Do you think it is a Hawk?

chickndoglover

In the Brooder
10 Years
Mar 10, 2009
73
8
41
Victoria, BC Canada
I have been trying to figure out which predator has killed 2 of my birds, I live in BC on Vancouver Island, my birds have been free ranging for 4 years, they have lots of cover and since I put up the electric fence the mink and coons have not been in. My rooster John Wayne didn;t come into the coop last night and I found a small (handful) of feathers at the bottom of the yard. No trail or sign of a fight or struggle, he was not a big rooster or a banty. So today when I drove up just at dusk I see a body in my yard and one of my light brahma hens is dead and has a bit of meat missing around her wing/chest area. In the past I have seen the Ravens come down and rip apart one of my hens but she had died of a sudden heart attack, they didnt kill her. Does this sound like a hawk, I am just wondering if a hawk could have flown away with the rooster, and obviously the hen was too heavy. So now everyone will have to be on lockdown until I can figure out how to make them safe. I do have owl here but they are being killed in the daylight as much as I can tell or just before sunset.
 
Sounds like a hawk. They have only once tried carrying one of oegb away. Thankfully I was there to get the hawk to let her go. The dumb hawk in my area has killed at least 2 dozen of my birds. Now I rarely let my chickens out. Between the dog and the hawk I have lost too many birds. One thing I can tell you that happens to some extent is to only let your birds out in the afternoon. The hawk around here only kills mine around 10 to 1. Also the hawk will get used to a schedule you have with your chickens. Also my birds are kept right in front of a bunch of woods so it makes it easy for the hawk to get them.
 
I read as much as I could about the hawks around here last night. I am just surprised that they could lift my rooster. But the condition of the hen makes me pretty sure it is a hawk. I left them all locked in the pens today and I have some very mad chickens and especially the turkey hen she is stressed out knowing something is different, I know they wont take her but she needs to be with the hens instead of wandering around by herself. I am just sick about this, from the beginning when I got chickens I have encountered one predator after another and spent so much time and money trying to keep them safe and still give them freedom to run. Now I feel that the enjoyment has turned into an obsession to keep them safe. I should have never gotten farm animals I cant keep them safe like I can my dogs and other pets.
 
It may very well be a hawk, but owls if hungry enough will kill during the day. Daybreak and dusk are very common hunting times for owls.
 

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