Free ranges,and hawks

[chickenwoods]

I've never had much problesm with hawks,but can a hawk take down a full grown hen??I have seen hawks try to attack my roo and he Shakes his feather and wings really violently and the hawk looses..Will a hen do that or will she get killed.

 

[panner123]

Depends on the type of hawk. She will try to shake free the same as the roo.

 

[MandyH]

My experience with hawks and owls eating my chickens ( which is a lot) has been if they can't pick up the whole bird, they will pull their heads off and eat that. I've found quite a few headless chickens out in the yard over the years.

 

[foxtrapper]

My observations with hawk attacks is they slam down into the prey animal, leading with their talons. The prey animal gets slammed into the ground, and skewered. When hit this way, the prey animal frequently does not survive.

Now if the hawk attempts a swoop and lift, something I see done on snakes and the like, the prey animal is much more likely to survive, especially something like a chicken. This is because the hawk does not impale the prey animal with its talons as deeply as they do when they slam the prey animal. A chicken gets a double respite owing to its mass apparently fooling the hawk about how deeply it has to place its talons.