I lost 4 chickens to a Red Tailed Hawk yesterday

[davidkjh]

I'm so ticked about it too. I free range my chickens and expect to loose one from time to time. I'm ill about it being 4. How darn hungry can it be. I know they are protected but if it thinks it has found a party ground I got some lead for it.

 

[marytoast]

I am sorry you lost your chickies. I have read if you have turkies the hawks stay away. I am getting some poults next week to protect the guineas. We lost all ten guineas to owls and hawks last year.

 

[CMV]

Hawks really steam me, too. They are the most successful predator I have.

Sorry about your losses. That's a bummer.

 

[brodysam]

Do turkeys really protect against hawks? I have two poults now, they were destined for the dinner table but if they are hawk protection I may re-think it.

 

[jjthink]

Yikes, David, poor birds. Can you put the remaining birds in lock down for awhile? Or some kind of covered run.. The hawk will be back for more of this buffet.
JJ

 

[Davaroo]

Might be more than one hawk.

Time to make the call and get the ball rolling...

 

[cgmccary]

One hawk would not eat more than a chicken a day. Hawks do not kill more than they can eat like some other predators. So either you have 4 different hawks hunting chicken the same day or it is some other predator or a combination of A hawk and some other predator. Weasels, Coons, Foxes will all kill more than one bird at a time. Did you see a Red Tail Hawk actually take 4 chickens?

I don't know about Turkeys but a large brave rooster will keep a hawk away as well. I have Red-Tails all around and have never had one attack one of my chickens. I have also had a 9 lb Rooster in the run for most of that time. I observed a young Cooper's hawk try and catch my sole Bantam hen only to be chased out of the run by the big rooster.

The Red Tails around me catch squirrels; I've seen them doing this in my own yard in view of the chickens. Likewise, they catch just one squirrel, eat it and that is a meal for the day. They do not go on catching squirrels for the heck of it.

 

[speckledhen]

I agree with Chris. Seems you have several hawks or something else is getting your birds. That's too much for one hawk to even attempt to eat in a day. I have numerous hawks all around me and I credit my roosters for never having lost any to hawks.

 

[jjthink]

I was thinking you may have seen the hawk(s) but it you didn't, then you either had a bunch of hawks in one day by impressive coincidence or 4 legged diners. More likely the latter. You may be able to tell by what things looked like when you discovered the sad situation. Were your birds large birds that were eaten on site or were the birds gone and only feathers remaining? Or some other scenario.....

Any which way, lockdown.
JJ

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

We have put those easily moved spike-end posts in the pasture and run yellow "Caution" tape from the tops to discourage fliers from the inside and the outside. Don't know if it is working or the hawks just are not interested in our birds yet, but we haven't lost any. The post are easy to move when I need to move the shelters. Makes the pasture look like a crime scene though.