Hawk eyeing my chicks again ...

[Pinky]

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Yes, they will go after full grown chickens. Most predators are opportunistic. If the predator had the choice of a young prey item over an adult, most will choose the young. Adult prey is more risky but if it's the only thing around, it is not out of the question. Like everyone else said, if you free range provide plenty of cover.

 

[gaillardia]

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And does this same logic apply to victims of heinous crimes? If someone's home is burglarized, they should have taken better steps to prevent it......If someone's car is stolen, they should have tried harder to prevent it.....what's wrong with this picture? I have the "right" to leave my wallet lying on the doorstep if I so desire, and no one has the "right" to steal it. I don't try to tempt criminals, but I sure ain't gonna accept that it was my fault if some predatory fool decides to break into my house. Funny thing is, defending one's home against intruders is justifiable, while defending one's flock of lowly chickens is not.

And if the hawk loses the fight with the chicken, whose fault is that? Where do condemned chickens go? Chik-a-traz?

Are you seriously comparing a hawk, a part of nature and doing what it must do to feed itself and chicks, to a criminal? Hawks don't have grocery stores or social services to fall back on when time are tough. Nor do they have the option of feeding on a veggie or two; they are obligate carnivores. Chickens, when allowed to freerange, are part of nature and may be preyed upon. I am thankful that our government protects the wildlife that make our country so beautiful, and though I have lost a few of my beloved hens, I would never consider the natural act of a hunting raptor as a "heinous crime".

 

[chickortreat]

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Uh, no. I was addressing the absurd idea that if someone loses a chicken to a predator, they are to blame and not the predator.

Last night my wife met some folks who had FIVE of their Nubians shot on their own property. The best they can hope for is to pry their local LEOs out of the coffee shop long enough to find out who did it. Shooting five of a man's goats, that's bad. But killing a hawk, gosh, that's federal. No, that's STUPID!

At one time in this country, when men were men and freedom reigned, you could blow a man out of the saddle if he stole your horse. That's right, horse theft was an offense you DIED for. If you didn't kill him, the law would hang him. Fast forward to modern, enlightened America, where the great-great-grandchildren of those who killed horse thieves run out and shoo hawks away from their chickens, because somebody somewhere decided they don't have the right to protect their livestock. Reckon how many signatures it would take to petition for the "unprotection" of birds of prey? And who must we beg for this right?

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

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Yes!!! It does work.

I used the holographic CD's in my silkies run but we haven't seen any hawks land anywhere near since I put them up a few weeks ago.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

This thread is moving toward being locked. Please don't make this political. I have very strong feelings about the subject as well, but keep them in PM's for the OP's sake.