Hawk Attack :(

[ScotianChick]

A hawk attacked... I was in the tub and had no idea what was going on and then I heard my husband thumping around and yelling. My RIR rooster Bill tried to fight him off but he is young and hasn't got spurs. My husband scared it off. One of my Silverlaced seems to have been the victim, her feathers are everywhere. There isn't any blood. I think two or three chickens are hiding under my woodhouse including the injured one, one of the SLWs is in the coop where she had been nesting at the time. I checked on her and she has flattened herself down as far as she can. Bill and my other RIR Alabama are hiding under the barn... Should I just leave them and let them come out in their own time? Not sure there is much I can do... crawling on my belly in the mud isn't something I'd particularly like to do and there are parts of that woodhouse I know I couldn't reach even if I did. GoGo is in the nest and I don't know what she'll do once she lays her egg... she won't be able to find anyone. What can I do to help my ladies and my brave rooster?

It's 3:09 now... it will get dark at 5:00 here. Do you think they'll come out to go sleep in the coop? We've never really had a predator problem before... I hope she's okay... the lack of blood is promising... DH thinks that he tried to pick her up, underestimated her size and tore a lot of feathers out before Bill came to the rescue.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They will probably come out eventually, especially if your out there. Might try a special treat that they like, right now they are scared to death, sorry about your loss.

 

[CMV]

They will likely come home to roost. Check the birds over carefully for hidden injuries. One swipe of those evil claws can lay a bird wide open, and chickens will hide injuries well.

Good luck.

 

[ScotianChick]

I went to the coop this evening and found everyone there. I did my best to check them over with my headlamp on. There was no blood but there were some missing feathers. They seem to be fine, a little shaken up but fine. I fluffed their back feathers up a bit because I figured that's where he grabbed them. I think they are okay

But I am going to observe them a lot tomorrow. My mother gave DH and I some excellent chicken food! All kinds of stale (not mouldy or anything just not crisp) cereal, graham crackers, raisins and cornmeal. Tomorrow they are going to be so pleased with the treats I give them

 

[Miss Lydia]

Happy to hear they all came home to roost, all but one so sorry

 

[ScotianChick]

No no, they're all there, even the one that was severely attacked. I checked her out, there's no blood to be found, she's missing feathers, seems a bit sore, that it!

I'll check on them again tomorrow! I couldn't believe it, I thought that injured one was going to die under the woodhouse but there she was sitting in the coop next to one of her buddies!

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

OMG

That is my worst nightmare!! I'm so glad to hear your chickies are okay. God Bless Bill and DH!! I have some ENORMOUS hawks in my area, I didn't let my girlies out to range today, because of the triple threat circling around my house this morning. As much as my DH will refuse, I think I do need a good rooster to protect my ladies. I have 2 pitbulls that hang out with the chickies, but honestly, they aren't as threatening as their reputation suggests.

I sure hope your SLW is okay, I have a little pullet SLW, that is my little calm sweetie. We took her to a convalescent home this past week to hang out with the residents- a 4H community project. I would be so sad if anything happened to her. Again, I'm so glad everything is okay!

 

[ScotianChick]

All seems well. They got a yummy treat for breakfast this morning and everyone seems to be fine. May need to start really looking into those chicken saddles now though since some back feathers are missing on three girls now and not just the overmated one. Seems Mr. Hawk went after two of them, thus all the feathers in the yard. My husband said when he ran out Bill was flipping out and once he saw my husband he ran to join the girls who were already hiding. Even without his spurs he managed to hold off the hawk long enough for everyone to run away and hide! Roosters definitely have their place in the yard if you're free ranging.

 

[terrilhb]

That is a happy ending. Sorry 2 got some feathers taken out. But happy everyone is safe. I have 3 roosters. 2 RIR and 1 Bantam Rosecomb. They will be 6 months on the 5th of this month. They are just getting their spurs. Can't wait till they get them. I lost 12 chickens in Oct to a dog. The roosters were to little to help. They would not come out of their coop for almost 2 weeks. I think they were all in shock. Glad everything worked out well.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My goodness I thought since there was a pile of feathers that the hawk got one, thank goodness I was wrong.....