AHHHHHHHH! HAWK! AHHHHHHH!

[jeaucamom]

A hawk almost carried off my daughter's light brahms bitsy. The one she is kissing in do you kiss your chickens. We have never seen hawks here. and our yard is almost completely covered by an old oak tree. I didn't think they would come down under the cover like that. But it was right on our lawn on top of her. If my daughter hadn't heard the chickens screaming and run out there, we wouldn't have her right now. I am so overcome with fear and emotion. I am not handling this very well. The girls are all hiding under a huge bush right now and terrified. I got Bitsy in and she has no injuries. I guess we are going to have to find a way to enclose an area for them. Their coop is totally secure, but I can't imagine how we are going to cover the yard???? Any suggestions????

Added: Can a hawk fly off with a chicken???? Bitsy is only 11ish weeks old but being a brahma she is pretty big. Will it come back now that it knows we have chickens????

 

[chickbea]

Quote:
YES, and YES!

 

[Cracker]

Doesn't really matter if they can be carried off or not. Hawks will often kill them right where they catch them, then eat what they can.

 

[GAhen]

I lost one pullet to a hawk.......it grabed her.....dropped her and grabed again......BEWARE!

 

[tiffanyh]

You need to keep them in for weeks before you consider letting them free range supervised again. At least that is what I would do....

I experience the same thing but my girl never got carried away and she didnt make it.

Glad your hen is okay.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

Hawks, owls, etc.. we've lost two cats to "something" outhere that we haven't caught yet. So we don't keep cats anymore and our two beagles come in at night, all night. I've seen a coopers hawk at the pond as well as heron. My neighbor had an owl take off with his son's jack russel terrier.

Carnivores will eat anything they can catch make no mistake about it.

 

[arlee453]

Can you section off an area of your yard with chain link or other fencing? That's what I did to make my girls a very large run. I used PVC pipes to make arcs over the area (20x wide) and covered that with deer netting. While the netting is nylon it is surprisingly strong and would deter any flying birds - they'd probably fly right into it without seeing it as it is just about invisible from any distance. There is also much stronger bird netting available that is lightweight, but it is much more expensive.

My 20x80 approx run used 3.5 rolls of deer netting, for less than $50 for the netting. Bird netting would have run me about $250 for a similar size.

 

[Renegade]

Last year I lost 3 huge adult buff orpingtons to hawks. They didn't carry them off they just killed and ate what they wanted. The hawks will keep coming back until they kill everything they can get. I kept my birds locked up for two months and the day I let them loose the hawks killed one.
This year I added guinea hens to my farm and I haven't lost a chicken all year. I now free range more chickens then I ever have with no losses.

Donna

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Try to cover a small area that they can move around safely when you can't be there. You can do that by putting up posts, poultry wire and "deer netting" found at DIY centers. Supervise their ranging in your yard and keep vigil. Do you have a rooster? Keep something handy for them to get under or in. A rooster will usually warn the flock of sky born threats.

Cant tell you to shoot thats illegal. Maybe not an option anyway.

This year I added guinea hens to my farm and I haven't lost a chicken all year. I now free range more chickens then I ever have with no losses.

The Guineas keep them away ? Very interesting


Good luck!​

 

[jeaucamom]

IT CAME BACK! I am shaking so hard Ican barely type.... quicker than I could google chicken wire, it was back the girls were still under the bush to the right of the coop and screaming. And as we ran out it came out from under the bush and flew off. We coralled all the girls and put them in but we couldn't find Bella the beuatiful my blue cochin. She was so scared she had wedged herself under the roots of the bush. She wasn't even crying. Fortunately, my son saw her and we were able to break away the roots and dig her out. No injuries.l.....except my freakin heart.....feels like I'm having a coronary. They will be in the coop now until I figure out a way to section off an area.

They are all safe inside now and I am seriously considering breaking the alcohol prohibition in my home. Having a hard time calming down. Will try to post pics so maybe get some ideas for netting etc.