Hawk attack - Im so sad!UPDATE! PIGEON CAME BACK!

[Mom 2em All]

Quote:
I just did that- in fact, I still cannot feel my fingers or toes- it is so cold out there. I used fishing line and cd's. Now, the girls are afraid to come out because of those- but I suspect it won't take them long to get used to them, and hopefully they will look up more often.

I had to do something before going to work tomorrow- at least if one of them is victim to the hawk, I know that I did something to try and protect them.


edit to add:

Yesterday, the pigeon came back!! I had assumed she was dead from the Hawk attack- which is why I didn't try to find her after I saw how whacky she was flying/fluttering away. However, she returned yesterday afternoon- missing a WHOLE BUNCH of feathers- but she flew down to eat, and warm up over her heat lamp, and is acting normal. LUCKY bird...

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'm so happy your pigeon lived and came home! I hope you don't have any more trouble.

 

[SpottedCrow]

That's awesome news!!

 

[NorthPoChickenLuv]

Here in the middle of the city (Portland Oregon) a very large hawk killed our biggest chicken- a huge cochin. Just landed on it and killed it and we scared it away so it just left her there. We have seen them around the last few days and did not think it would be able to kill a big chicken. What a nasty surprise. We are very sad, but I think the saddest thing is not being able to let the chickens have free range over the yard anymore. They are bummed that they have to stay cooped up. I will work on building a run for them, it will no doubt take a little while and be much smaller than their previous stomping ground. For now it is sadness. I must say it is a little better than an unleashed dog attacking a chicken.. that's happened to us before when the dog jumped our fence and went after poor Violet. The owner of the dog still walks around our block with her dog unleashed and uncollared. Some how that's more annoying than the hawk....

 

[pascopol]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

I never thought a hawk would come when I was standing there either. The hawk that attacked my chickens just looked at me when I yelled and screamed and waved my arms at him. He was singularly unimpressed.


My poor birds have been locked up ever since. The hawks seem very aggressive this season..... We have plenty of mce and squirrels so I am not sure what is up.


Hawks are running unchecked, since this sick society values their lives more than human life (In many cases harsher sentence for killing a hawk than a manslaughter).

They killed most of wild birds so they are looking for other pray.

Don't you believe hawks are feeding on mice and rats, that's baloney.

Mice and rats are nocturnal, during the day they hide.
Owls haunt them, but hawks are sleeping at night.

I never seen hawk catching a squirrel, there seems to be more squirrels and hawks in my area every year, but wild bird population has gone to almost zero.
Hawks killed most of them.​

 

[amazondoc]

Ummmm......

Here's info from just a few of the thousands of available pages on redtails --

"While still young and living in the nest, hawks will eat worms and beetles. They will also eat frogs, mice and snakes. As they get older, hawks prey mainly on rodents but also on insects and their larvae, fish, and larger mammals such a rabbits, hares, and squirrels. They will also eat carrion."

http://www.arcytech.org/java/population/facts_hawks.html

"The Red-tailed Hawk is carnivorous, and an opportunistic feeder. Its diet is mainly small mammals, but it also includes birds and reptiles. Prey varies with regional and seasonal availability, but usually centers on small rodents. Additional prey include rabbits, snakes, waterfowl, bats, shrews, crustaceans, insects, rodents, and fish."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_Hawk

"The Red-tailed Hawk is a most opportunistic hunter. Its diet is varied, but there is conclusive evidence now that 85 to 90 % is composed of small rodents, with rabbits, snakes and lizards included. Where there are large numbers of pheasant, these become the food of choice in spring and summer. "

http://www.desertusa.com/aug96/du_hawk.html

"Red-tailed hawks live mainly in deciduous forested areas and adjacent fields and forest openings where they hunt for a variety of prey including rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits, reptiles, amphibians, and even insects. "

http://www.wildwnc.org/education/animals/red-tailed-hawk-buteo-jamaicensis

 

[dacjohns]

Quote:

Hawks are running unchecked, since this sick society values their lives more than human life (In many cases harsher sentence for killing a hawk than a manslaughter).

They killed most of wild birds so they are looking for other pray.

Don't you believe hawks are feeding on mice and rats, that's baloney.

Mice and rats are nocturnal, during the day they hide.
Owls haunt them, but hawks are sleeping at night.

I never seen hawk catching a squirrel, there seems to be more squirrels and hawks in my area every year, but wild bird population has gone to almost zero.
Hawks killed most of them.

You wouldn't be trolling would you? This post looks like the same post you made in another thread.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

You wouldn't be trolling would you? This post looks like the same post you made in another thread.

And none of it was true then either. I vote troll​

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you look up information on red-tailed hawks, there is a lot of misinformation when it comes to chickens. It's pretty hard to find any site that will actually say they kill chickens. I found quite a few that said they don't and that farmers that think they do are, well, basically just stupid.

A lot of people, including me, have seen hawks attack their chickens. A lot of people. Didn't someone even post a youtube link to a video of some type of raptor attacking a chicken?

My thinking is that either the subject of raptors attacking chickens became taboo when the big push came to save their species, as a way to discourage people killing them, or the people giving out this information just really don't have any idea what they are talking about.

 

[swampwander]

Troll, indeed.

I am a chicken keeper with free rangers and an ecologist who deals with wildlife issues in our county. Red-tails and eagles will take chickens in a heartbeat, don't ever doubt that. Large Cooper hawks, sharp-shined hawks, perigrines and other falcons will, too, if the birds are smaller. However - pigeon looks like dove. Perfect food for all bird eating hawks and falcons. I had a Cooper go after my girls when they were no more than 4 months of age. Since then, the girls have gotten really, really big and aren't as easy looking as they were when they were younger. I have loads of hiding places for them in the yard. I still have to worry about eagles and large red-tails. However, I throw stale bread to them in the yard and this has attracted the attention of the neighborhood crow family. They tolerate NO hawks, eagles or otherwise. Seems to work so far. The crows don't pester my girls. In fact, one of my OEG objects to the crows taking the bread by chasing them off.

It sounds like you've done a lot to protect your flock and to provide them with cover. It is always a balancing act.