Turkey Vultures?

[FrontPorchIndiana]

We had EIGHT of these huge monsters swirling around the house today after the state's mowing crews passed our house. They stayed focused on the road kill, but will they always? After seeing the size of them I'm wondering if I need to replace the netting on top of our run with something stronger, like iron bars or something.

 

[WriterofWords]

Our Turkey Buzzards here are about 4 1/2 feet tall. They are huge, ugly, and will fly away with anything they can. I had two about a mile down the road fighting over a jack rabbit corpse in the middle of the street. I slowed down and literally stopped next to them and all they did was look in the door window at me like they were daring me to take that rabbit. I rolled the window back and left them to it.

 

[Chickaroo!]

I'm in VA and we used to have tons of them that roosted in the pine trees behind our house. They'd all fly in, right over our yard, in the evening. It was scary and kind of cool at the same time. They never bothered anything, chickens or otherwise. Although, I've heard people in some other areas of VA say that they were destroying things, like pulling the windshield wipers off cars, picking at things on people's houses, etc. Our neighbor has a chocolate lab and one day I looked out and saw about 8 of those vultures in the yard with the dog. Neither the dog or vultures seemed to care about each other. I got a pic of them together. If I can find it, I'll post it. It's actually pretty cute

 

[justusnak]

I dont think you will have to worry about the old buzzards. I unfortunately have a very dirty and nasty neighbor....who when an animal dies on his property..he lets em lay, and the turkey buzz's clean them up. So, they are around here alot. Now, my chickens dont like em! They see one soaring overhead, the roosters sound the alarm, and WHOOSH! Chicken scramble!

 

[annrich]

They are nasty looking creatures. Just my opinion.

 

[tomstephens]

I've got a family of black vultures that live about 100ft from my coop. Chickens don't like them but they never bother the chickens. I doubt you have anything to worry about.

 

[bluey]

FrontPorch...

To my knowledge turkey vultures snack almost exclusively on dead animals, so I don't think that you should be worried about them bothering your flock.

They are indeed vile looking creatures and if I'm not mistaken, like many aerial predators, are a legally protected species.

 

[lizardz]

I happen to love vultures - if you ever take the time to just sit and watch them glide, notice how effortlessly they do so. True, they are not the cutest looking creature, but they do perform a very vital functiion. You don't have to worry about them coming after your chickens (unless they've died). And when they are circling around, it doesn't necessarily mean that there's something dead around or that they're looking for something dead. Vultures ride the air thermals, so when you see them circling, that's usually what they're doing - just gliding up and down the thermals. Our small valley has great thermals, and we see them gliding all the time. They also bathe in the irrigation ditch in the afternoon, then stand with their wings spread out to catch the afternoon sun and dry out - it's pretty funny to see about 20 vultures sitting on the hillside doing that. In Native American belief, vulture symbolizes purification and also acts as a messenger to Creator. So, don't fear vulture - look beyond his outer shell and appreciate the beauty he has!
Liz

 

[Hotwings]

I am a fan of turkey vultures. We have a small family of them living in the abandoned building across the street where I work. I love watching them soar, it reminds me of flying a kite! I sometimes wonder if they soar just for the pure enjoyment of being up in the sky. Around here turkey vultures are the biggest bird around besides a occasional great blue heron.

 

[Eggseronious]

Yes we have plenty of buzzards they seem to like dead rabbits, rats, and such. They fly and circle when I mow hay. When a cow calves they circle to get the afterbirth if the coyotes dont get it first. They are pretty good at letting you know if there is a dead cow close by. I've never had any problems, but years ago some farmers that had hogs that run outside said they would get newborn pigs if their food supply run short.