Birds of Prey:0 Me:2

[ChocolateMouse]

I think my polish fought back from what I could see before it got off her and focused on me. I had a t-shirt on, but I did have pants on. I was just trying to react fast before I tried to mess with anyone else.

Yeah, mine was the same, so I had my partner bring it out to me after I got it off of my birds and it was just kinda standing away from them.

 

[Chickassan]

I don't think these guys quite know wtf they're doing yet.
Lots more "clueless teens" than last year.

It definitely was scared of me! I tried to calm it down, but it's wild. I'm just glad the bird got out and that my polish seems fine!

 

[FortCluck]

Here's Blue Footed Boobie this morning. Lots of tail feathers missing. She just realized the chicks have a heat bulb and is warming herself up.

 

[FortCluck]

I don't think these guys quite know wtf they're doing yet.
Lots more "clueless teens" than last year.

Yeah this one was pretty bad at getting it's dinner. Blue Footed Boobie barely has any damage just tail feathers missing.

 

[FortCluck]

Glad the fishing line is working. I originally had some fishing line up but an owl got through and killed some birds. I have a couple of coops that are open on one side that my hubby and a friend built as a surprise for me. Their hearts were in the right place. I have since put tarps over the open side of those coops. These are my pens and they are completely covered with netting. I did cover it many years ago when the trees were small. 200'x60'. The fences are 5'.View attachment 1968392
A Chick/grow-out coop. There is more of the pen on the other side of the coop that doesn't show in the picture. It's covered with netting too.
View attachment 1968393

That's really nice, I will probably cover this if we get more attacks. So far I've lost nothing besides a chick in the spring. I lost Blue Footed Boobies sister but I think that was a land predator because she flew over the fence where they're not supposed to be.

 

[FortCluck]

We did have a black snake eat a chick too, but keeping a snake out is pretty much impossible.

 

[MROO]

It looked identical to it... I was so close I could see every detail. Maybe a hawk that looks just like it I could even see it's eyes and color pattern. I'm in VA so I looked up birds of prey in Virginia and that was the only one that looked like it.

Osprey live and hunt hear water ... and VA definitely qualifies. The Potomac River has a big, viable population, as does the nearby Chesapeake Bay. I live at the other end of the Chesapeake and we see osprey here all the time. I suspect that, like most birds, they are opportunistic feeders and will hunt what and where they can. If chicken is readily available in the area, it would definitely be on the menu!

 

[FortCluck]

Osprey live and hunt hear water ... and VA definitely qualifies. The Potomac River has a big, viable population, as does the nearby Chesapeake Bay. I live at the other end of the Chesapeake and we see osprey here all the time. I suspect that, like most birds, they are opportunistic feeders and will hunt what and where they can. If chicken is readily available in the area, it would definitely be on the menu!

We live near the James River

 

[MROO]

We live near the James River

Then you're probably right ... sounds like you've got an osprey. They are sure are beautiful!

 

[FortCluck]

Then you're probably right ... sounds like you've got an osprey. They are sure are beautiful!

We have a lot of big birds near our property. Not many of them attempt to attack our chickens. Most of the time the dogs scare them off, but no dogs were outside at the time.