Hawk attack and roosters

[dekel18042]

Well the hawk was back today. I came home from school and saw my favorite hen laying on her side with her side cut open and a lot of her breast, crop and neck/face was eaten. Yet again the hawk had time to eat. So from this, my conclusion is that my roosters didn't do anything yet again. But I do know they aren't the only way to stop that I am going to make some adjustments to my run to help deter the hawk. I've heard that if you tie strings around the run and hang cd's that it will help deter the hawk because Hawks need a clear flight path to hunt.

Unfortunately in a topless run, a chicken can be trapped against the fence by a hawk. I've also been told of hawks sitting on the fence or an overhead tree and just dropping down.
I've heard my roosters sounding the warning scream and staying in the open drawing attention to themselves while the hens scrambled to safety.
There are many good chicken guarding breeds but my favorite by far is the English Shepherd because they are such versatile farm dogs. We just lost our almost 16 year old last fall and my fingers really want to make that call to line up another...........On his watch no poultry was ever lost.

 

[ChickenGuppy]

[quote name="big bouncer"

Mine killed a coyote once and ate it. They don't even let roadrunners in the yard. They kill owls and Hawks and don't let any dogs close to the fence or people. On Facebook they have a group called livestock Guardian dogs. You should join the group it is very informative and lots of people sometimes have them for sale too! I used to find Goose heads and parts of my animals all over my property. Now I can rest well at night because none of my animals get harmed ever again.

 

[ChickenGuppy]

    Unfortunately in a topless run, a chicken can be trapped against the fence by a hawk.  I've also been told of hawks sitting on the fence or an overhead tree and just dropping down.
      I've heard my roosters sounding the warning scream and staying in the open drawing attention to themselves while the hens scrambled to safety. 
      There are many good chicken guarding breeds but my favorite by far is the English Shepherd because they are such versatile farm dogs.  We just lost our almost 16 year old  last fall and my fingers really want to make that call to line up another...........On his watch no poultry was ever lost.

If you want to private message me I can send you my contact information and show you pictures of my dogs and help you learn which breed would be perfect for your family.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Thank you everyone for your responses. A dog wouldn't be possible as we don't have that type of setup. As stated above about an open run, that is exactly what I think is happening to me. It really makes me mad though that my roosters are willing to attack my dog that gets to close to them when they free range but won't attack the hawk. Deer netting might be my only option left.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

My 10 month old cockerels are still in the juvenile mentality. The older roosters alert, the cockerels run and hide with the hens. I even sat outside and watched them last week doing this very thing, so I know they are not at the rooster stage yet. We just lost a hen to a hawk back in November, so the whole flock is still spooked over that incident.

 

[big bouncer]

My 10 month old cockerels are still in the juvenile mentality.  The older roosters alert, the cockerels run and hide with the hens.  I even sat outside and watched them last week doing this very thing, so I know they are not at the rooster stage yet.  We just lost a hen to a hawk back in November, so the whole flock is still spooked over that incident. 

As soon as all the chickens learned that hawks were bad, they showed fear. The roosters make the calls and herd the hens to cover. Then the roosters stay near edge of cover and wait for hawk to come or go. Because one is huge, it must intimidate the hawks

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Quote: I have one huge RIR roo, who handles the flock. He has a younger BR rooster, who he has trained really well. The other 2 boys are juveniles, and haven't as of yet tried to assert any testosterone to challenge the big boys yet. When the 2 adult roos alert, all of the hens and juveniles still run for cover. The two cockerels will be invited for dinner soon though anyways.

 

[baskiely]

We have 29 hens, all various varieties and one rooster, Thomas. This weekend was especially tough on the kids because we had two hawk attacks that the kids witnessed. The first one we were just coming out of the house when we heard the commotion.. I ran to the noise and found a hawk on top of one of the speckled hens in a ferocious fight. My Rooster was with the flock on the other side of the property so this girl was all alone.. I charged in screaming and the hawk flew away.

Today, we were out throwing the ball and again, we heard a major commotion near the coop.. I ran to the noise and Thomas was fighting a hawk who had one of my girls pinned down. I ran in yelling and the hawk flew off into the pines..

The unfortunate part is we can't kill the hawks and need to just watch as our hens die one by one. We have lost over 6 hens in the past year to hawks and 8 to a possum which I shot and killed in the coop.. Horrible memory, nothing like a bloody snarling possum covered in blood with dead birds all around him. We never forget to lock up the coop after that night.

Yeah.. Roosters attack hawks, but its generally too late and hawks take very little risk when taking their prey.. Chickens away from the flock will be preyed upon until there are none left.

 

[big bouncer]

Yeah.. Roosters attack hawks, but its generally too late and hawks take very little risk when taking their prey.. Chickens away from the flock will be preyed upon until there are none left.

Yeah the hawks have been coming very close to our chickens and 2 month old chicks. We saw our smallest older hen running very fast. I went out and a hawk was flying low.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Early January, I was in the front of my place and I heard a lot of commotion and squawking... I came around and found my boss rooster and a large female coopers hawk tangled up against the picket fence. When the hawk saw me, she disengaged immediately and took off through the trees. The rooster was alright although from his behavior, I deduced he was not winning the fight. (He ran and hid under a bush). Nonetheless I was very pleased with him as I am sure the hawk was initially after a hen and he got in the middle of it. You could see where the battle had traveled across the yard and against the fence which the hawk seemed to be using to keep the rooster pinned. I have Black Coppers and I have found those roosters to be fairly aggressive which to me is the point of a rooster anyway. Here in Ga. in February, the hawks are very hungry about now. The ones around my place are wary. My neighbor said he witnessed one attack not 2 minutes after I had left to go inside the house. There were multiple passes through the yard while I was gone and my neighbor even said he clapped his hands to make it fly off from the rooftop. The birds were all hidden.
My dogs also have somehow become cognizant that the hawks are the enemy and I have watched them alert to the roosters call and stand facing the threat while the hens stream past him to cover. Multi species teamwork?
I have not had a fatality to a hawk in three years but I am aggressive with the counter measures. I see no point in letting a hawk sit in a tree like he is at the buffet if I know it is there. I don't let the birds out before noon unless I am there. I have a lot of shrubbery for cover. This time of year not a day goes by without them swooping through but a full grown chicken is not an easy takedown for a Coopers hawk and they don't like risk. Thankfully it seems like they do a lot more swooping than pouncing. I have not had any Red Tails drop in. (That I am aware of). That would be a different story.

It is also worth noting that a hawk will generally return to a carcass to continue feeding and sometimes even send their mate in for a bite.