What bird tried to kill my chicken - video

[SarahLadd]

Sometimes a hen is able to get out the grasp, the talons will leave deep puncture wounds and gashes, that's for sure.

I've lost a few to Hawks. One was a pullet and I actually was outside when it happened, the poor thing, the Hawk basically dove down and just struck her to the ground, killing the pullet instantly.
It really stinks.

I get it, Hawks have to eat too, I think they are beautiful in their own right, but that day, I didn't much care for the Hawk.

The Hawk will be back, I can assure you of that. They are savvy. They can also land on the ground, walk right in and will try to worry a hen to a corner and reach in with their beak/talons (seen this attempted too), if wire spacing is large enough, this is why having hardware cloth is best, at least for several feet up if possible.

Keep us posted on how your hen is doing. It's good that you do have vet care. Many don't, so there's quite a few ER threads dealing with attacks and hens do make it through severe injuries, so let's hope your sweet girl is one that does.

Yes. The deep punctures. It really grabbed her. She also screamed her voice out. She sounds not herself. Cuts with fatty tissue spilling out. Lots of missing feathers.

$1,000 door. Grateful, still, for the option. I honestly do not know what I would do without these vets.

 

[SarahLadd]

He’ll for sure be back. I don’t think he’ll tell his friends, as hawks don’t really fly around in flocks. So it might just be that one hawk hanging around, not more. I’m not sure if you normally free range or not, but I certainly wouldn’t do so now.

They got forage time under supervision but I think we have to end supervised foraging and think about things like chicken tractors

 

[My Three Chicks]

I'm so sorry this happened. I've recently had my 1st hawk scare. Likely a Cooper's hawk too.
I watched your video. Poor baby she fought hard against the hawk. So thankful she got away. And I'm sure the vet can fix her up. Thinking of you all Keep us posted.

 

[GravityWaves]

It's either an adult Cooper's or Sharp-shinned hawk. They both pretty much look the same but the Cooper's is a bit larger. I've had a Cooper's hawk keeping close watch on my place all summer.

 

[SarahLadd]

Oh and the run is hardware cloth. 1/2" spacing.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

It looks too small to be a Cooper's. I think it was a Sharp Shinned hawk, which is a smaller, more agile version of the Cooper's. We have them both here regularly. If you see the hawk in flight see if you can count the wing beats. If they are slow enough to count, you have a Cooper's. If they are too fast to count you have a Sharpie.

 

[SarahLadd]

She looks good, some after care will be needed for a few weeks...

 

[SarahLadd]

I don’t know why it didn’t carry her off, but she and you are very lucky

I've spent time reviewing the footage frame by frame, and it really tried to. Tried twice to get a good grip and get lift but Constellation basically beat so hard with her wings to drive down to the ground that it couldn't. The moment it rips feathers from her back after the initial attack that she flew in the air to avoid is the moment to see this. She fought so hard and I'm thinking the hawk may be young and decided the easy meal wasn't easy enough

I clip primaries on 2 d'anvers in my flock and the hawk picked the one with complete wings. I don't think she'd have had a chance in hell if she was clipped

When people say things like unclipped wings help them avoid predator attacks, this is an example.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

It was either a cooper's hawk or a sharp-shinned hawk, I cannot accurately tell. The difference between the two species is subtle, especially when they are moving fast like in the video. I hope your chickens will all recover, especially the one who was attacked!

 

[RossAcres]

Looks like a red tailed hawk.