Remember i was wondering why no attacks? Well....Hawk

[MaransGuy]

Fall and Spring are the two worst times for hawks, I have found. Summer and Winter I rarely lose a bird unless it is to a ground predator. The migrating birds seem to be the ones who prey on the poultry the most. The resident hawks are usually kept at bay by the crows and they are more familiar with natural prey. I lost three birds this Fall already. I hatch to replace.

 

[LeezyBeezy]

I had to chase a juvenile hawk away from a hen eariler this spring... But not too long ago I aw a big redtail sitting on the fence that borders our property. The hens were in, so we watched and watched. It must've sat there for 15 minutes on the post. Then POUNCE, right on a field mouse! (The field wasn't cut this year, so lots of long grass for mouse tunnels). The fox hunt there too...

Anyway, we have a huge flock of resident crows that are always around. I wonder if that's why I don't see too many hawks?

We have been BLESSED with few obvious predators. But it's so cold here already, I'll be interested to see what happens if the snow gets deep soon.

 

[Chick Charm]

Hawks are for real. I have heard (though never had to do this myself) that if you are not able to cover your run, that wire or rope or twine of sorts can be strung acrossed to aid in deterring the hawks. It's worth a try if you are loosing that many birds.

 

[Patricia Jane]

I have read where crows will chase off hawks. If you don't mind crows hanging around you can feed them. They will eat dog, cat food, peanuts. You can do a search on them. I myself don't mind having them hang around. I have seen them chase off a redtail hawk. It now resides down the block and away from me.

 

[MovieFanz]

I found this little guy in my coop this morning. He was so happy for me to let him out. He didn't hurt anything. I don't know why he went into the coop. My chickens are big.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe he needs glasses.

 

[Barred Rocker]

I've lost several young pullets and cockerels to hawks. But what beats the heck out of me is when a hawk actually reaches through 1/2 inch wire and pulls out one my chicks head and eats it off. This has happened 3 times so now my chick runs have 1/4 inch hardware cloth on the bottom 2 feet of the run.

 

[jmc]

Red Shouldered not returned. just came back to exact spot of kill thurs. late pm to be chased off by moi.

i DELIBERATELY chose to wait till we lost a bird to a hawk before putting the top flite netting back up. so that is back up in one section............

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
You know....he's not a bad lookin' chicken!

Maybe you should have kept him and bred him to your hens? What a great bloodline! Chickens who can fight back.......

 

[tallyho]

We lost a silkie last Saturday to a hawk. Poor thing had no idea what hit her! Of course it took my most beautiful fluffy. Not the juvie cockeral I think I have.

. We realized one was missing and went looking for her. I looked over into the neighbor's yard and there's the hawk chowing down. My DH ran after it but all that was left by then was only a few feathers.

He said it was a big one.

We usually have a ton of crows a hanging around but I had noticed recently that there weren't a lot of crows in the trees. I have seen them chase a hawk...almost felt sorry for it, almost. Where are my crows!???

Of course this whole thing was my fault because I let them out in the open part of the yard. DH was going to redo the run fence and it was such a nice day I thought I'd let them roam the entire yard 'till he fixed it. I was dumb...Dh had seen a hawk on the fence about 2 weeks prior.

My parents have a friend who watched their yorkie fly away in the talons of a hawk. Awful.