Second Hawk Attack in Two Weeks?

[Farmgal101]

I recommend getting poles and tying a long ribbon that can blow in the wind that will scare the hawk off

 

[orrpeople]

I am ordering some ribbon from Amazon today! Thanks for the tip..

I'm also keeping the goats in that area for now. We have plenty of roosters too. We don't get many losses usually but when we do they always get our favorite ones....

Predators smell "love" on a chicken - makes 'em extra tasty.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I also highly recommend overhead streamer-type stuff. I use surveyors tape - at Home Depot or Lowes, it's usually fluorescent orange, yellow or pink - as you can see, doesn't look great.

But I found it in green on Amazon - here's one on my more recent small growout paddocks - I sorta went nuts with the stuff, as there is only an immature cockerel in there for protection vs a full grown experienced rooster - and also on a larger paddock.

(Actually, I need to order some more, now that I think of it...)

- Ant Farm

 

[aart]

you could fence in 5 acres and put a net or as many acres your chickans need to be happy.

Over head netting of 'acres' really is not viable.

Thanks everyone for your replies! We're keeping them on watch for now when they range, and planning to construct a covered run for when we have to be gone.

The lack of feathers at the scene was what perplexed me, too--granted, it was a windy day. Do foxes and other land predators usually not leave feathers? If it was an aerial predator, I now suspect the bald eagles I found out about. They're new to our area, which would explain why we haven't had an incident in previous years.

Sometimes they will and sometimes they won't. If they can kill fast, less feathers.

 

[David Putnam]

S, S, S! They make great fertilizer for the garden!

 

[David Putnam]

Just got back in after checking on my flock of "Ornithological Therapeutic Devices" and there is a large hole in the netting over my run. Looks like a raptor of some sort tried to get the chickens. All are safe and I have some cool looking feathers I cannot keep.

I am not allowed to have chickens where i live by Home owners assoc rules. When someone turned me in last year and I was visited by a rep for the homeowners association, I told them they were prescribed to me by my Doctor to help with my sever Anti-authority anger issuers! She just looked at me and left. No one has been back since then. I think I scared her a bit. Anyway, thus why I call my flock, "Ornithological Therapeutic Devices".

 

[orrpeople]

Just got back in after checking on my flock of "Ornithological Therapeutic Devices" and there is a large hole in the netting over my run. Looks like a raptor of some sort tried to get the chickens. All are safe and I have some cool looking feathers I cannot keep.

I am not allowed to have chickens where i live by Home owners assoc rules. When someone turned me in last year and I was visited by a rep for the homeowners association, I told them they were prescribed to me by my Doctor to help with my sever Anti-authority anger issuers! She just looked at me and left. No one has been back since then. I think I scared her a bit. Anyway, thus why I call my flock, "Ornithological Therapeutic Devices".

Chicken therapy is the best!!

 

[aart]

Just got back in after checking on my flock of "Ornithological Therapeutic Devices" and there is a large hole in the netting over my run. Looks like a raptor of some sort tried to get the chickens. All are safe and I have some cool looking feathers I cannot keep.

I am not allowed to have chickens where i live by Home owners assoc rules. When someone turned me in last year and I was visited by a rep for the homeowners association, I told them they were prescribed to me by my Doctor to help with my sever Anti-authority anger issuers! She just looked at me and left. No one has been back since then. I think I scared her a bit. Anyway, thus why I call my flock, "Ornithological Therapeutic Devices".

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Thought I'd share some photos form this morning.

Great big GIANT hawk (Gosh, was it an eagle?!) was looking for a chicken dinner. I was out changing out the water this morning before work (since it's going to be a super hot day) when it happened. Hated how impotent I felt, just stood around and watched, and yelled and waved my hands when it would swoop. It clearly didn't think I was worth even looking at. (And when it swooped, I honestly started thinking maybe *I* should take cover!) Not sure how well these pictures get across how large this was - wingspan was maybe 5 or 6 feet? Hard to estimate.

Fortunately, with the festooning of the top of the paddocks with all that flagging tape, and with the alerts being called out at high volume by ALL of the cockerels and roosters in the yard, everyone was under cover and no one got taken. Puppy (a free ranger who was out in the open) also found cover quickly. It finally gave up and flew away after about 30 or 45 minutes. (I have the sense that this probably happens a lot while I'm at work, from the well orchestrated response.)

Geez....

- Ant Farm

 

[orrpeople]

Thought I'd share some photos form this morning.

Great big GIANT hawk (Gosh, was it an eagle?!) was looking for a chicken dinner. I was out changing out the water this morning before work (since it's going to be a super hot day) when it happened. Hated how impotent I felt, just stood around and watched, and yelled and waved my hands when it would swoop. It clearly didn't think I was worth even looking at. (And when it swooped, I honestly started thinking maybe *I* should take cover!) Not sure how well these pictures get across how large this was - wingspan was maybe 5 or 6 feet? Hard to estimate.

View attachment 1044771 View attachment 1044772

Fortunately, with the festooning of the top of the paddocks with all that flagging tape, and with the alerts being called out at high volume by ALL of the cockerels and roosters in the yard, everyone was under cover and no one got taken. Puppy (a free ranger who was out in the open) also found cover quickly. It finally gave up and flew away after about 30 or 45 minutes. (I have the sense that this probably happens a lot while I'm at work, from the well orchestrated response.)

Geez....

- Ant Farm

Holy hawk adventure, bat man!! What a great shot of the raptor in motion!!