Chicken killed in NJ - by Hawk - What kind? &why do they take the head

[hypnofrogstevie]

well the scariest thing was when I woke up in the morning one of those ugly
sob's was peering at e through the window. Great way to wake up right?

 

[Cuban Longtails]

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You must have been "dead" asleep!

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

lol. good one! it freaked me out

 

[rufus]

Sometimes it seems that hawks know that it is illegal to shoot them. Just pray that the darn thing meets it's maker soon.

Rufus

 

[PurpleChicken]

It's illegal to shoot hawks? Why?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I live in NJ too and when I first got chickens I had one kill two birds. Haven't had a problem since.

The hawks/owls take the heads when they have been eating well. The brain is what they are after, but they only eat it as a sort of treat. When their food source gets low, they will generally eat the meat off the body, or take the whole bird if they can manage that.

I hope you can solve your problem! The hawks should be gone once the weather gets colder. Most raptors migrate south for the winter months.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I also forgot to mention that crows keep hawks away. They are natural enemies and those crows sure can be nasty! We have hundreds of them aroun dmy house and I have seen some pretty intense battles between the two species. I wouldn't doubt that this is the reason we haven't had very many hawks.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

So NJ has zombie hawks!! I am gettin outta here! LOL!!! I dont want to bring in crows to our yard though. Our neighbors will kill us. Guess I will still be the alpha roo and stand guard as the chickens eat. I a hoping one day the hawk will be eyeing up a juicy chicken then WHAM. Slam into the side of the house and die

 

[chickbea]

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Not only that, but crows just make a grand ruckus whenever any sort of predator is around. They make great alarms!

 

[chickenannie]

I have hawks that got one of my baby Buffs this summer. Now a hawk flies into my yard sometimes and watches them, but I think maybe they've gotten too big for it. Has anyone heard of a hawk taking a large full grown chicken?

Anyways when a hawk shows up my roosters and guineas start screaming and all the chickens run like mad for cover mostly under our large evergreen shrubs. In 3 seconds, there is no chicken in sight. One day a small hawk flew OUT of the shrub where the chickens were hiding. But I think they are intimidated for some reason, maybe because my chickens are badasses. ??