What killed my chicken? (GRAPHIC PICTURES)

[ShrekDawg]

And is it weird that I keep looking at her pictures? And I'm not even crying anymore. I feel like I should be crying more. I cried a ton last night though, at least for 10 minutes Or however long it was till I calmed down, I was hugging the dog so idk ha. And I keep looking at the pictures. I hate it cause I feel like I shouldn't do that. I feel like I should look at some pictures of her when she was alive. You know, happy ones. And actually remember her more instead of just an example. Idk. I'm sure I'll probably be bawling my eyes out like a baby when we bury her tomorrow though. Hah

 

[BantyChooks]

It's okay! I'm glad I know the truth, even if it is horrible. I do wonder though, knowing it's a lengthy death, if she could have been saved if someone had noticed? My dad said the dog was barking and whining shortly after I let them out but he didn't know I wasn't home but even when he came upstairs and realized it, he left (he had to be somewhere) and didn't check on them......

Then he was barking later on and my mom let him out and he went to the bathroom and came back in.

So it probably happened one of those times and the dog probably scared the hawk out or it came back after.

ANYWAY, I wonder if someone had noticed if she could have been saved. Either after the attack or maybe if the attack could have been prevented before it got her.....

I want the truth please

Probably. I have saved all but two of my birds that got attacked by hawks.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Probably. I have saved all but two of my birds that got attacked by hawks.

I wish my parents had checked then! I know it's my own fault for leaving them alone but still, they were home.... If they had just checked when the dog was barking......

But wouldn't the spine be broken?

 

[CntryBoy777]

Yeh, rarely is it instant, but the larger hawks hit with quite a bit of force that stuns the prey animal and depending on the placement of the spine snap most of feeding isn't felt by the animal....there are many animals that thrash about even after death occurs, a chicken is one of them, so tho we may think something looks horrible and torturous it, in reality, is not.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yeh, rarely is it instant, but the larger hawks hit with quite a bit of force that stuns the prey animal and depending on the placement of the spine snap most of feeding isn't felt by the animal....there are many animals that thrash about even after death occurs, a chicken is one of them, so tho we may think something looks horrible and torturous it, in reality, is not.

Thank you, that makes me feel a lot better! We mostly have huge hawks here

 

[microchick]

@K-Dogg331, I am so sorry for your loss.

We have a lot of Red Tailed Hawks where we live and it pretty much looks like what we find in our pastures in the spring when they are preying on migratory birds.

Please don't be hard on yourself. You had no way of knowing this was going to happen and you certainly didn't intend for it to happen. Certainly the hawk was just acting like a hawk so now what you need to focus on is protecting the rest of your flock as Mr Hawk has discovered the all you can eat chicken buffet and will be back.

The big risk when you free range your birds is you will suffer losses to predators. Even if you just turn your back for an instant, a sly fox can race in and grab one right out from under your nose. I agree with the advice you have been given. Keep your flock under lock and key and in a run with a good net or wire cover. Let this be the only bird that the hawk takes from your flock.

 

[BantyChooks]

I wish my parents had checked then! I know it's my own fault for leaving them alone but still, they were home.... If they had just checked when the dog was barking......

But wouldn't the spine be broken?

Nope. Have never seen that happen. I suppose it could, but all the hawk attacks I have seen grabbed for the back and started plucking. Different birds of prey kill differently so it really depends.

 

[BantyChooks]

.there are many animals that thrash about even after death occurs, a chicken is one of them, so tho we may think something looks horrible and torturous it, in reality, is not.

An already dead animal will not scream, escape, run a few feet, and get captured again before going into death twitches and going still.

 

[ShrekDawg]

@K-Dogg331, I am so sorry for your loss.

We have a lot of Red Tailed Hawks where we live and it pretty much looks like what we find in our pastures in the spring when they are preying on migratory birds.

Please don't be hard on yourself. You had no way of knowing this was going to happen and you certainly didn't intend for it to happen. Certainly the hawk was just acting like a hawk so now what you need to focus on is protecting the rest of your flock as Mr Hawk has discovered the all you can eat chicken buffet and will be back.

The big risk when you free range your birds is you will suffer losses to predators. Even if you just turn your back for an instant, a sly fox can race in and grab one right out from under your nose. I agree with the advice you have been given. Keep your flock under lock and key and in a run with a good net or wire cover. Let this be the only bird that the hawk takes from your flock.

Thank you so much! I'm kind of glad it's a hawk and not a fisher or something harder to deal with.

And I am trying not to but it is hard because if I had just been home or not let them out so late in the first place she'd probably still be alive.

But yeah, their run is chain link and covered with welded wire (we replaced it a few months ago from bird netting cause that was a pain plus we had raccoons) and there is also a plywood cover over the coop part.

They are also moving to a new coop and run soon.

I do feel somewhat stupid though because we just had this visitor a few weeks ago, the 1st according to the photo details. And lots of big red tails.

Nope. Have never seen that happen.

Oh I wasn't sure cause I thought it was mentioned the spine snaps when they take them or they try to but they don't die right away

 

[CntryBoy777]

There are a few things to understand about hawks....they are territorial and they are mating and nesting this time of year....this means that come January they'll be feeding young ones in the nest. Knowing these factors can aid ya in knowing when the pressure on prey is at the greatest....don't think for a minute that just because ya haven't had an attack from a hawk that it doesn't keep an eye out for the prey in its territory and will defend that territory from other hawks also.