T. Vultures/Hawks in neighborhood. How long to keep chickens inside??

[kfisher123]

Currently, there are 7 turkey vultures and 2 hawks circling around our neighborhood. We back up to a beef cow farm and all the houses are on 1-2 acres so there is a lot of wide open space.

My question....any idea how long they will hang around? I'm assuming there is something big-ish dead around here so I'm keeping the girls in thier coop but for how long? A couple of days or just until I don't see them circling anymore?

The "gals" are not happy about being inside......

 

[bobbi-j]

The turkey vultures aren't a threat to your chickens. We have a pair of them living in our grove, they fly over all the time. All bets are off with the hawks, though. We have them here, too, but there's enough wildlife to keep them fed so they don't have to come near the buildings and bother my chickens.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Vultures probably aren't a threat.

As for the hawks, it depends upon what breed of hawk and how hungry they are. A large chicken is too large to be prey to many of the smaller hawks. Some of the larger hawks will take one on, though.

How long to keep the chickens in the coop depends upon how big a risk taker you are.

 

[mishellez]

Turkey vultures won't bother your birds except for maybe offering an alarming silhouette overhead. Not sure where you live, but here I have black vultures that come to roadkill/carcasses, too. Are you positive about your ID of hawks or maybe were you seeing two different types of vulture? My older girls know the difference between a turkey/black vulture circling overhead and a hawk or an eagle, but my younger girls don't. The younger will sometimes run and often croon but they pay attention to the older girls who are the survivors of multiple Coopers and red tail hawk attacks that killed three. The older girls will watch the vultures, especially if they swoop low over the yard, but they seem to be able to recognize the difference between them and a hawk or eagle.