Lost Snowbell the Leghorn to a Hawk

[cgmccary]

Oregon Blues: On the other hand, any time you leave your chickens loose, you are taking the risk that something will come along to eat them.

Always a chance but my chances are so low that I do free range & have not lost a chicken yet. Chickens stay closer to home than my Guineas. My secret? A great dog (with now two hounds as back-up), a Jenny & 7 Toulouse Geese (for the hawks) = nothing gets my chickens while they free range. A friend up the road has lost 10 of 14 Guineas to a coyote within the last month -- her great dog is advanced in age (16 years old) & can't keep the coyote away.​

 

[b.hromada]

I'm so sorry for your loss of Snowbell.

Hawks scare me, I love them, but don't trust them either, even with my girls too. Your other girls may be a little more cautious because of the hawk, lets hope so.

 

[Me & Jack]

Oh, I'm so sorry. I know hawks gotta eat, but can't they just catch the snakes that show up in our coops -- before they get to the coop?

 

[Twiggers96]

Just curious, how old was Snowbell?

 

[K-12 Chickens]

Snowbell was about 1 and a half years old. She was a pretty spoiled hen(treats every day!)so she had a good life.

 

[Twiggers96]

Wow! So she was full grown.
I didn't think a hawk would fly off w/a full grown hen.

 

[epeloquin]

The hawk will definitely be back and the color of the chicken won't matter much. They can spot a rabbit in a bramble at 1/2mile +. We have a very healthy population of red-tailed hawks in my area too. Thanksfully I have a lot of crows near my home which keep the hawks away.

 

[RedJungleFowl]

It will be back for sure cause it knows there still more so it will come back till they all are dead last year one of my black australorp chicken was kill and after a few month it came back to kill the other one nut then the next moring my chicken came back so u sould either watch your chicken or cage them up or kill the hawk

 

[qldchook]

Hi sorry about you losing Snowbell. I am in Australia & also had a hawk attack two days ago, it targeted my cochin hen & her nine chicks.

This was the story as I related it to my family ( SKIP IF YOU WANT TO - )

First hawk attack as expected -
All chookies were out including mum & chicks. I heard her and their alarm call (the really serious one) & basically just jumped off my chair yelling like a banshee in hope of frightening whatever it was away. I didn’t even bother looking just ran down the steps and could only see a huge bunch of Priscilla’s (mums) feathers on the ground where they had been. As I got to the spot I could see Priscilla right under the pandanas but no chicks, not one to be seen or heard. I ran around like a crazy person waving my jumper in the air to hopefully put to flight hawk still around. Went back & tried to call Priscilla out but she would not move. I was kneeling down, calling for the chicks, knowing some must have survived but nothing, not a peep.

Then right next to my knee, just a few centimetres away, was a little body lying in the grass. It was Whitney and I grabbed him/her up and put him in my shirt (held up like a pocket). I then started inch by inch in the grass (thank god it was long) and found Jacob, Nelli, Hope & Presley. Just little tiny things lying flat and completely silent. I searched for another 5 minutes or so and could find no more & Priscilla still was not moving. I took the 5 I had, back to their sleeping box and put them on the straw, they were barely standing and VERY quiet. I then went back and kept searching, I finally saw Evie come out next to Priscilla so was only missing Portia and my “special needs” Penny. I found Penny about 1 mtr away lying like she was dead so grabbed her & went back to try & get Priscilla & Evie.

I had to crawl under the pandanas, scratched to bits, with Penny in one hand and I found Portia on the way! Eventually got mum & Evie & put EVERYONE together in their pen, they are still hiding in nesting box. I tried to check Priscilla for wounds but will give her a more thorough look later. She is an incredible hen, how she managed to save all 9 chicks, I will never know. It has been at least an hour since the attack and they are not moving out of their sleeping box, obviously very traumatised so I hope they all survive the shock.

I quickly rounded up all other adults, Ollie, Prue, Rosie, Alice, Integra and Emily and put them away as well. I am sure we will not be so lucky the next time but they are obviously pretty smart little chicks!


So back again.. all mine survived and I have since spoken to some breeders here. They reccommend hanging from trees or putting on really high bamboo sticks, fake hawks that you can buy for this reason. They said hawks are territorial and will not hunt in another hawks area? I am going to try this as my chooks would go mental if they could not free range, they are in a big pen but love being out. Snakes are a much more common problem for me. Below is a picture I posted on another thread with one of 18 pythons, I caught and removed this season. This shows my dad measuring her before release. Sorry for rambling.