Vulture keeps landing in my yard

[coach723]

Are you able to shoot the darn thing

Vultures are state and federally protected as migratory birds so it's illegal to kill them without a permit. Florida Fish and Wildlife suggests using 'pyrotechnics' to scare them off.
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/raptors-and-vultures/vultures/

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Vultures are state and federally protected as migratory birds so it's illegal to kill them without a permit. Florida Fish and Wildlife suggests using 'pyrotechnics' to scare them off.
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/raptors-and-vultures/vultures/

Thanks great idea...will have to be careful though with the drought and all

 

[Folly's place]

Pyrotechnics and drought, and small spaces, are a terrible combination!
Be privileged to see this bird, and protect your chickens too. With no chicken dinners available, it will move on.
Mary

 

[cmom]

Would it be after the chickens? They all free range all day. I have not seen a lone vulture before have you? I live out in a farming area and we have hawks but never seen vultures before and there is nothing dead in my yard for sure! Do they go after live prey? How do I get rid of it? Right now it is sitting in a high tree that overhangs my coop and just a while ago it had landed in my yard and scared the heck out of the chickens, but flew up onto the coop roof when I went out there to see what is going on. Edited to add it is a Black Vulture.

I live in Dunnellon, FL. in NE Citrus County close to the Marion county line. We are rural on a dead end road. We have both Turkey and Black Vultures. I have seen them around here flying overhead quite regularly. They are primarily scavengers but will take small animals in distress. They have never bothered my birds. The main road is a mile away and sometimes I see road kill mostly coons and possums. They prefer the road kill. They don't have talons so they can't grasp prey. I wouldn't worry about them. I caught one once in a live trap I had set for a fox that killed one of my birds. I released it and it flew off.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

I live in Dunnellon, FL. in NE Citrus County close to the Marion county line. We are rural on a dead end road. We have both Turkey and Black Vultures. I have seen them around here flying overhead quite regularly. They are primarily scavengers but will take small animals in distress. They have never bothered my birds. The main road is a mile away and sometimes I see road kill mostly coons and possums. They prefer the road kill. They don't have talons so they can't grasp prey. I wouldn't worry about them. I caught one once in a live trap I had set for a fox that killed one of my birds. I released it and it flew off.

Thanks cmom! we are in NW Ocala! That makes me feel way better! I didn't know they don't have talons..so yeah that would make it hard to carry a chicken off.

 

[coach723]

I'm SW of Lake City, likewise they have never bothered my chickens, though they have caused them to alert and scatter on occasion. We mostly have the turkey vultures. Nothing creepier than a dead snag tree full of them resting on a foggy morning. I know that the black vultures tend to follow the turkey vultures to find food since they don't have the sense of smell that the turkey vultures do, they use sight instead. In some places the black ones have become a problem for new calves and other small livestock. They won't carry them off, just eat them in place. I've heard that hanging a dead one will discourage others from coming (not sure where you would get a dead one, but something that appears to be one might work). Also some say that large dogs are a deterrent, which I do have.

 

[333113]

Turkey vultures tried to get my younger Delawares some years back. Several vultures chased and caught up with one pullet. My dog and I heard the noise and ran outside, chased them away. She was bitten and scratched up, and lost a lot of feathers. Doc gave her antibiotics and a vitamin shot and we kept her in a crate on her own until she healed up. She lived to eight years old, had a scar on her back and a slight limp the rest of her life. But she was a good layer!

Now I don't let the young ones or bantams free range unless one of the dogs or the geese are out. When I see the vultures swoop low over the yard (probably to see if anyone is available), I yell and wave my hat at them. The chickens and ducks and geese seem to appreciate that!

 

[Ladies-Eight]

We don't have black vultures up here, and the turkey vultures mostly leave all winter.
Yet another reason to live in the frozen north!!!
Vultures are a protected species, no shooting them.
Mary

I didn't know they were protected. Here in Florida we lots of vultures, as well as Turkey Buzzards.

 

[FathertoFeathers]

Ive never had a vulture attack my animals before. Im not sure that they would try. They have very sharp and strong beaks but their legs are extremely weak. Thats why you see them circling over dead animals. They aren't strong enough to open a corpse so they wait for something else to do it for them. I would still keep a eye out though.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think all raptors are protected. Aren't they?