Bah! Our first hawk

[rajzwaibel]

I was standing on the back porch, and down swooped this big Cooper's hawk, hit the top part of the fence on the run, and flew away as my dog started chasing it. It's the first hawk I've seen in years. We live smack dab in the middle of a residential area near a big city, so it was a bit of a surprise. Immediately prompted me to go get netting to cover the top of the run with (about 10' x 20'.

I imagine it wasn't going after the adult chicken, but the dozen 6 week olds we have.

 

[monathequeen]

yepper,,,,,,the babies won't last long without a covered run...........been there, done that...lost one full size duck in the uncovered run by a redtailed hawk........GET THAT RUN COVERED ASAP...

 

[Soccer Mom]

Quote:
That is how they hunt. According to the Cornell Lab:

Another attack maneuver is to fly fast and low to the ground, then up and over an obstruction to surprise prey on the other side.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id

It was trying to ambush your birds over the fenceand miscalculated. What a close call!​