quail arizona
In the Brooder
- Apr 20, 2015
- 46
- 9
- 26
Could be a peregrine falcon
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We have a couple of hawks that frequently fly over our property, and sometimes actually land on the kids swing set. We have Coopers, Sharp Shinned, Broad Wing hawks and even Eagles. It seems to be the Coopers hawks that are persistant in trying to get to our hens. They swoop down at them and chase them until the hens take cover under something. I have even witnessed a hawk chasing them down, feet first and half side-ways trying to grab them under the ornamental grass.
Right now I have a person sized scarecrow with a plastic pumpkin head with sharp pointy teeth out in the yard. I move it around. So far-so good. I'm not holding my breath that it will work forever. But for now it is. My husband just bought those balloons with the huge predator eyes. We are going to try those.
Our hens aren't small. The smallest are the Dominiques. They seem to focus on them.
Two days ago, I found a 5 ft black racer snake in my nest boxes in my chicken coop. It was peeking over the partition at a BO hen that has gone broody (again..), She was sitting on an egg in the next box over. They were looking at one another, eye to eye. I grabbed the snake and pulled it out. I carried it off. I hope that it will find some mice to eat and forget about the eggs in the coop. But I'm not going kid myself. It'll be much easier to eat eggs than to chase it's meal down. We have no other openings in the coop other than the automatic hen door. I think that it got in the run and gained entrance into the coop when the door opened for the day. Now....how do you keep snakes out of your coop?
It's interesting you mention the coopers hawk, because that was the one that came really close to us in our yard with the girls out. I was told by birders that the hawk that takes chicken the most is the cooper hawk also known as the chicken hawk. I've had the redtails around but hopefully they wont get the girls.
Yes, there is always risk in keeping poultry whether free-ranged or penned. There are just too many predators from small reptilians to rodents to large wildlife and aerial predators - and that's not counting the parasites and myriad of diseases poultry get exposed to for which there are no vaccinations or "cures." Surprisingly we find aerial predator deterrents easier than ground predator deterrents. With aerials there are ways to provide many shelters and less open spaces for flying talons. The night critters like raccoons or 'possums are deterred by a very sturdy secured coop.We use single wires, spaced 12" apart in a square pattern as the cover of the run, this keeps the Red Tailed, Cooper's, and Harris hawks at bay. We also have Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles that hunt our area. We do free range the chooks but they have several areas of protection to flee to as well as being able to get back in the run if they are close.
Our mind set is that since we are free ranging our chooks, we will have a loss now and then. For us it is not a problem but more of a natural order of things situation.
I guess it depends on where you are, what species of raptors you have and how determined they are. I have lost more adult large fowl birds to hawks than any other predator. A young Cooper's hawk took out my 10 lb Wyandotte rooster with some well placed talons through the skull one Feb. a few years ago. That one was even bold enough to chase the hens through their 18"x18" pop door into the coop. Cooper's and goshawks are our main problems. A goshawk even fought it's way through some fencing 2 weeks ago to get at a few juveniles. I assume it was the same one that completely removed the tail feathers from one rooster last fall. Found that hawk on the deck stairs just waiting for a chicken to break cover. At least the yard isn't open enough for redtails or eagles to do any damage.Get bigger chickens. I've talked to someone who's Jersey Giant rooster attacked a hawk in the air. I saw the rooster and wonder if a dog would want to tangle with him; he was truly GIANT.
We have a multitude of hawks and have had two bald eagles perched in a pine behind the house. I've never lost a full sized bird to an air attack. I know that eagles could take my fat pug, so ANY chicken would be easy pickings, but I've only known people to lose banties to hawks.
One tip that I've read is that hawks are more likely to go after chickens when they are migrating in spring and fall.