so far I haven't had any predation of my birds<<knocking on wood>>
they free range in my yard which is in the middle of a suburban grid, a few miles north of here the housing developments stop and the more rural settings begin. In all the years I've lived around here I've never seen hawks in this area. I'm not sure what types of hawks there are in this region(northern missouri) but I've heard there are red-tailed hawks. A friend and I went mushroom hunting on his wooded property (20 miles from here) and came across a hawk with a broken wing, but it didn't look like a red tail, it was white with some light brown patches, so don't know what type it was.
It's not unusual to see turkey vultures from time to time, but I understand they're not live hunters, so no worries about the chickens with them. Well, this morning I thought I saw a pair of them circling around my neighbors' houses. I tried to get a good look at them, and it kinda looked like they had reddish tails, so just to be safe I put the chickens in their covered run. now I'm wondering what that was. And I guess I'm curious right now because I've heard that this time of year they migrate, and it seems like I'm seeing more "hawk attack" posts lately.
do hawks travel in pairs? do they circle? would a "hens only" flock know to take shelter if there is rooster around to alert them?
