Ferruginous Hawk

[Pinky]

If you lived closer I'd let you borrow my sexlink hen.She keeps my flock safe and in order,even the roos.She's chased many cats from the flock and a large dog from her chicks.

I was always told that if a hawk or other raptor sticks around your flock for easy dinner,then keep them in the coop for about a week.If the hawks see no prey,they will look elsewhere and move on.
I also have an adult turkey that watches for danger.One time we had a great horned owl that thought he was going to have a late night chicken sandwich.The chickens were calling like crazy and the owl still didn't leave,he was perched on the fence post no more than 5 feet from my house.My turkey(a hen) came out of the coop ,fluffed her feathers,raised her tail and launched herself at the fence(She couldn't fly too well).When she hit the fence the owl nearly fell and took off really fast.That owl never came back(and I hope it doesn't).

 

[Farmer John]

Thanks again guys.
Calls will be made and the birds will be staying in tomorrow.
I'll continue to keep everyone posted.
Farmer John

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Sorry about your Roo.

 

[Farmer John]

Found another dead barred rock this morning.. looked like it was either trying to escape under, or was stashed under/around a wood pile.

that's 2 dead BR hens, and one dead BR rooster.. all on thanksgiving. I have a flock of around 30 hens and obviously this lousy hawks got a taste for barred rocks. Everyone is in their coop today. I'm going to attempt to get in touch with Fish and Game and see if anything can be done about this. ie - i want a permit to blast the thing.

 

[GopherBoyFarms]

Guess this thread awnsered some of my questions....we lost our first chicken to a hawk thanksgiving morning. So sad, our little one (9 yrs old) came running in the house crying..."Mamma one of the chickens is dead". Asked him to calm down, tell me what happened......he SAW the hawk kill her. It was a little WCBpolish, one of 4 we have. When Coltin went out back the hawk was standing on her, tearing at her with its sharp talons, the hawk (if thats what it was) was 2xs the sizr of Nikki Roo who is knee high ....huge rooster. So i am wondering if it was something else bigger then a hawk. Our back yard is almost fully sheilded by tall pine trees, but not enough. I am worried the thing will come back since it didnt get to finish the meal. the flock is out right now and i keep going out and counting heads. How long do we have to fear it coming back? And also....if my son was to kick the hawk off the chicken...as a natural reaction to protect his pets....would that be "wrong"?


thanks

 

[halo]

I love raptors. I think they are the most magnificent birds. I also know they just love chickens. I have one very large run that is covered with bird netting, which is cheap, and havent had a single problem. I have a large fenced in area in my back yard where they can free range, but only in the afternoons when I can sit out with them.

On a totally different tack, I work on a 200 acre farm. We have a huge live oak tree by a pond right outside my office window. It has become the roosting place for a pair of bald eagles. We also have hundreds and hundreds of cattle egrets here right now, which the bald eagles feed off of. We were lucky enough today to be able to watch the bald eagle chasing one of those egrets round and round in the sky until he caught it. Just spectacular.

Im sorry you lost your barred rocks, I know how frustrating that must be for you, but the hawk is only doing what is natural. If you lock up the food source for a while, they will have to find another source of food.

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Quote:
Tiff I don't think he would get into trouble per say but that hawk could attack him so I would let him know that he would be in danger kicking that hawk. And it sounds to me like it could of been an imature bald egale you might want to look them up.

I am so sorry that he had to see that Tiff. It is hard to deal with something like this as an adult.

Sorry about your new loss Farmer.

On a Raptor note, I live next door to a Raptor rescue and though I have great respect for these birds, I sure am not happy that the people who run this rescue turns them loose into my back yard instead of on federal or state land like they are suppose to. I really feel for anyone who has to deal with these birds, I had to litter train my chihuahua's because they started turning them loose in the back yard. And I sure don't want my dogs to be bird meat. I can not enjoy the 5 1/2 acres of land I am on because these people break the law every time they turn around and get away with it. He is retired DNR so he is in the good old boy system.

Good luck with your battle I sure hope none of you have any more attacks.

 

[nnbreeder]

Good 'ol boy or not, video proof of wrongdoing can get his permits jerked in a heartbeat. Specially if it's a news crew doing the asking to officials.

 

[Reinbeau]

We have hawks around all the time, red tails nest in the pines behind my house. Yesterday two were sitting on the coop, staring at the girls they couldn't get to - their pen is covered with chicken wire. The only way we can let them free range is if we're in the yard with them. It's the way it is - either you protect them or you will lose them.

 

[Farmer John]

Quote:
It's the way it was yesterday. I've had zero hawk issues in over a year prior to that. What changed is this big bad @$$ hawk showed up in town.

We'll see how things go.

FJ