Connecticut!

[Adenium]

Ha ha. He IS just 11 lbs of Papillon, but he was on the other side of me and at the foot of the lounge. He broke his collar open and went tearing after the hawk - never does seem to realize that birds are uncatchable because they have wings and he doesn't........

It was definitely after the chicks, and could easily have grabbed one with each foot if it hadn't run into me instead. The girls took the longest to find, making us think it got them, which was just doubly unfair. We could have solved our cochin cockerel problem in one fell swoop if it grabbed the boys......not that I wanted it to get any of my chicks!

 

[smitty750]

Hey folks question, cockerel or pullet 7 week old RIR

If it's a Roo would anyone be interested in him? I'm in Bethel

 

[blipit007]

Hi all - just a note of caution regarding our evidently bold local wildlife.....

A few days ago I was sitting out on a lounge chair next to a little pen we'd made for our chicks (just 4 T-posts with 48" plastic netting in a rectangle).  We'd strung twine back and forth across the top to deter aerial predators, plus I was right there with my (admittedly small) dog.  All of a sudden, all 7 chicks dashed to the side of the pen nearest me and pushed under the netting (they hadn't previously had any interest in escape so we hadn't put logs over the bottom edges yet).  Before I could even process what was happening, there was literally a hawk in the crook of my arm.  Maybe it was diving for the chicks in the pen, adjusted because it saw the twine or because they saw it and ran out, and ended up hitting me instead.  I should have held onto it to make sure its talons were empty, but in my shock I let it go.  It flew off and it took an hour to find the chicks, but they were all surprisingly safe and sound.  Under the deck, under the coop, in the firepit, etc. 

I've heard of predators taking chickens just a few feet away, but didn't imagine the hawk would actually be in my arms!  It was like the seagulls grabbing food out of your hand at the beach.  So now we have a reinforced pen..........and are speeding the integration of the chicks into the prior flock.  They spent today in a big dog-crate inside the main run, double-protected! 

Wow! I would have freaked too. Do you know what kind of hawk? Cooper's hawks are he boldest I've been told. Smaller in size with a long tail that's skinny at the base.

 

[nab58]

Smitty750....looks like a pullet to me.

 

[nab58]

Scary hawk story!! I had one drop out of a tree over my head onto a chicken standing next to me. I screamed, it flew off empty beaked. I didn't even know what it was until it flew away. I can't imagine having one fly into your lap!!

 

[Adenium]

Wow! I would have freaked too. Do you know what kind of hawk? Cooper's hawks are he boldest I've been told. Smaller in size with a long tail that's skinny at the base.

Not sure - all my shocked brain managed to process was that the head was solid brown. As it was flying off I was busy trying to call the dog back and see where all the little chick-monsters were. I'm thinking maybe Red-Tailed - I'd heard them screeching in the air in the days prior.

 

[Vamvakas]

Smitty, that's a rooster.

Cooper hawks are weak unless you got chicks in the yard but the red tails are the ones to worry about. They seem to be the true young chick/pullet killer.

 

[Veer67]

Hi all - just a note of caution regarding our evidently bold local wildlife.....

A few days ago I was sitting out on a lounge chair next to a little pen we'd made for our chicks (just 4 T-posts with 48" plastic netting in a rectangle).  We'd strung twine back and forth across the top to deter aerial predators, plus I was right there with my (admittedly small) dog.  All of a sudden, all 7 chicks dashed to the side of the pen nearest me and pushed under the netting (they hadn't previously had any interest in escape so we hadn't put logs over the bottom edges yet).  Before I could even process what was happening, there was literally a hawk in the crook of my arm.  Maybe it was diving for the chicks in the pen, adjusted because it saw the twine or because they saw it and ran out, and ended up hitting me instead.  I should have held onto it to make sure its talons were empty, but in my shock I let it go.  It flew off and it took an hour to find the chicks, but they were all surprisingly safe and sound.  Under the deck, under the coop, in the firepit, etc. 

I've heard of predators taking chickens just a few feet away, but didn't imagine the hawk would actually be in my arms!  It was like the seagulls grabbing food out of your hand at the beach.  So now we have a reinforced pen..........and are speeding the integration of the chicks into the prior flock.  They spent today in a big dog-crate inside the main run, double-protected! 

A few weeks ago while I was sitting reading inside,I heard the chickens jitter nervously inside their chicken enclosure. This usually meant they had seen something unfamiliar in the sky, or some sort of predator like a raptor. I didn't see anything so I went back to reading.... Then all of the sudden a dark shape dived down to catch one of the wild birds at the bird feeder (very close to the chickens), it was a Cooper's hawk! Luckily the bird escaped. Whew! Thankfully the chickens were inside their pen.

 

[Adenium]

Goodness, now I'm going to worry that our bird feeder is really just going to be a way to "feed" songbirds to the hawks.... : )

I do like seeing hawks and they do need to eat, but I'd rather it not be my nice birds. Wr have a gazillion chipmunks roaming the yard. Cute but we could stand to have fewer!

 

[OmeletMan]

I got my chicks this year from CCC feeds. Healthy looking group but I have suspicions that all my Americauna are male.

Only time will tell, they are only about 6 weeks old.