Bald Eagles are after our chickens

I've also found that certain breeds are a bit more daring in their wandering. I love EEs, but I can't seem to keep them alive. They always wander the farthest, jump fences, and do as they please. I lose them to predators every time. My bantam Cochins are cautious. They stick closer to the coop, and dart around underneath things. My Hamburgs and Orloffs are forest chickens. They don't really like being in the open at all. I've got a group of Cream Brabanters about to start ranging too. I'm curious to see what type they are.
I have Australorps, Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds. The Rhodies and the Australorps could fly over the 5 ft fence if they wanted to, but they don't seem to want to. I'm sure you know the Buffs can't fly. Up until yesterday they all felt very safe in there. ATM they are jumpy, even if I'm walking around and they don't notice me come up behind them. Poor babies. They usually wander in the open, but today they are definitely staying under trees. I don't have my run in the forest at all because we have forest predators too that could climb the trees and drop in on them. Sigh...I thought the orchard was a pretty safe place. For 4 years it has been. The eagles are obviously not finding enough food. These particular BEs have never attacked one of our chickens nor our neighbors' chickens before. We know it's one of them because my neighbor has a photo of him sitting in a tree near her chicken run. She lost a duck and two chickens.
 
We can have a rooster here and that's an excellent idea. I'm sure I can get my hands on one pretty quickly since everyone has one they don't want. LOL I have tried to attract crows here and for some reason I get every bird but crows. Have never figured that out.
You can buy a crow call online. Some people use it to call in crows to shoot them. I use it to call in a small group of crows to feed. I have one very clever one that's learned to stalk up and down the porch railing, looking inside to see if I'm there and then crowing to get me to come outside and set down a bowl of dry dog food. It was pretty funny to watch him (or her?) being followed around by a baby that was completely grown and feathered out, who could eat the dog food himself but was still trying to coax the parent bird to feed it!
 
Here is my question for you all, how about if I set up a lot of tomato cages, upside down, spikes up, and tied reflective ribbons all over them. That way I could walk through the orchard, but the eagles wouldn't have a landing site. What do you think? Please don't tell me to put my chickens in a small cage somewhere. Some of my girls are 4 years old and have lived their whole lives free. Putting them in a confined space now doesn't feel right to me, so I have to find another way to keep them safe.:hit
Well, it certainly couldn't hurt to try...

You know what's really sad? The chicken I lost and the wounded chicken are both from my first girls. They are 4 years old and rarely lay eggs, but they are my favorites. Shirl was
It seems like they always get the favorites.
 
Never really free ranged before my dogs . LGDs will protect whatever they are raised around . They will chase a hawk or buzzard until it's out of site . Always didn't want such a big dog for all the reasons most people don't .BIGGGGGGGGGG feed bill BIG poop too . Now I don't know why I didn't get them sooner . Motion sensors attached to a loud noise maker or will scare away a lot of predators . My daughters little cat sets of the driveway alarm :idunnoTalk to the forestry department or fish and wildlife department for your area. Maybe they can help you some how . I never thought about My dogs running the hawks out of the area .I haven't seen one I liked watching for a long time . I hope you can save the chickens from further attacks ,and the eagles survive as well :fl:fl:fl
 
Never really free ranged before my dogs . LGDs will protect whatever they are raised around . They will chase a hawk or buzzard until it's out of site . Always didn't want such a big dog for all the reasons most people don't .BIGGGGGGGGGG feed bill BIG poop too . Now I don't know why I didn't get them sooner . Motion sensors attached to a loud noise maker or will scare away a lot of predators . My daughters little cat sets of the driveway alarm :idunnoTalk to the forestry department or fish and wildlife department for your area. Maybe they can help you some how . I never thought about My dogs running the hawks out of the area .I haven't seen one I liked watching for a long time . I hope you can save the chickens from further attacks ,and the eagles survive as well :fl:fl:fl
Never really free ranged before my dogs . LGDs will protect whatever they are raised around . They will chase a hawk or buzzard until it's out of site . Always didn't want such a big dog for all the reasons most people don't .BIGGGGGGGGGG feed bill BIG poop too . Now I don't know why I didn't get them sooner . Motion sensors attached to a loud noise maker or will scare away a lot of predators . My daughters little cat sets of the driveway alarm :idunnoTalk to the forestry department or fish and wildlife department for your area. Maybe they can help you some how . I never thought about My dogs running the hawks out of the area .I haven't seen one I liked watching for a long time . I hope you can save the chickens from further attacks ,and the eagles survive as well :fl:fl:fl
That actually sounds pretty nice, having a dog that will protect the chickens. But another dog wont work for us. We have a rescue that doesn't play well with others, and she would never protect the chickens, quite the opposite I'm afraid. As for the eagle, our fish and wildlife people are all about protecting the birds of prey around here. Besides, the BEs have a nest. I wouldn't want to move one of the parents from their babies in any way. So, protecting my chickens is the name of the game. My sill idea of tomato cages with the spikes up is working so far. I didn't grow tomatoes this year so I had a bunch sitting around with no job to do. Also, the chickens are staying under the trees a lot more now. Thanks for the ideas.
 
So far so good on my reflective tape grid and upside down tomato cages. There is no way for the eagle to land now. And good news on Ethel. When I first looked at her wound it was an opening the size of a quarter. Today it is the size of a dime. :woot I gave her an Epsom salt soak. Yuck! Ew! That was the first time I ever did that. What a gross experience! Chickens are dirty, and Ethel has had a messy vent from the beginning. Not sure why. I only have two like that out of 12...11 now. :( The water immediately turned brown just from the dust baths. Anyway, she is very alert now and preening those wet feathers. I didn't immerse her entirely, because the wound is on her abdomen. She wasn't too sure about the whole experience so I wanted to be minimally intrusive. I love that big girl so much and she's going to be okay!!! I'm beside myself with happiness.:weeThanks to everyone here for all your ideas and support!:love
 
UPDATE: I posted all the devastation in the days after the eagle attack under 2 down, 1 to go. But, I thought I'd update how the tomato cages are working here. So far they are quite effective. In fact, I'm ready to buy a bunch more and take down the reflective tape grid I made. The tomato cages are much easier for me to navigate. The eagle has been looking for more chickens to eat and I have seen him scoping out my chickens and flying away. Ha ha! Success!

Also, Ethel, my wounded chicken is getting Epsom baths every day and finally today she drank some fortified water through a dropper. I'll do that every hour today. I could actually see color come back to her comb. Hoping she will make a full recovery. :fl
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom