I guess the girls will be staying in their run for awhile...

[bobbi-j]

We have a little lake at the end of our pasture that froze out this winter. That means lots of dead fish that are attracting Bald Eagles. There were 11 of them in two trees yesterday! That would be great if they stayed by the water. But I've also seen them fly over the barn, chicken coop and our house. I'm thinking the chickens will stay in their run until the eagles find somewhere else to feed. They're beautiful birds, but they don't need to be feeding on my chickens.

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Watch out- ponds can also attract raccoons looking for a seafood dinner

 

[GarlicEater]

I'd worry about coons before I'd worry about eagles. Eagles are BIG and thus easy for a chicken to see coming in, plus they're fish-eaters and will stick to the fairly recently died dead fish and fish for their own too. Coons will eat everything and are active at night too.

 

[brookecoast]

I just had a bald eagle attack one of my duckies this week, he got her good, we had to put her down. so be wary like any bird of prey, if they see an oppurtunity they will go for it.

 

[bobbi-j]

Oh, we have coons, too. And fox, coyotes, possums, skunks... We live on a farm with a huge grove, our little lake, a big slough, and lots of grassland and fields. Wildlife is abundant here. Raccoons don't show up very often because of the dog, I assume, and there is plenty of space for them so they don't need to be near our buildings. The ones who wander into the building site die. The hens are locked in their coop at night so I'm not too worried about that. It was awesome watching the eagles fly overhead, I just don't want to tempt them.

 

[bobbi-j]

Definitely going to keep them locked up. I just watched an eagle scatter a flock of Canada Geese that were sitting out in the field not too far from the coop. The geese were all minding their own business, making happy honking noises, and not bothered at all by my presence. All of a sudden they were sounding alarmed and scattering and the next thing I knew, an eagle came right over the treetops and skimmed along the ground till they all flew away. Then he just lifted and kept on soaring like, "OK, just checking!" A beautiful sight and a happy ending since everyone got to live.