Stupid Hawks

[Star and eclipsa]

The 3 S's work for me....Shoot, Shovel, Shut-up!

I personally love hawks. I love all animals. But last week a dog growled at my chicks (it was my neighbors dog, he had escaped) and i gave it a good kick and yelled at it to go away. He ran back home with his tail between his legs, and i wouldnt hesitate to do the same to a hawk if it so much as looked at my chicks funny, but i would never kill any animal.

 

[peterlund]

Hawks have excellent eyesight, but more importantly they will remember where they see easy prey....
You can't harm them, nor should you. Be outside (with a nice big lab or hound dog) when they are let free.

 

[JMchicks]

Hi-
We just had a chicken attacked by a hawk. She lost an eye and was in pretty bad shape for about 24 hours, but she seemed to be recovering. We can't get her to eat or drink though, and I don't know how long she can go without food/water. Any ideas on how to help her?

With my experience after mine got attacked, she did not make it after I tried to help her. She wouldn't eat on her own or walk around. I was trying to feed her by hand but I knew it wasn't going to end well based on how she was acting. I usually will do a 2 -3 day rule depending on the situation and help aid them back to health but if there isn't any change especially if they aren't eating or walking anymore its better to not let them suffer. But of course to better the chance of saving your chicken, taking her to the vet is the best route but of course that could cost a lot of money depending on what is wrong with her. Keep in mind though, if you are trying to help her yourself she may seem to be recovering because it is the bodies job to get to work when something is wrong but when dealing with losing any part of the body can come along with infections especially latent infections. In these situations the choice on how to help is a personal decision.

 

[peterlund]

With my experience after mine got attacked, she did not make it after I tried to help her. She wouldn't eat on her own or walk around. I was trying to feed her by hand but I knew it wasn't going to end well based on how she was acting. I usually will do a 2 -3 day rule depending on the situation and help aid them back to health but if there isn't any change especially if they aren't eating or walking anymore its better to not let them suffer. But of course to better the chance of saving your chicken, taking her to the vet is the best route but of course that could cost a lot of money depending on what is wrong with her. Keep in mind though, if you are trying to help her yourself she may seem to be recovering because it is the bodies job to get to work when something is wrong but when dealing with losing any part of the body can come along with infections especially latent infections. In these situations the choice on how to help is a personal decision.

Hawks can sink their talons deep in a bird with little visible signs. Your bird will be in shock for a day or so, but if internal injuries are severe... well.... hawk wins.
Nature. Seems harsh and random, but it is "natural"....

 

[ladyearth]

would those noise cannons advertised on this forum work on even HAWKS etc my group stays near the fences, bushes, other buildings. their several truck toppers...
lately they even been spending most of their time in their main big run. which is covered with 2 inch poultry wire..
then later we add pieces of hardware cloth, scraps pf 1 inch poultry wire and even some plastic one inch cheap mesh on and under the. poultry wire.
since those good for nutting tiny birds and etc were going thru the 2 inch poultry wire ... to steal their food etc.
Now something even worse is keeping them stressed and not enjoying their 1/.2 acre.. fenced
a friend told me about those Canadian turkey vultures. A big group attacked her SIL new born calves out in the pasture.She said those poke out the sales eyes first.
I believe I saw a bunch of them in a tree as I turned the corner fro our sweet to the main road. wish I could have taken a pic. I couldn't even run the number wo was in the trees

 

[orrpeople]

I'm in Florida so I do an open style coop as well. So, building wise, did you basically just build a pen for each breed plus a separate bachelor pad pen? How large are your runs?

Yes, one per breed - and the bachelor pad is about a third of an acre at the very edge of the property. My runs are roughly (some are larger, some smaller - we had to work around trees) 18' x 20', although one is smaller - more like 16' x 8', but I only have a trio in that one.

 

[natsimms]

Yes, one per breed - and the bachelor pad is about a third of an acre at the very edge of the property. My runs are roughly (some are larger, some smaller - we had to work around trees) 18' x 20', although one is smaller - more like 16' x 8', but I only have a trio in that one.

Thanks, that is helpful. I was thinking of building my runs at 16x8. But space isn't really a huge issue (cost more so). How many chickens will you keep in 18x20 at a time while breeding?

 

[Kathy Golla]

@happyfrenchman
@greggooo @Talithahorse

I was stopped at a suburban northern ca stoplight today and watched a huge red tailed hawk make several bumble attempts to catch some type of burrowing animal. He was very...off in his attempts. Right off the side of a busy road.

 

[orrpeople]

Thanks, that is helpful. I was thinking of building my runs at 16x8. But space isn't really a huge issue (cost more so). How many chickens will you keep in 18x20 at a time while breeding?

Actually, my limiter is the size of their "houses" and roosting space.
I can keep 12 in this one, but only 8 in the ones behind it.

This is the one that I ended up covering its run with netting - there are 9 birds in this one and I lock them up in the trailer each night.

 

[orrpeople]

Also, I just read your signatures. I love them both. But that is the first time I have ever read the quote about perseverance and the first time I have Newt referred to by his more formal given name. Fun

I just saw this - thanks!
I actually think my autocorrect changed Newt to Newton (my autocorrect thinks it knows so much!!) and I didn't notice until I had it posted!