Chicken vanished, hawk?

[HuskerHens18]

@oldhenlikesdogs @Lauren Adams @oregonkat

You won't believe this, my dad woke me up eeaarrllyy this morning and had me come outside ASAP. My hen was roosting on a plywood piece leaned up against the chicken house!! She's been gone since Sunday! We had a huge snowstorm and below freezing temps every night since then. She's a fighter! We combed every inch of this place, I really don't understand where she could've been, but I'm happy she wasn't killed.

 

[Rachealx4]

I love happy endings!

 

[HuskerHens18]

@Rachealx4 Me too!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

@oregonkat Good info, in my imagination I always thought hawks grabbed them and flew away. We've got the same kinds as you named, Redtail are more common. We have Eagles too, do they do the same thing? I hope it was a fox, if it's a Bobcat I'll have to start worrying over my little goats [/user]

Both raccoons and hawks make one mell of a hess when they kill and eat poultry. There is no mention of what size hen went missing but if she was taken by a hawk it is highly unlikely that any hawk in Nebraska could get air born with a hen weighing 2 or three pounds. Eagles however are a different story. Hawks are only able to lift from 25% to 50% of their body weight. Hens are masters at stealing nests in little visited locations and dropping off the face of the planet until they show up 21 days later with a family so there is a chance that this hen is in a "Family" way. Ground Hogs, Whistle Pigs, or Wood Chucks do like to make dens under farm buildings but they are pretty much 100% vegetarian, but their empty dens do make good fox nurseries. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[mixedbreeds]

Glad you found your hen that’s great. I wanted to tell you a few years ago I looked up to see an eagle flying by about 30 feet off the ground with a really big house cat so they have no trouble flying away with a chicken.

 

[HuskerHens18]

@chickengeorgeto Yeah right now we are having an influx of predators, so most of the hawks are younger and small. I've seen fairly large ones before, but not this year. We have 2 bald eagles hanging around the area, a young one and an older one.
Thanks a bunch for the info, I might set a few traps around the holes and see what happens.

@mixedbreeds Yikes that's terrifying! I hope they leave my cats alone that's good to know

 

[Lazy Farmer]

What a happy ending. I'm glad for you. It was probably perched up in a tree. Hawks can't carry of a 5 y/o chicken. Now a chick or duckling yes.

About the hogs.. lol. I have a lot of pigs. My free ranger chickens always go in the pig pens and scavenge. Never once have they been attacked our chased. Because I feed my swine stock very well. The person who rented your hog barn probably under fed their pig stock. A couple of our 500 lb breeders share their food with the chickens. I also range some of my pigs out with my goats. I well fed pig won't be desperate for a chicken dinner.

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

What a happy ending. I'm glad for you. It was probably perched up in a tree. Hawks can't carry of a 5 y/o chicken. Now a chick or duckling yes.

About the hogs.. lol. I have a lot of pigs. My free ranger chickens always go in the pig pens and scavenge. Never once have they been attacked our chased. Because I feed my swine stock very well. The person who rented your hog barn probably under fed their pig stock. A couple of our 500 lb breeders share their food with the chickens. I also range some of my pigs out with my goats. I well fed pig won't be desperate for a chicken dinner.View attachment 1325702 View attachment 1325703

Omgosh....I just want to hug your hog! I don't know...there's something about those big things that look just so cute and cuddly to me. lol

 

[HuskerHens18]

@Farmer Connie That's sweet they share happily
Yeah the guy became a little sketchy, after we had him remove his hogs we rented a pasture to him for his cows, we gave him a specific number that pasture can healthily allow and we caught him late one evening sneaking in dozens more cattle than we told him. I used to raise hogs, they were never vicious. Yours is very cute by the way we only had those hogs you send off to the slaughterhouse, they weren't so cute lol

 

[Hambone]

I lost many chickens to hawks.