Hawks....

[7L Farm]

Here's what our chickens see ALL day long.

I hate that sound around my house.

 

[Just Because]

I have a hawk that flies over down from the hills every morning so I just have to leave my girls away in their house in the mornings until it passes over and then make sure they are away again before it comes back. It is a magnificent bird to watch in flight though.

 

[hondo58]

I hate that sound around my house.

I know what you mean. I'm glad they make it so you know they are nearby since otherwise they are so stealthy.

 

[centrarchid]

I know what you mean. I'm glad they make it so you know they are nearby since otherwise they are so stealthy.

Hondo, your red-shouldered hawks are not a problem unless you have bantam chicks and even then probably not. The red-shouldered hawks if anything are likely protecting your chickens from red-tailed hawks. The red-shouldered may not be dominant when comes to feeding territories but when it come to nest site they will at least distract the hunting red-tails approaching their nest site that will target chickens.

 

[hondo58]

Hondo, your red-shouldered hawks are not a problem unless you have bantam chicks and even then probably not. The red-shouldered hawks if anything are likely protecting your chickens from red-tailed hawks. The red-shouldered may not be dominant when comes to feeding territories but when it come to nest site they will at least distract the hunting red-tails approaching their nest site that will target chickens.

But they are a problem since they have killed 4 chickens and attacked the one bantam we have (who managed to survive with a huge wound). We don't have any Red Tail hawks that I have ever seen. Also no owls.

 

[centrarchid]

But they are a problem since they have killed 4 chickens and attacked the one bantam we have (who managed to survive with a huge wound). We don't have any Red Tail hawks that I have ever seen. Also no owls.

Chickens = chicks, juveniles or adults? Difference is significant.


See about getting a game rooster. Your chickens are already on the upper end of what a red-shouldered might go for. The game rooster will tip balance in your favor. Get a real game rooster, not a little bantam version. The game may not be all that big but will more likely than not drive hawk off if comes to ground.

I have never been anywhere in the red-shouldered hawks range that does not also support red-tailed hawks.

 

[hondo58]

Chickens = chicks, juveniles or adults? Difference is significant.


See about getting a game rooster. Your chickens are already on the upper end of what a red-shouldered might go for. The game rooster will tip balance in your favor. Get a real game rooster, not a little bantam version. The game may not be all that big but will more likely than not drive hawk off if comes to ground.

I have never been anywhere in the red-shouldered hawks range that does not also support red-tailed hawks.

Here's our rooster. He may have saved some others from being attacked for all we know however we did lose one full size EE hen about a month ago which was surprising. The other hens were hiding in our barn and under deep cover. It took awhile to get them to come out. The rooster was going crazy. Two weeks prior to that attack the hawk was scared off while attacking our bantam who survived. Again the hens were hiding and the rooster was upset. Last spring we lost three full size hens (one EE and two Barred Rocks).

The active nest is in a tall pine tree up near the road in between our neighbor's house and our long driveway and about 50' from the coop which I had put up near the property line before I knew we had a rooster in the mix. (Thankfully we have WONDERFUL neighbors) I see the female in the nest while the male is out and about. There is another nest about 500' from that one out back by the border of the pond. I'll have to look and see if there is anything in it as I know it was active last year.

I think the EE hen may have been attacked in our driveway by the female as I saw her fly up into a tree and the dead hen below her.

​

 

[centrarchid]

I have a difficult time imagining a red-shouldered hawk taking a standard sized adult but may have happened. You situation may be unusal. The hawks likely have more than one nest near center of territory although only one used unless first clutch in one is lost early in season. Game rooster will likely be more effective against a hawk than EE. Pretty as EE is, game likely to be prettier.

 

[hondo58]

I have a difficult time imagining a red-shouldered hawk taking a standard sized adult but may have happened. You situation may be unusal. The hawks likely have more than one nest near center of territory although only one used unless first clutch in one is lost early in season. Game rooster will likely be more effective against a hawk than EE. Pretty as EE is, game likely to be prettier.

They were all killed on the ground and ripped apart, feathers everywhere. The hawk kept returning to feast on the carcass' before I got a chance to find and bury them. They were all in the woods in the underbrush and were hard to spot. The EE was the same color as the tress and the Barred Rocks were black on white. The bantam is white, she was easy to spot, and survived by scurrying under the briars making it difficult for the hawk to get in and finish her off.

 

[hearts34]

I have a pair building a nest within 200 feet of my chicken run.I let them out to free range regularly, but I am always out there with them.
So far, no attacks, but I believe it's because the hawks are pre-occupied.
They look plenty big enough to take down my buffs,austrolorps and barred rocks. I have had many tell me they are too big, but I think they just don't appreciate what a wild predator will do when it's hungry.