Newest Member of the dreaded hawk attack club

[HeatherKellyB]

He still has swelling around that eye and his eye seems more weak in that he does close it sometimes. I would feel better if he would eat and drink more. He happily eats grapes as I just held another one for him to nibble small pieces from. He has been eating but I guess I'm just overly nervous. His poops show that he's eating. I don't think he's ever had a full crop since he feathered out and became a mature rooster. I'm going to keep a close eye on him and keep him inside until he's not worrying me so much. He's not a fan of moistened food, but I'll try an egg and your other suggestions. He's always loved to be hand fed one pellet at a time, so I'll try that too. Thank you for your time

 

[Wyorp Rock]

He looks good. I would let him eat his feed normally, sounds like he's out of shock now. PND every other day or so would be ok.
He's likely sore, so give him a few days to get over the stiffness in his legs and joints.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Lucky bird! Glad he is doing so well, hope he makes a full recovery!

 

[ThinMintTheChicken]

Glad that he managed to survive the hawk attack! We had an amazing oegb rooster that tried to fight a hawk to save his hens (and the hens did survive) but was unfortunately killed by doing so. We also had a sweet turken rooster that was attacked and died from blood loss. And then one of our leghorn hens was attacked but survived probably due to the fact that she is feral and super flighty, plus she screams a lot. Our farm is surrounded by fields and the odd tree or two so it is perfect hawk territory since they sit in the trees and survey the fields for prey.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I, too, lost a good roo a couple of years ago, who fought a rear guard as the flock master led the hens to the safety of the coop. A good rooster is worth his weight in gold.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I understand another reason for all of those glorious and gorgeous rooster feathers now. It's crazy how far and wide Zeon's feathers were strewn and where I heard him last before I found him in the corner after the hawk flew off. That plus the fact that the hawk looks like a young dumb jerk, but that's just because I'm not that familiar with hawks up close. If Zeon had been a bantam, I doubt he would have had a chance. Where the hawk grabbed his back, the feathers were ripped out but those feathers probably saved him. It looks like the talons just scratched him. I don't see any bleeding there. I wonder if the hawk was biting at his comb or trying to grab around his head/neck with his talons to injure his comb, rip his wattle, and cause swelling on one side of his head. I am so thankful he is still with us. I absolutely hate hawks more than ever. My boys were so miserable today being locked up all day

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Whenever we have a hawk attack here, we just keep our birds confined for about a week. Not hard because they huddle inside the coop and eye the sky fearfully anyway. After a time, the hawk moves on, looking for easier prey. Same with coyotes, actually.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have been trying to figure out how I'm going to keep them up for two weeks so hearing a week seems more doable but still stressful. The reason I have my boys free ranging during the day is because I have too many roosters. It's a shame that stuff like this always happens to the birds we like. Another one of my sweetest boys ran out to see me like he was stressed whenever I was going in the house to get my gun, WHILE the hawk was watching from a tree limb very close by! I had to put him, my free ranging Silkies and other roosters up. I didn't use the gun but I was so upset and really wanted to. My daughter took Zeon into the shop. She wanted to shoot the hawk with her BB gun (she's an AMAZING long distance shot) but I explained all the reasons she couldn't. I am pretty sure the hawk was stalking my Call ducks pen and one of my bantam hen flocks coop. Otherwise, I probably would have lost my little Silkie rooster. My neighbor lost two pullets a few months ago. Sadly, I heard the ruckus but her rooster was quiet so I figured some of her birds were fighting or something. That was a quick attack. She said it was a young hawk there too.

 

[ThinMintTheChicken]

I have been trying to figure out how I'm going to keep them up for two weeks so hearing a week seems more doable but still stressful. The reason I have my boys free ranging during the day is because I have too many roosters. It's a shame that stuff like this always happens to the birds we like. Another one of my sweetest boys ran out to see me like he was stressed whenever I was going in the house to get my gun, WHILE the hawk was watching from a tree limb very close by! I had to put him, my free ranging Silkies and other roosters up. I didn't use the gun but I was so upset and really wanted to. My daughter took Zeon into the shop. She wanted to shoot the hawk with her BB gun (she's an AMAZING long distance shot) but I explained all the reasons she couldn't. I am pretty sure the hawk was stalking my Call ducks pen and one of my bantam hen flocks coop. Otherwise, I probably would have lost my little Silkie rooster. My neighbor lost two pullets a few months ago. Sadly, I heard the ruckus but her rooster was quite so I figured some of her birds were fighting or something. That was a quick attack. She said it was a young hawk there too.

Could you put up some old CD's shiny side up? We nailed some into our fence posts around the perimeter of our farm and it seems to be helping. We also hung some up in various places. When its sunny and windy it shines everywhere.

 

[azygous]

I can totally relate to the urge to shoot that hawk. Yeah, stifle the urge to kill it, but you can get close as you can and let loose with a loud round over its head. Sudden loud noise can often deter a hawk. Repeat the close-by gun noise, and perhaps the hawk will seek a more peaceful environment.

BBs may not kill, but they can cause sickness and eventually organ failure as the BBs circulate through the hawk's body. I know this because I had a good friend whose cat became sick, they took her to the vet, and the vet found BBs in the poor cat's organs. A crabby neighbor from their previous neighborhood had been shooting their cat for years before they moved away. BBs are not harmless. They often don't just bounce off the animal.