My first hawk attack today and dealing with the guilt....

[Pip4Chirp]

Wow....my large hens are twice their size! I guess i was thinking they needed to be able to carry the kill off. I have had my chickens for over two years.... no problems.... Monday, i had a weird feeling about hawks...the trees looked bare? i don't know....i got on line BYC for some information....decided i better do something...put it off.... next day....a hawk is sitting on the ground inside the pen plucking the feathers off my dead chick, as the other chickens are huddled in a corner. He didn't get the body...i got out there in time...so no pay off.... kinda. I'm getting netting today after work. No more freedom unless i'm right there on top of them Thanks for getting back to me so fast!

That's amazing that your girls went two years with no predator problems!! Then - wham, out of nowhere - that seems so unfair. I was feeling so confident that I was trying to convince DH that we could let the chickens run around the yard while we were gone. Going to have to find something for them to do in their run now that they're locked up.

 

[Pip4Chirp]

I do think fall is a more active time for all species due to the up coming cold and lack of food that comes with it. I am keeping mine locked up as I see hardly any other food sources around this time of year for the hawks..like birds in nest and small critters running around. They are all starting to go underground and migrate to warmer climate. Just my opinion though!

You're totally right. We've had squirrels in the run lately whenever the door was open, eating up all the food, and we never had squirrels in there over the summer. And before the hawk incident, my daughter saw a vole in the run - in broad daylight! Everybody's hungry I guess.

 

[KatherineNaomi]

I'm sorry to hear about the hawk attack but so glad your hen is recovering. We just got a zone variance to have chickens in our village (getting them in the spring) and we aren't allowed to free range. We're planning on using one of these. Maybe this would be an option for you?
http://geodesicchickencoop.com/coop/purchasecoop.htm#13coop

 

[deacons]

And before the hawk incident, my daughter saw a vole in the run - in broad daylight! Everybody's hungry I guess.

Your chickens will turn into the predators if the little voles and mice keep coming around!

 

[Pip4Chirp]

Your chickens will turn into the predators if the little voles and mice keep coming around!

Have to share my pic with you of my ferocious predators. Chirp caught a baby snake a few weeks ago. Here's hoping they get the voles, too! (Funny how it doesn't bother me when my chickens are the hunters!)

 

[leithsloft]

I'm sorry to hear about the hawk attack but so glad your hen is recovering. We just got a zone variance to have chickens in our village (getting them in the spring) and we aren't allowed to free range. We're planning on using one of these. Maybe this would be an option for you?
http://geodesicchickencoop.com/coop/purchasecoop.htm#13coop

I do have a chicken tractor and they were back in it today. They weren't happy and wanted out...spoiled. I do like this set up on this one and it looks easier to move than mine. Thank you for sharing!

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm sorry to hear about the hawk attack but so glad your hen is recovering. We just got a zone variance to have chickens in our village (getting them in the spring) and we aren't allowed to free range. We're planning on using one of these. Maybe this would be an option for you?
http://geodesicchickencoop.com/coop/purchasecoop.htm#13coop

This is a cute little enclosure and will do a great job of keeping your chickens in. It will not, however, keep even a half-determined ground predator out. Dogs, raccoons and other critters can tear right through that chicken wire, and unless the plastic pipe is anchored, a dog could also flip this thing right over. At least I know mine could. I hope you will use hardware cloth and reinforce it somehow.

 

[Folly's place]

x2!!! That's really cute, but pretty useless as predator protection. It probably will deter raptors, but nothing else. Welcome! Mary

 

[centrarchid]

I'm sorry to hear about the hawk attack but so glad your hen is recovering. We just got a zone variance to have chickens in our village (getting them in the spring) and we aren't allowed to free range. We're planning on using one of these. Maybe this would be an option for you?
http://geodesicchickencoop.com/coop/purchasecoop.htm#13coop

I could make very effective use of multiple devices like shown and keep ground predators away. First perimeter would be electrifed poultry netting although properly placed hot-wire would have the same effect. I would have dogs patrolling outside to push bad guys out. A container / roost would be inserted to keep birds well away from sides at night and ideally out of direct site that promotes efforts to chew through or dig under something to get it.

 

[minnehaha]

Thank you. She is doing very well and laid again this morning. The cam is a Foscam F18918W I bought it on Amazon.

I bought one from Amazon right after you posted about it, same model, it arrived yesterday. I LOVE IT! Thanks for mentioning it in your post. I set it up in the garage just to get it working last night, but today I am mounting it in the coop. I am having trouble getting it on my Android phone though. Can you view the cam from your phone?

I am amazed she is still laying!!! Great job on caring for her!