Hawks, Netting, Miracles, and the Missing.

[anderstr196]

He's doing soooo much better and back to chicken shenanigans with his brothers and sisters today!

View attachment 1759718

So happy to hear and see how well he is doing!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Wow!! Lucky little chick!

 

[m16ty]

Buzzards, hawks, and pretty much any other bird where there isn't a hunting season on, are federally protected by the Migratory Bird Act.

We've also had a problem in this area with the black headed Buzzards killing live animals. The State of TN has pretty much said they will turn a blind eye to buzzard killing, but you can still be charged by a federal wildlife officer if caught.

Just practice the 3-S. Shoot, shovel, and shut up.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Apparently the black buzzard, or black vulture, is getting in on this livestock-killing action as well, since about 2016 in the MO Ozarks. They seem to go after newborn calves in particular, an especially expensive loss for a rancher, considering an adult bull can bring upwards of $2,500. But readers are cautioned that the bird is protected and may only be shot by hunters holding a permit. Anyone wanting more info is urged to contact the Mo Wildlife Conservation Dept. wildlife biologist.

Source: https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/a-...ltures-attack-on-cattle-farmers-in-the-ozarks

 

[starri33]

I think the hawks here are smart or just extremely tenacious because I've seen one down the road perching on top of a fake owl and the crisscrossed twine doesn't seem to faze them. I'm going to figure something out though...this was the 3rd failed attempt a hawk has made on my flock and I thought for sure it had succeeded this time.
I think hawks are beautiful creatures and I know they're just doing what nature intended but I'm not raising chickens to feed them.

Bird netting, I have it over my runs and it is 7 ft by 100 roll I found at lowes..

 

[archeryrob]

People used to string 50# mono over their runs years back and hawks would dive into it and break their wings or get in and couldn't get out. Then they mercy killed them and made the 3's easier as no report of guns was seen.That was back when I was a kid and people didn't have or know the Fed's where watching.

Ours is covered in chicken wire and they wife was outside and saw a redtail try once and bounced off of it. He never tried again as he learned that there is an invisible ceiling over the chickens.

 

[anderstr196]

Apparently the black buzzard, or black vulture, is getting in on this livestock-killing action as well, since about 2016 in the MO Ozarks. They seem to go after newborn calves in particular, an especially expensive loss for a rancher, considering an adult bull can bring upwards of $2,500. But readers are cautioned that the bird is protected and may only be shot by hunters holding a permit. Anyone wanting more info is urged to contact the Mo Wildlife Conservation Dept. wildlife biologist.

Source: https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/a-...ltures-attack-on-cattle-farmers-in-the-ozarks

Ugh... There are so many black vultures that fly over my yard every day, along with the turkey vultures. I read up on them and it said it was rare that the black ones would go for a living animal and next to never for the turkey vulture. I have the bird net over my bantams run but my standards have free range. I have a little over 20 acres of mainly wooded area for them to forage in. Now I’m rethinking the free ranging. Makes me wonder what has changed in the environment that the black ones are going for live animals and something as big as a calf.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Ugh... There are so many black vultures that fly over my yard every day, along with the turkey vultures. I read up on them and it said it was rare that the black ones would go for a living animal and next to never for the turkey vulture. I have the bird net over my bantams run but my standards have free range. I have a little over 20 acres of mainly wooded area for them to forage in. Now I’m rethinking the free ranging. Makes me wonder what has changed in the environment that the black ones are going for live animals and something as big as a calf.

Everyone calls them buzzards here but I believe they're turkey vultures. They're all black but huge! They're everywhere but all I ever see them eat is roadkill. I'm really shocked by this new information about them killing baby cows too.
Mine are all cooped up in the smaller run right now with only a couple hours of supervised free range time until I get this all finished. lol, The chickens are not amused.

 

[m16ty]

Yes, there are 2 different kinds of buzzards. You have the turkey buzzard which is good to have around and cleans up dead animals, they won't bother anything unless they are dead. Then you have what we call locally a black buzzard (I don't know what the proper name is). They are solid black and most have white tips on their wings, they will kill live animals.

The black buzzards aren't native to our area and started getting really bad about 10 or so years ago. These are the ones that need to be killed. They actually hurt the beneficial turkey buzzard population, because they will come in droves and run the turkey buzzards off of a dead animal. Tennessee wants them gone, but they have no control over the federal Migratory Bird Act, which makes it illegal to kill them.

 

[anderstr196]

Yes, there are 2 different kinds of buzzards. You have the turkey buzzard which is good to have around and cleans up dead animals, they won't bother anything unless they are dead. Then you have what we call locally a black buzzard (I don't know what the proper name is). They are solid black and most have white tips on their wings, they will kill live animals.

The black buzzards aren't native to our area and started getting really bad about 10 or so years ago. These are the ones that need to be killed. They actually hurt the beneficial turkey buzzard population, because they will come in droves and run the turkey buzzards off of a dead animal. Tennessee wants them gone, but they have no control over the federal Migratory Bird Act, which makes it illegal to kill them.

I’m new here in NW Alabama, but it is terrible here with the black ones. When it was still chilly in the morning they would roost in the bare trees with their wings spread. It was so creepy, there was at least 30 in the trees. I don’t see as many turkey vultures this year as I did last year. Now that I know the black ones will attack I will upgrade my defenses!