometimes I have to go on lock up so they see there is nothing here and they move on.. Most often chicks and bantams are easier targets. Some attacks get thwarted that we never even know about.

Like you said.. low bushes, lawn chairs, and other low things to hide under.. If you see the hawk.. blow it's cover.. they're ambush predators.. Keep blowing it's cover and harassing it with noise etc (within legal means, yes I look like a whacko flapping my arms, crowing, and being generally obnoxious) until gets miffed and flies away.. chickens have SHORT attention spans and quickly forget about the predator silently watching in a nearby tree.

Human activity helps SOME.. but they KNOW you are a slow moving ground based creature.. Limping and not walking chickens.. are easy prey.. Ultimately inviting predators.. AND disease (parasites, etc) to the flock.. It's a HARD choice.. but the main reason I don't/won't keep special needs birds... for informational purposes..

Fishing line strung across my Silkie pasture.. hadn't seen an attack since despite losing several chicks several days in a row prior.. anecdotal.. and sometimes a pain to keep high enough above my head.. BUT.. seems to have worked! I put a tall poll in the center and strung it out to the fence.

Hope this helps you think about what might work out best for your crew and set up and maybe even some tips to help them stay safe.

We use Aviary netting. Works great! But it will deiend on the area you need to cover. I also now patrol the netting daily as sadly I found a small bird caught i. It. Two birds in 5 months. Cover any area the hawk has a ckear path or open ground to attack.
The netting doesn’t interfere with your view, and is relatively inexpensive

 

[Willow2253]

We use Aviary netting. Works great! But it will deiend on the area you need to cover. I also now patrol the netting daily as sadly I found a small bird caught i. It. Two birds in 5 months. Cover any area the hawk has a ckear path or open ground to attack.
The netting doesn’t interfere with your view, and is relatively inexpensive

Bird netting over the run has worked fine so far for me. I have a small enough netting that I haven’t had birds get stuck in it, but I did have a baby robin fall out of the nest and not be able to figure out how to get off the net. My biggest problem is leaves and twigs getting stuck in it because my run is under a tree.