I thought I had a wimpy rooster - he was on the bottom of the ladder when his dad and brother were still alive - but today I found a dead Cooper's Hawk in the chicken run!
We found a dead hen in the run yesterday, a girl we had for a long time.
We thought it was a possum or racoon, because her head was missing. This is only the second bird I have ever lost to predators, and the other one was very young, white and wouldn't go in with the others at night. She was also headless, and it happened earlier this fall. I've had chickens for 4-5 years here and never lost one before this year!
I'm not sure that this fairly small hawk could have killed a hen twice its size like that? We're also uncertain when it could have happened - didn't think possums and racoons would come during the day - and the fence around the chicken run is tall, more than 6 foot above ground. It also shares a wall to the large backyard where our dogs are out.
I am not sure how the hawk was killed, because it didn't have any visible injuries except (IF YOU DON'T LIKE HORROR MOVIES, DON'T SCROLL DOWN!)
it's eyes were pecked out.
I feel bad about the hen, but I also feel bad about the hawk. It didn't look like it had been fighting back at all. And I can't look at my chickens the same way anymore.
We found a dead hen in the run yesterday, a girl we had for a long time.
I'm not sure that this fairly small hawk could have killed a hen twice its size like that? We're also uncertain when it could have happened - didn't think possums and racoons would come during the day - and the fence around the chicken run is tall, more than 6 foot above ground. It also shares a wall to the large backyard where our dogs are out.
I am not sure how the hawk was killed, because it didn't have any visible injuries except (IF YOU DON'T LIKE HORROR MOVIES, DON'T SCROLL DOWN!)
it's eyes were pecked out.
I feel bad about the hen, but I also feel bad about the hawk. It didn't look like it had been fighting back at all. And I can't look at my chickens the same way anymore.
