Rotten Hawks!

[stephhassler]

Quote:
Yes, I definitely think brown chickens are the way to go. I adopted the leghorns last year after their original owner's farm was struck by a tornado. They are great layers, but very flighty. I have one dark cornish now and we really like her. We really do enjoy where we live and enjoy all the wildife here. I have a young silver campine rooster - he is not quite 4 months old. I suspect he will turn out to be a good rooster, but he also has the potential to get mean. We've been keeping an eye on him to see if he will be good with the girls but not attack me or the kids. I think with changing to brown chickens we could all get along.

 

[Crack N' Egg]

I just heard a huge commotion outside where my 7- 3 1/2 week old ladies were in a net covered little run for some outside time. I witnessed a hawk that was half the size of me pulling the net off the top to get to my girls. I lost my Barred Plymouth Rock. She was so beautiful. I'm not used to this!!! I know the hawks are predators and I usually love them and think they are beautiful, but now...for the moment I am angry.

We had planned to let our 11 (now 10) chickens free range during the day, but now I'm not so sure. We have resident hawks (for years) live near by in a huge pine tree. Would it be stupid for us to let our chickens be free range knowing that we have the hawks??? What does anyone else think? I know that the chickens will be much bigger and the second batch of 2 wk old chicks that we have has a EE Roo and possibly a Wyandotte Roo...will they be enough to protect the flock??

 

[shilo356]

I think I lost one of the family today to a hawk (or coon)as well. Just a pile of feathers was found under a tree. The bright side it was a young rooster and not one of the prize hens.,,but whatever the predator was will it will be back I am sure. I free range so its impossible to do netting etc. I look at it as my chickens have a wonderful life free ranging, and aren't locked up in a coop until winter comes.
As I write this I have my first hatchlings just starting to crack open the eggs (16)
Sorry for your loss

 

[cornpone]

have you all heard of the old 12 ga. shotgun. its the same as a varmint or a stray dog..you have the right to protect your livestock.

 

[nancysmith2]

Hawks are too smart and have too good of vision. It will not help having dark or speckled birds. My girls were very camoflaged in color for that reason. He got 2 of them out of my tree covered yard. It will not help if they are grown. Hawks if they know they are there will kill them all. I have heard that the fishing line works at the beach for detering sea gulls as well. It is a cheap alternative to fencing. I am taking a risk free ranging mine again and I live in fear. But I can't leave them in if I go away for a few days. I have not had other predators except oppossums which were babies and we did away with them. We live in the city so the biggest fear we have is hawks. I am so sorry for your loss. The picture made me sick. All I could think about was my 2 beautiful girls.

 

[Bedste]

I saw a hawk four days in a row... so we went lockdown... diff kind of lockdown.. to the coop.. I still see that hawk in the sky down the block or so... AAUUGGH! So I went ahead and sprinkled SEVIN granules to kill fleas and dipped dog etc... so girls are stuck in lock down for about a month..... such is life!

 

[tinyscrafts]

Quote:
Actually, it's not. It's a migratory bird. It's against federal law to shoot or even harass it. Go with wire fencing on top...

 

[nancysmith2]

It is federal offense to kill any raptor.

 

[stephhassler]

Quote:
Well, I'm not sure what a raptor is - whether that includes hawks or not. But that darn hawk came back for a second lunch and got my silver laced polish hen! I called a DNR officer and he said I CAN shoot it, despite the federal law. If the creature is killing livestock I can shoot it. I have the photo on page 1 to prove that he was destroying livestock. BUT - not sure I could actually pull the trigger. They are so pretty . . . maybe DH would. He hunts deer - how he can shoot them with their big brown eyes looking at him . . .

I kind of suspected that perhaps brown chickens would not make much of a difference. After all, they don't say "eagle eyes" for nothing. I would guess a hawk has just as good eyesight as an eagle.

On another thread about hawks, someone tried the fishing line and said it was NOT a deterrent. I'm going out this weekend and looking for a couple of plastic owls.

 

[corball]

Is that the head of the chicken to the far left??? I am soooo sorry I know exactly how you feel. I have lost some of my poor silkies to the hawks and they would leave everything but the head. I was devistated to come out and see my oldest silkie without her head. I started to cry. People think I am crazy for being so attached to a chicken but they are very wonderful animals.

Once again I am sorry for your loss.....