do hawks REALLY eat grown chickens?

[blueheaven]

ok - so do hawks really eat full grown chickens right out of their yard?

when do they hunt?

i have never seen one around my property...

i can see them getting chicks or even few month old chicks...but standard chickens...mature ones?

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I know they can but knock on wood all I have ever lost to a hawk was my 12-week-old one-eyed cross beaked rooster from MM hatchery. I saw the hawk swoop into the barn and take it or I wouldn't have known where it went to.

 

[Foxhound lady]

I dont know about actually eating them but I've had one attack one of the girls (to bad he couldnt pick her up).

Happened around 10:30 in the am and DH saw the whole thing.

 

[cw]

yes they will, there is someone posting pics of a hen with the hide ton off her back from a hawk lucky she still has that chicken, and yes they are in indiana

 

[B. Saffles Farms]

They sure can. They usually hunt during the day. Ive seen them get full grown standard size birds before.

 

[blueheaven]

wow!
it just seems like hawks are the same size as chickens and they couldn't carry anything that big!

well, i have a chicken tractor, but they will free range during the day - so guess i will have to keep an eye on them!

thanks for the helpful info!

 

[kees]

A hawk took my daughter's Silkie yesterday!

Suzy

 

[Henrietta23]

Two weeks ago a red tailed hawk tried to grab one of my full grown Red Stars. She managed to squeeze behind the wood pile and all the hawk got was feathers. The hawk only flew off when my son happened to go out to play and scared it off. He saw the chicken make a break for it and hide under our side steps. Poor Henrietta looks like a Turken now, but her feathers are coming back in slowly. The hawk did not give up, even after I locked all the birds into their coop. I saw it sitting in the nextdoor neighbors' tree for a while. It flew down into the woods behind the coop and stuck around for hours. The birds have been kept locked up when we're not outside since that day. They're not happy. But I'm glad I decided to do that because today, more than two weeks later, I watched a hawk swoop down from a tree across the street into the maple in my front yard. It's HUGE! I'm sure it's just waiting for me to let down my guard. This is the first time we've had hawk trouble in the more than 10 years we've had chickens. I have to wonder why. This is the first year we've had a rooster. This is the first time we've had ducks. And this is the first year I've had light colored birds. We also have more birds than we've ever had before. Either visually or audibly, we're more noticeable than we were.

 

[Faverolle]

Quote:
They are very strong for their size but can usually only carry very small chickens. They will however kill the bird and eat it right on the spot. I have upwards of 50 pictures of small hawks on large chickens that they killed and were eating right on the spot.

 

[mrszlopez]

its definately possible for a hawk to snatch a full grown chicken. it has happened to my family several times. i live in NJ & around here, you can see them circling in the sky trying to find the right time to swoop down. we usually see them in the morning or afternoon. it is a very scary & emotional thing to deal with.