Do buzzards take chickens?

[sbhkma]

I have 200 vultures, both black and red headed one's, that roost beside my house at night. They have never bothered my chickens, and the black one's are smaller than red one's from what I can tell. However, while I would blame a hawk before the vulture for your losses, I wouldn't rule it out. I have seen and heard of freak vulture attacks. Though very rare.

You cannot shoot a vulture legally, but you can scare them away with loud noises such as fireworks. It won't work the first night you do it, you have to be patient.

Good luck!

I keep a loaded .410 shotgun handy for just such instances. Whether it's vultures during the day or coyotes at night, a round fired off in their general direction works wonders to keep them at bay for weeks. I imagine firecrackers would work well too. I've never had vultures go after my chickens, but I prefer to not wait until I see it, so I send out the "not welcome" mat whenever they start hanging around. Of course, in a more urban setting a shotgun may not be a viable option, but I'd try firecrackers for the noise they make.

I've seen caracaras around sometimes. They're only found in the very southern states as far as I know, so if you're in the U.S and not in Texas, Arizona or Florida, I doubt it's a caracara you're seeing. I don't believe they're in Europe, either.

 

[Rotorranch]

Buzzard Season - Open
From sunup January 1 to sundown December 31.
No field limit. No possession limit.

Protect your chickens.

 

[cgmccary]

I live about an hour west of Atlanta and the turkey and black vultures here NEVER take chickens. In my 52 years, never seen them bother chickens. Small live prey means mice, not chickens.

 

[Triple Willow]

I was watching my 14 week old chickens yesterday and all the sudden they took cover under a tarp. I looked up and two turkey vultures were cruising over. They circled a couple times and went on their way. I love to watch them just float on the air. Pretty neat creatures.

 

[niamhblond]

I live in wales and have a big problem with Buzzards constantly taking chickens from my garden . They take any size bird , Even my beautiful light Sussex was taken with hardly a trace . If you have a garden like mine that's large but with head hight fence tie a few strings/fishing wire head hight so it won't bother you it might not save your chickens but it'll give them a big fright and they might not come back/ kill them . As long as you don't mind clearing up buzzard it should be all good .

 

[flaminmerkin]

Okay I know this is an old thread, but I want to bring it to the attention of everybody in my area of Georgia. I live in Dearing which is to the west of Augusta. I witnessed a black vulture take my very large cochin all by itself. I was too far to stop it. She was dust bathing and in her happy place. I was worried about the Golden Eagles and the Hawks in the area, I didn't think the vultures would go after my chickens.THEY WILL!

 

[chicklover 1998]

Okay I know this is an old thread, but I want to bring it to the attention of everybody in my area of Georgia. I live in Dearing which is to the west of Augusta. I witnessed a black vulture take my very large cochin all by itself. I was too far to stop it. She was dust bathing and in her happy place. I was worried about the Golden Eagles and the Hawks in the area, I didn't think the vultures would go after my chickens.THEY WILL!

it's fine, never too late to add to a thread, are you absolutely sure it was a vulture that took it, the eagles and hawks will absolutely, however vultures are carrion eaters the only food they like is dead food.

 

[poorfarm]

Black vultures will definitely kill things, including as big as newborn lambs. Turkey vultures, the ones with the red faces, are safe, they don't hunt, just scavenge. There's a couple of scientist type studies out there about predation by black vultures but I can't remember where I found them.

 

[LukePalmer]

The buzzards in the UK will defo take down a hen. Had the circle the garden earlier. I've seen one with a sparrow hawk before. Beautiful birds tho.

 

[Vratnyjulez]

The buzzards I'm talking about aren't the normal red headed "turkey buzzard" or vulture you normally associate with buzzards, but a different breed that does seem to be a problem, from what I've googled.



The gregarious black vulture roosts, feeds, and soars in groups, often mixed with turkey vultures. A carrion feeder that will bully a turkey vulture away from a carcass, it occasionally kills smaller live prey. Polytypic (3 ssp.; nominate in North America). Length 25" (64 cm); wingspan 57" (145 cm).
Identification Adult: glossy black feathers can show iridescence in the right light. Whitish inner primaries often hard to see on the folded wing. Whitish legs contrast with dark gray head color. Skin of head wrinkled; bill dark at base and tipped ivory or yellowish. Juvenile: black body and wing feathers usually duller, less iridescent. Skin of head smooth, darker black than an adult. Flight: conspicuous white or silvery patches at base of primaries that contrast with black wings, body, and tail. Whitish legs extend almost to tip of relatively short tail. Soars and glides with wings held in a slight dihedral. If seen at a distance, the quick, shallow, choppy wingbeats interspersed with glides are usually enough for an identification.
Similar Species The turkey vulture shows silvery inner secondaries and a pronounced dihedral while in flight, along with a deeper, more fluid wingbeat.
Voice Hisses when threatened.
Status and Distribution Abundant in the Southeast, expanding up the East Coast into southern New England. Less common in southern Great Plains, local in southern Arizona. Breeding: nests in a sheltered area on the ground, including abandoned buildings. Migration: sedentary, northern breeders, may migrate with turkey vultures to warmer winter territory. Vagrant: casual to California, northern New England, and southern Canada.
Population The species adapts well to human presence, feeding on roadkills and at garbage dumps.
—From the National Geographic book Complete Birds of North America, 2006
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birding/black-vulture/


A reference to the buzzards killing livestock:
Black vultures are slightly smaller than turkey vultures and have a black head, whereas the more common turkey vulture has a reddish head, he said.
What sets the two species apart most is their behavior, Gehrt said.
Turkey vultures are mild-mannered and timid, the expert explained, and tend to scavenge on dead animals and roadkill. Black vultures, on the other hand, can be aggressive and will kill living animals, such as lambs and calves on farms, and groundhogs and other wild animals.
http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/black-vulture-kills-increasing-in-ohio/9360.html

These are the vultures that have been roosting here by the hundreds, and the ones I saw circling earlier today, NOT turkey buzzards.

So I guess I may have answered my own question... either way, what's left of my flock will be on permanent lock down... I don't want to lose any more of my chickens.

Rotor

I have the same ones behind my house that sit up in the trees, this morning I found 4 of them in my yard. I’m pretty sure they want my chickens but thankfully they were in their coop. I Let my dogs out to scare them away.