- Aug 20, 2013
- 792
- 31
- 103
Oh..I'm so sorry for you all's losses...it always seems to be the favvored ones.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
It probably took your favorite because she was the lead hen. A lot of times, they will also try to protect the rest of the flock. So sorry for your loss.I appreciate everyone's personal stories of pet loss and hawk deterrent methods. I am still so sad after losing our favorite (by a long shot) hen a few days ago to a red-tailed hawk. I have read this entire thread (took me three days!) and others and have done a lot of research since then. Our hen was black and almost our biggest hen; an Australorp. She was the wisest one, the matriarch, who usually alerted others to hawks, so I was ignorant thinking she wouldn't be the one to be killed. Our rooster (her son) will be a year old at the end of April. He is extremely vigilant. Unfortunately, when I ran to the commotion, he was hiding in the corner with everyone else, except Mabel. I am sooo sad still. I wish I could have saved her, and I wish Ernest had fought the hawk off.
Last year, we lost a smaller hen to a falcon. That's when we got into roosters, who I have since learned are very valuable. Still, it's hard to find a rooster who will be aggressive towards hawks but not towards you! Anyhow, I just wanted to add my story to the others. We live in western Oregon and it really seems that this winter there is a huge concentration of avian predators. In four days, we had "the" red-tailed hawk, then a falcon of some sort, then a bald eagle, then a peregine falcon! We had been having a lot of close calls, but they have A LOT of cover, and once I even found a hen hiding in a rhody bush and the rooster circling it with a hawk in the branches just above, so it seemed like the girls were in good hands and Ernest was earning his keep and on a steep learning curve. Well, clearly I was asking for too much and the hawk won one. (But of all 13 birds, why did it have to be HER?!)
So, I think I will try putting out some of those whirly gigs, and raising a pair of guinea fowl. Possibly a turkey but I am concerned that a turkey tom may harm my girlies. I am also thinking of raising a german shepherd, but have to get dh on board first. Also, with 11 girls now and more under a broody, I'm thinking of adding another rooster. We'll see. I sympathize with everyone who struggles with the fine line of giving your birds a quality of life free ranging and keeping them safe. Very sad!! Thanks everyone for the stories, they do help. (And I'm jealous of everyone that has crows, because for some reason we do not!)
CharlieD has a good point. Hawk courtship involves ritual feeding behavior. Think of it like a courting human couple going out for dinner and a movie. The she hawk uses this time to judge the chick rearing potential of the male. This is especially true with reed tail hawks. Even though he may be only half the size of his lady friend, male hawks do most of the hunting while his mate concentrates on incubation and brooding. NOW is the prime time for hawk mating and coupling, and with the extreme cold weather hawks have been pushed further South than usual. Keep your eyes peeled.Hawks migrate and breed at [this] ....times of the year. Believe me, breeding times are demanding on these hawks and that is when we lost most of our birds to hawks. Watch and learn the habits of the hawks in your area and take measures to keep them off balance. Believe me, they choose our birds because it is easy for them and the harder we make it, the less we will have to deal with them.