Well now those who do not believe in superstitions take note of this one.... I got on here the other day and gave advice about hawks saying I had not lost one in a couple of years.... Friday evening, I go out after work and see a female coopers hawk flying up from the ground near my shop. I know what that means. And there is a beautiful hen. Dead. Not eaten at all. The bird was just dead. It's neck was slightly torn up... otherwise no visible damage. It had bled out. The rest of the chickens were in a panic. I got them in.
I moved the carcass to a better spot for an ambush. l set up about 150 feet away under my back porch and waited. I have learned this much, they will come back. And I knew the killer was very hungry. It is a hungry hawk that kills a chicken and I knew from the carcass that this bird had not had a chance to feed. Sure enough, after about an hour and a half I saw it come up from low down, into a tree overlooking the scene. I waited. It was very cautious. It went behind the shop, out of sight. I waited. I thought maybe it had left because a squirrel was eating the chicken feed near the body. Finally just as it was getting dark, it appeared on the fence. Down onto the ground... it moved very low to the ground. Like a vampire. I waited til it was right up to the carcass and tucking in....
Later I was watching the attack on my surveillance cameras. The picture was not very good because of the distance but I could see enough to learn that the hawk behaved very differently than I thought it would.
It seemed like it swooped through the yard three or four times, driving the chickens back and forth. I saw it's shadow once flying left to right...The chickens had plenty of opportunity to escape, but, being chickens, they are not that smart. The chickens were in a panic but they kept running across the open areas in response to the hawk swooping. Finally the hawk got the victim cornered against the building. It was on the roof, looking down at the hen. The poor hen was isolated. The roosters were with larger groups of hens on the other side of the yard, The hawk then flew down off the roof and up again three or four times until it battened on to the hen. The hawk was actually smaller than the hen. Alot of flapping by the hawk and the hen.... But it killed the hen within 5 minutes once it was fastened on. You could see it flapping, then finally it was still. Then I saw myself coming out the back door like a doofus, frightening off the killer.
after I saw this bird in operation on the video, I realized it really knew what it was doing. and would have been back. It made me think about the cover I provide for my chickens. Obviously the birds had a couple of minutes to have gotten away, but they just kept going back and forth between the shrubs and the building. I really don't know how to defend against something like that.
*Edited by staff*
I moved the carcass to a better spot for an ambush. l set up about 150 feet away under my back porch and waited. I have learned this much, they will come back. And I knew the killer was very hungry. It is a hungry hawk that kills a chicken and I knew from the carcass that this bird had not had a chance to feed. Sure enough, after about an hour and a half I saw it come up from low down, into a tree overlooking the scene. I waited. It was very cautious. It went behind the shop, out of sight. I waited. I thought maybe it had left because a squirrel was eating the chicken feed near the body. Finally just as it was getting dark, it appeared on the fence. Down onto the ground... it moved very low to the ground. Like a vampire. I waited til it was right up to the carcass and tucking in....
Later I was watching the attack on my surveillance cameras. The picture was not very good because of the distance but I could see enough to learn that the hawk behaved very differently than I thought it would.
It seemed like it swooped through the yard three or four times, driving the chickens back and forth. I saw it's shadow once flying left to right...The chickens had plenty of opportunity to escape, but, being chickens, they are not that smart. The chickens were in a panic but they kept running across the open areas in response to the hawk swooping. Finally the hawk got the victim cornered against the building. It was on the roof, looking down at the hen. The poor hen was isolated. The roosters were with larger groups of hens on the other side of the yard, The hawk then flew down off the roof and up again three or four times until it battened on to the hen. The hawk was actually smaller than the hen. Alot of flapping by the hawk and the hen.... But it killed the hen within 5 minutes once it was fastened on. You could see it flapping, then finally it was still. Then I saw myself coming out the back door like a doofus, frightening off the killer.
after I saw this bird in operation on the video, I realized it really knew what it was doing. and would have been back. It made me think about the cover I provide for my chickens. Obviously the birds had a couple of minutes to have gotten away, but they just kept going back and forth between the shrubs and the building. I really don't know how to defend against something like that.
*Edited by staff*
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