Hawk attack

[Hihamburger]

Hi everyone,

I just discovered the body of my beloved chicken Ophelia, I know it was a hawk because my sister walked outside to see a mockingbird chasing it off. However, it was too late for my baby. She was a golden comet and had just turned 3 months old. Is there anyway I can discourage it from coming back? So far, she's the only loss. But I have other babies who like to wander far into the forest so I have to wait for the evening to know if it got them too.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Sorry that happened.. really. 12 week old birds need to be in covered protection. The smaller the chicken, the greater the chance of raptor attacks.

 

[Table4Six]

Do you have a secure coop you put them in at night? You need to keep them enclosed and protected until you can build a covered run for them to forage in during the day. There really isn't a way to permanently keep the hawks away now that they've found a food source they'll keep coming back 'til there's none left if your birds are not protected. So sorry for loss It's never easy to lose one of your birds.

 

[Hihamburger]

Sorry that happened.. really. 12 week old birds need to be in covered protection. The smaller the chicken, the greater the chance of raptor attacks.

Unfortunately, I'm not the one who makes the decision of free range or not. That's my dad and mom's decision. And unless I can convince them otherwise, it won't happen. To them, yeah, it's sad to lose it, but it's just a chicken, and things happen. My dad has already expressed his opinion of this when I told him once before they were too small to go outside.

 

[Hihamburger]

Do you have a secure coop you put them in at night? You need to keep them enclosed and protected until you can build a covered run for them to forage in during the day. There really isn't a way to permanently keep the hawks away now that they've found a food source they'll keep coming back 'til there's none left if your birds are not protected. So sorry for loss It's never easy to lose one of your birds.

They do have a secure coop. And that's not good that they will keep coming back. I'll let my sister know so she can keep an eye on them.

 

[Table4Six]

Even adult chickens are at risk of hawk attacks. As you learned the hawks are not unwilling to eat the chicken on the ground right where they killed it. I don't free range my chickens unless they can be supervised. At least they have a secure coop. Again so sorry you had to lose one of your babies.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There is a whole tribe of hawks called "Chicken Hawks" and these bad boys have been the bane of chicken keepers for a very long time.

A part time job to earn the cash to build a better run may help your daddy see things through your eyes.

 

[The_Silver_Warrior]

Unfortunately, I'm not the one who makes the decision of free range or not. That's my dad and mom's decision. And unless I can convince them otherwise, it won't happen. To them, yeah, it's sad to lose it, but it's just a chicken, and things happen. My dad has already expressed his opinion of this when I told him once before they were too small to go outside.

My dad is just the same way.

 

[Hihamburger]

There is a whole tribe of hawks called "Chicken Hawks" and these bad boys have been the bane of chicken keepers for a very long time.

A part time job to earn the cash to build a better run may help your daddy see things through your eyes.

Funny thing, I do have a part time job while I'm out of college for the summer, but trust me, it does no good. Not the way he is. Their lives aren't important enough I guess, like I said, he already mentioned he expected to lose a few to hawks and the like, and has no problem losing them. They are just chickens to him. Nothing more. And my mom doesn't help by having the same laissez-faire attitude. It really makes me angry. Unfortunately, I do not make enough at my job to afford a new coop and the payments I make for car insurance and other things like that. Also, an update on our other chickens: all are safe, Ophelia was the only one to be killed.

 

[centrarchid]

I am a dad, that free-ranges many of his chickens. This includes chickens far younger / smaller than your 3 month old chicks. I try to avoid free-ranging smaller birds in particular without some sort of anti-hawk measures. Cover for the young birds is a must. Another trick has been the use of fully-adult standard-sized rooster in good feather and health. Such roosters are extremely effective against Coopers Hawks, especially if the rooster has some sort of relationship with the birds he is charged to defend. Breed I use for this is the American Game which you can have only one. Cover is a must for system to be effective. Knowing species of hawk is not something to be underestimated. What species are you up against.

You could also construct some low cost chicken tractors to confined birds for most of the day. When hot like now my birds do little more than drink and stay in shade from about 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM so confining then with protection from sun can be good.

All this ignores other predator issues.