Alright here goes my story and a photoshoot to boot!
My 2 kids 3 and 8 got home from school and went to go out and check on the chickens.....My daughter ran in screaming and my son was scream crying. I ran out to the coop (chicken wire completely fenced in). The female red tail hawk was pulling my broody hen through the tiny chicken wire hole, well her neck and head. When she attacks it's with her feet, the hawk must have latched it's talon on her toe so she went to peck it to get it to let go, but the hawk snagged her face and broke her neck. So very sad.
We were all hysterical. I had to get it off my hen! So I grabbed a sand bucket that was on my way to the coop. and threw it.
The hawk did NOT leave, it just jumped up to the fence 3 feet above the coop. I threw things at it yelled. My husband grabbed his camera(he's a photographer for a living) and started to shoot. We all calmed down and I crawled inside the coop a few minutes later (like 3). And held my hen (brownie) she was warm, but dead. All the chicks were no where to be found. (I thought it ate them too) I picked up a wood box in the coop an out popped the chicks! They dug themselves under the box! Weird. They were 2 1/2 weeks old. The hawk was still there. And it when I got out of the coop with my 4 chicks and my hen (all bundled in my shirt). The hawk started buzzing my close. I ran inside! Well, my neighbor's 22 rang out, and it was over for the hawk. He heard the commotion and ran over. He took matters into his own hands. He said safety first. If it was buzzing me which he saw, it would go at the kids with no fear when they are playing with the chicks!
He's an old farmer and is a pretty "matter of fact!" type of guy.
Well Brownie is buried in my garden and all 4 chicks 2 roos 2 hens are doing great and have since had chicks of their own.
Here are some of the female red tail hawk.
By the way I LOVE CROWS!! They bug the heck out of hawks here and give away their location. So we can heard our chickies in. My duck Mack to! They try and get her to. She is flightless.
Here is the (well I will get kicked off for saying anything too discriptive) stupid hawk!
And here she is looking at my chicken coop with me in it.
