Are white chickens like Delaware more likely to be caught by hawks?

[centrarchid]

@Beekissed has had a flock of White Rocks for years, with occasional addition of other colors. She swears that white birds are no more predator prone than others. It depends on your predator load, your range safety, whether you have a guard dog...

IMO, a predator will take which ever bird happens to be in a location where she is easiest to snatch. The predator doesn't care what color her feathers are. They all taste like chicken.

If that is the case, her position has evolved a great deal.

 

[centrarchid]

Movement I think is what betrays the location of chickens more than anything else. Coloration more important when the chickens are not moving. Hens with color patterns that contrast with background stand out to a predators mind and eyes. Two specific situations I see where color makes a difference and a visually oriented predator is key. First is where brood hen covers clutch / brood in a fixed location. Second is where a chicken or any age or sex is hiding by hunkering down being very still.

 

[chickendreams24]

We haven't had a lot of white birds, as I had the same fears, but we have had some. Including a Delaware girl. A few mixes, 3 white silkies, 1 paint silkie, 1 white sport legbar, 1white(mauve) English orpington. Etc. We also had 3 light Brahmas but they were rehomed at 10 months because someone fell in love with them.

Lastly we had 5 white rocks 3 pullets and two cockerals.

We have had only a little trouble with aerial predators. Mostly we have lost birds to fox, coyote, rats and mink, also possums and a raccoon.

The rats didn't seem to have a pattern except they killed almost exclusively pullets. The mink didn't seem to have much of a pattern either and killed mostly black or barred birds. The possum killed a buff Orpington hen. The raccoon killed coturnix quail that were out in a tractor in the yard, interestingly all but one of the quail it killed were Pharoah(or common brown wild type).

As to the fox and the coyote (we have never actually seen the coyotes grab birds but are pretty sure they have) the fox is an old menace we've been fighting going on three years. Cunning and quick it has never entered the coop. It also only kills one bird at a time. However I believe its a pair and has brought it's mate and kits before, during that attack four birds went missing and two came back out of the field a couple hours later. Generally we only see one. It usually runs through the flock scattering them. Attacks at any time of day and whatever birds get separated or run a different direction it nabs. It also waits and attacks any birds that wander off alone. If that all fails it doubles back and looks for birds that hid instead of ran. We have lost only three silkies to it in three years one of which was a rooster defending an Orpington hen. None of which were white.

The only white birds we ever lost were the white Rock pullets. They were D-U-M-B and one after another they wandered off alone along the field out of sight of the roosters and flock, on the other side of buildings, and all we found was feathers. I was pretty bummed about them because I've heard if they're bred well they're awesome birds. I was not impressed with the hatchery stock.

We also have bantams- oegb and a sebright, along with the silkies. None of them have proven to be more of a draw for predators.

We do have eagles here and have had a couple fly overs and them roosting in our trees. That's a scary thing. However our large flock is by now quite predator savvy and our roosters are amazing with the flock. Usually working together seamlessly to protect the girls.

Our silkies are amazing foragers(except one or two of ten) and very alert. They're great birds. Our Orpingtons and EE have proven most intelligent and predator savvy. We do not have any leghorns, RIR (I would want a heritage strain). But we do have barred rocks from last year.

We also have slw, Orpingtons (both English and American), legbars, EE, Buckeyes, Dominiques, Favorelles

Along with other singletons, and I'm sure I'm missing a couple breeds lol.

All in all I think the greatest factors if you plan to free range, there will be losses, but I think it maybe depends on the predator and their hunting style. Yes the white birds can be more visible but if they're intelligent that shouldn't be much of a hindrance. Open area can be a blessing and a curse, easier to spot predators, but harder to find cover. We have planted some hydrangeas and such and I'm so glad we have because I have seen some of our flock huddled under them many times.

Also it depends on the flock's habits and the intelligence and watchful eye of the rooster or roosters. We have a large flock and a large main coop along with another good sized coop. Our flock is quite large and we have found that roosters are imperative to the safety of our flock. Not just any roosters either a good rooster.

We also raise our spare cockerals out for the table and they go into a bachelor group when they become rowdy. They are also a great form of defense with more eyes on the lookout. Also not to sound cold but I would rather lose a cockeral destined for my table rather than a loved layer.

 

[sqatkins]

Yes, lighter colored chickens are more obvious, therefore making them easier prey. But I would be more worried about a larger bird. We just have red tailed hawks around here, so I don't know the size of coopers. I think a hawk could scratch up a chicken, but I think a large chicken like that is too much for a hawk to carry off. Now something like a eagle.....that's a different story.

The only bird I've had taken by a Cooper's Hawk was a white splashed Wyandotte in 2020, the only white one in the entire flock. It killed her and came back to feed because she was too big for the bird to haul away. I mentioned it to a chicken owner at the feed store and she agreed that white birds were hard to protect from hawks. I have a family of cooper's hawks that are patrolling my flock again this year, and again I have a single white bird (hatched in June from purchased fertile eggs). It's a roo, which I need to get rid of anyway... but I'm doing what I can to protect them all.

 

[BDutch]

White is the most visible color except in snowy weather, so yes, white birds are more prone to predation as a result. In the past I had both white leghorns and brown leghorns, free ranging, and several of the whites were attacked but not one of the browns. And Cooper's hawks can easily kill a large breed chicken. Those talons mean business.

@BYC Project Manager

Sorry to bump in into an old thread, but I searched for info on the question: Are white chickens an easier prey as coloured chickens because of their colour?.

I heard many different answers and I wonder if you or anyone else found a good article or research on this subject.
Some say the birds of prey only look out for movement. And some say birds see colours differently as mammals and thats why white birds are not more prone to get attacked.

Others (like you Ted) say they had definitely more white casualties by birds of prey.

Because ‘our‘ BYC project manager wrote an article on top 10 predators, I thougt he might have an answer too. And ik not, this could be an interesting subject for a poll. ?

 

[BDutch]

Forgot to mention that I had more white/light coloured casualties by predators as darker ones. While the majority of my flock is coloured.

• lavender Dutch (buzzard)
• Bantam RIR (lost without a trace / the only darker coloured)
• pile Dutch (fox)
• pile Dutch (lost without a trace)

Over the years I lost 3 bantam chickens who where just missing. One was almost certain taken by a buzzard. Because I saw him circling above our garden several times in the days after.

 

[JedJackson]

@BYC Project Manager

Sorry to bump in into an old thread, but I searched for info on the question: Are white chickens an easier prey as coloured chickens because of their colour?.

I heard many different answers and I wonder if you or anyone else found a good article or research on this subject.
Some say the birds of prey only look out for movement. And some say birds see colours differently as mammals and thats why white birds are not more prone to get attacked.

Others (like you Ted) say they had definitely more white casualties by birds of prey.

Because ‘our‘ BYC project manager wrote an article on top 10 predators, I thougt he might have an answer too. And ik not, this could be an interesting subject for a poll. ?

Look to nature. Albino sports of birds and animals rarely last long because they don't blend in with their surroundings, and so are more visible to predators. Ptarmigans molt white for the winter to blend in with the snow, then during snow melt in spring, have white and brown patches to mimic their surroundings, and in summer molt fully brown to blend in with a snowless environment. All of this is not an accident.