Cooper's Hawk

Miss Chicken

In the Brooder
11 Years
Apr 19, 2008
27
33
34
I recently put two ~13 week old hens in an outdoor run (high fence, no cover/top). They have been there for 2 days. Late afternoon today we saw a Cooper's hawk sitting on the fence of their pen. We scared it off but wondering if a hawk this size could take a chicken?
 
Yes, a coopershawk fatally injured a full grown Rhodes Island Red of mine. Put a netting on top of your run to keep this hawk out.
Coopershawks don't swoop down. They DROP down onto the hen. They will also drop into the run and chase the hen. They will even go into a chicken coop and help themselves.
Please take this threat seriously before you lose a beloved hen as we did. God bless.
 
Cooper's Hawks don't swoop down on their prey like other hawks do, they get down and chase after them on the ground. Especially if they are in a contained area and the hawk can corner the prey easily. I would put some sort of cover on your run so the hawk can't get to your chickens.
 
I lost two hens to a cooper hawk. We bought fruit tree netting and secured it over our run. We used zip ties to secure to the 6 foot fencing. The netting has lasted for 3 seasons. No more losses. The hens they killed were too big for the hawk to carry away. Literally sat in the run and ate it!! I would come home and find the carcass. Horrible!! Netting has fixed the problem. We may have to replace this year....we will aprise the situation in the fall. But the netting was 40 dollars for enough to cover the run. 40 dollars for no losses, spread over 3 years is money well spent.
 
I think the Cooper's are worse than the red-tails. I have a family of three Cooper's hawks circling my coop every day this past week. I just wish they would go away!
 

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