Hawk attack (graphic)

[Coralietg]

It's been a long time since we had a loss. I came out to throw some kitchen scraps, see a hawk fly off and land in a tree. With around 50 chickens outside didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what he was up to.






The head seemed to be hollowed out? I think it was starting on the crop when I disturbed it. 4 roosters, and all hiding in the coop!

Poor lovely Brahma. Is this likely to be a recurring problem? This is the first (or possibly second) hawk attack in nearly 6 years of having chickens.

 

[maxsgoldens]

It would have been going for the Breast muscle, not the crop

 

[Coralietg]

It would have been going for the Breast muscle, not the crop

Gotcha, makes sense. I saw the busted open crop and just assumed.

 

[maxsgoldens]

Some of the common misconceptions when it comes to hawk attacks are that they eat the crop, carry the bird away, decapitate and eat the head, when in reality hawks do none of these things, or at least very rarely. It will be a recurring thing. You will need to put netting over your pen

 

[Coralietg]

The pen is hardware cloth. They free range during the day on a 1/4 acre of pine trees. Losses are inevitable, just little experience with hawks.