Hawk attack

[BarnGoddess01]

I had my first hawk attack on Christmas Eve. My 1 ½ year old Barred Rock hen got nailed whilst dust bathing and made one HECK of a fuss. (I don’t ever need to hear that noise coming from a chicken again!!) I reacted right away, and with one slipper and one sock, I high-tailed it out the door through the patchy snow to rescue her which I did manage to do. I’ve never been so close to a Red Tailed Hawk in my life. We got lucky. I did manage to convince the hawk to give up my hen and scare it off. I cleaned Peggoty up the best I could and returned her to the coop. (And rounded up the rest of my birds too! Full lock-down in effect.) She’s torn up, bruised, and half bald but she’s determined to carry on. The first couple of nights, she couldn’t make it up to high the roost (nasty wound on one thigh) but she continued and continues to eat and drink well – and she’s laying. She’s back up to the high roost now and healing but her horrible holes and bruises still freak me out. (I had no idea chickens groom as much as they do. She grooms constantly these days. But her attitude is excellent as is her colour.) Trouble is, I haven’t been able to bring myself to let my flock of 14 outside since. I was going to open the door today and then the hawk showed up again.

 

[libertychicken]

I'm in a similar situation - lost my second one to a hawk on the 30th and haven't let the other girls out of the roofed run since. We had lost one a couple months ago and then strung fishing wire all over the top of the yard where their run/coop sits. But the second time the hawk found a big enough hole in the barricade and made it through - he actually had a tough time getting OUT of the yard when I ran at him screaming!

We've now ordered 2" netting to string ALL OVER the yard (see my BYC page to see a pic - there's a roofed run within a fenced portion of the yard). I let the girls out for a few minutes today while I stayed right there with them - but they're still a little freaked out and went back into the run pretty quickly. It's sad because we finally had some warmer sunny weather and I want them to be able to enjoy it! But I'm too scared to let them range again until we get it (more) predator proofed.

Congrats on saving your girl and glad to hear she's healing well!