Hawk tried to get my chicks!

[Vickilynn45]

I am new to chickens. I have a temporary chicken run which is right next to my dog yard. we have 19 dogs and I felt safe that nothing would venture near them with all those yappy dogs. The other day 2 foxes came close but wouldn't go near the chickens because of the dogs. We have lots of hawks out here in the country. While I was in the yard a red tailed hawk came right down in the middle of all my protection and snatched on of my 4 week old chicks. I was shocked and saddened my poor little girl was gone. I imagine she died a horrible death. I used to love watching the hawks fly around. There used to be an albino red tailed hawk in my area. It was there for several years. until the local newspaper had an article on the Elusive White hawk of Stockton NY. Not long after that it was gone. probably on some assholes mantle piece . It was such a joy to watch that hawk. Now that I have chickens ,I still love seeing the hawks but I have a new respect for how deadly they can be. They are brave and bold because of their speed and accuracy . They give the real meaning to " hit & run ". I am ordering aviary netting to cover EVERYTHING before I put my girls out again..........Hawks are deadly.

Oh how sad that you lost your little chick. I took my almost two week old chicks out for the second time today in our back yard in town, but I worry and stress the whole time. I can't get a coop and run built fast enough. My husband doesn't think we need protection on the top of our run, but I don't doubt for a minute that we do.

 

[BeulahBreezes]

Yikes!....I just started a thread asking the community here if it is too cold to put my 5 week old RIR's outside yet.....now I'm sort of not looking forward to putting my babe's outside afterall! Too many predator for sure! ~Beulah