Amazing photo--what a gorgeous eagle! And yes, this makes me glad (again) that my run is covered! Good thing yours was, otherwise you'd definitely have less chickens right now.
The thing with eagles is, you don't see much feathers...just one less chicken at head count because they can carry them away. I let my chickens out a few days ago and they came tearing back to the spruce trees behind the coop. I went to see what scared them and an eagle was on the ground (probably this one). It flew right off. They are actually pretty shy. I did a head count and was 2 short, but they showed up in a few hours. One hen lost a few feathers.
It must have missed.
I also had a hawk get caught in the netteng briefly. The bright side is we don't have much in the way of small predators...no raccoons, possums, snakes, rats, foxes, etc. Some people let their rabbits roam and they do quite well...sometimes too well. Of course there is always the stray dog. They don't last too long around here.
Oh WOW. If I had an eagle that big roaming by my house I'd have a few less chickens. I have a hawk about half that size and when he tries to get them, he has to beat himself away because my roos all jump on him. He hasn't been back in a while, but did manage two hens before the roos decided they were bigger and could get him back...
Not that eagle. Again, WOW. He's beautiful. Good thing that run is covered.
Beautiful photo! I also have my coop covered. My husband didn't think we really needed it at first, then I pointed out the huge hawks that fly over. Well, sure enough, one day my neighbor comes up to us and says, I heard your chickens making all sorts of noises, went out to see what was us, and there was a hawk stuck in the top of your covering. Now wait...aren't they supposed to have better eye sight than that?
We're thinking he was too hungry to even see anything but chicken!
My neighbor said his wing span was huge. My poor babies...scared them pretty good I guess.