AHHHHHHHH! HAWK! AHHHHHHH!

[country freedom]

My sister had a Redtailed Hawk carry her Yorkie pup out of her backyard, and this was in a downtown Louisville neighborhood. I've had xperiences with watching Redtailed Hawks chase feral pigeons, and American Robins, catch and eat them in downtown Clarksville, just a few feet, in front of my eyes. Riding the public bus home one day last week, I rode by a Redtailed Hawk rising up/flying away with something in it's talons that had a long naked tail....eeewwww, I think rat.

 

[EggCentric]

All of my neighbors cats had been dissapearing and we couldn't figure out what was going on. I was sitting on my porch on night, my cat was sitting right next to me. An Owl swooped down and almost hit me in the head trying to snatch my cat. And the cat was full grown. So now we know what happened to the other cats. If they can carry off a full grown possum, they can carry off a lot of things.

Where I live now, if there is a hawk (Or an eagle, like I saw yesterday) the crows spend hours harrassing it. It never has a chance to hunt.

 

[Standard Hen]

This is the start to the season where my chickens will be in lockdown (already started) until spring. I will let them out on the weekends when I am home but no more during the week while I am working and by the time I get home it will be almost dark. Last fall/winter I lost quite a few to hawks and it only gets worse into the winter as they are hungry and on the hunt. Once the leaves are off the trees they do not have a chance. They hate being in their pens but there is no way I am going to lost a good number of them like I did last year and have to start all over. As a matter of fact I am going to tighten up the top of the pen and get winterized!

 

[jeaucamom]

So when the leaves come back on the trees, they won't come in as low, is that correct?

 

[ozark hen]

Winter time is my greatest fear for my free ranging chickens. As long as there is something on the ground for them to pick at I am going to allow free-ranging. My dh wants to put something over the run now. Hope it gets done before the hawks can't find anything to eat! I am hoping my puppy will be a deterent by then. He is going on nine weeks old this Thurs. and is already 30 pounds. He is a great pyr mix. Right now I only let him out when I am in the yard as he is just a puppy and finds the chickens something to play with!?

 

[ozark hen]

Quote:
I don't know if this is true or not but I haven't had one come through all the trees for a chicken. I also read on a thread somewhere on here where hawks need a direct line to the chicken?? Seems to me if it were sitting in a tree above it could come down and get one but I really don't know the facts of this??