Missing Silkie chick prompted enclosing our run.

[Justjered]

So Thanksgiving day we had a 14 week Silkie chick disappear except for a handful of feathers. I'm pretty sure a hawk or other bird grabbed it and took off.

We had our run as just a 3 foot high fence and despite having our girls out in this type of run all summer, now that the garden is done for the year and much less ground cover, we lost a chick.

Anyways, so the next day (after locking the girls all up in their coop the rest of the day), I proceeded to completely enclose their run..



The next day after it was all complete (27th) we came home and saw the following...


So we are making the assumption that this hawk is our murder... and are super thankful we had just finished our enclosed run so we didnt end up losing anymore of our silkies.

 

[cavemanrich]

Its like a parallel universe. When I first got chickens, (20 years ago) 2 silkies, one disappeared with no trace. They were in a small area, with no overhead covering. I had no Idea that there were hawks where I lived. We are city slickers, and I never seen hawks in the city flying around.(guess I just did not notice them before)
Now the hawks are a frequent visitor flying over head. They are responsible for about 8 missing pigeons this summer. No chickens lost.
WISHING YOU BEST

Join our Illinois thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/37/illinois

 

[Justjered]

Jumped on the Illinois thread.

I knew we had birds of prey but hadnt had any issues all summer... guess with food getting more scarce, migrations, etc... we just didnt win the luck lottery anymore and lost one of our babies.

Gladly we have them all enclosed and safe now. Last think I plan on doing is running a 1.5 foot strip of the fencing material from the bottom board into the run so it's protecting the run from underground in case we get any digging predators. I might also add some tighter holed wire long a 1 foot section on the bottom just to keep them safe from coons, etc from reaching in and grabbing them.

 

[Folly's place]

That's a good start, and will keep raptors out. Adding a lot of hardware cloth will help even more! Get the three or four ft. wider rolls of hardware cloth and attach it very well. Mary

 

[aart]

The next day after it was all complete (27th) we came home and saw the following...


So we are making the assumption that this hawk is our murder... and are super thankful we had just finished our enclosed run so we didnt end up losing anymore of our silkies.

Saw this same thing the day after I completed my mesh roofed run and let the birds(my first flock 3 years ago) out into it for the first time.