Will a Red-tailed hawk attack my flock if I'm standing outside with them?

[Halfpasthen]

Yes it will. My sister has a Yorkie. Notice i didn't say dog. I had a 23lb cat once (not fat). So its not a dog unless its bigger than that cat. Sorry small yippie yappie lovers!
Anyways, last August we were outside with it and a hawk was perched in a walnut tree overlooking her yard. Sure enough, it swooped down after her yorkie with 4 of us standing right there. Of course her yorkie only weighs 3.5 lbs. A "dog" that needs to be scared of a bird. SMH Good grief.

Lol I'm a dog groomer and every time I get one in that small I'm like "man, I never learned how to groom field mice in school". I don't have a weight limit on real dogs they just have to be able to fetch a normal size tennis ball to be considered one lol. Just kidding of course, I like all the pups but couldn't see myself owning anything that small. Too easy to break.

As far as hawks go? Oh boy I have some bold ones where I live. One sits on top of my quail pen salivating and I can walk right on up to him. Massive creature though I couldn't say what kind he is. I have no doubt that the Hawks here would attack no matter who was around.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I notice you said has a yorkie so I assume she's okay? Lol I have a morkie who weighs in at a massive 6 lbs and has a bit of a complex. My 50 lbs dog is much more afraid of everything than she is.

Hahaha yeah he (Denver) is fine. When my 60lb lab/pit mix tries to play he loses interest with it. He wants to run with Denver but has to keep stopping as if to wait on it to catch up. I just have to remind Charlie (my dog) that Denver isn't a squeaky toy!

 

[Mtnboomer]

Lol I'm a dog groomer and every time I get one in that small I'm like "man, I never learned how to groom field mice in school". I don't have a weight limit on real dogs they just have to be able to fetch a normal size tennis ball to be considered one lol. Just kidding of course, I like all the pups but couldn't see myself owning anything that small. Too easy to break.

As far as hawks go? Oh boy I have some bold ones where I live. One sits on top of my quail pen salivating and I can walk right on up to him. Massive creature though I couldn't say what kind he is. I have no doubt that the Hawks here would attack no matter who was around.

Of course, I'm kidding too. But I prefer big dogs for much the same reason. One wrong step and that yorkie has a $2k vet bill to fix a broken leg. Besides I like to rough house and play with a dog, take him to the river to swim without worrying about him being swept away or eaten by a minnow.
Plus Charlie, my dog, has really bonded with my youngest son. I have no doubt that Charlie would protect him with his life if it ever came to that. Although he is a dimwitted goofball, said both affectionately and truthfully, he can look ferocious when he chooses.
Here's Charlie.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

A hawk tried to attack my hens while they were behind the house and me, my DH, and another man were on the side of the house and talking. Other times, they sat up in trees watching the hens while I was serving as their yard-guard. My girls now spend their days inside their protected runs, 2 runs with roofs and an open run that is completely netted. I might consider letting them out in the yard when the weather warms up, but I won't be able to leave them or get occupied doing other things like gardening, etc.

 

[Halfpasthen]

Of course, I'm kidding too. But I prefer big dogs for much the same reason. One wrong step and that yorkie has a $2k vet bill to fix a broken leg. Besides I like to rough house and play with a dog, take him to the river to swim without worrying about him being swept away or eaten by a minnow.
Plus Charlie, my dog, has really bonded with my youngest son. I have no doubt that Charlie would protect him with his life if it ever came to that. Although he is a dimwitted goofball, said both affectionately and truthfully, he can look ferocious when he chooses.
Here's Charlie.

Omgoodness you aren't kidding. Over the years I've had AT LEAST a dozen clients with small breed dogs that broke their legs. The most recent was just this past December, 4 month old schnauzer.
Charlie is adorable. Is he a lab or mix? We lost our senior dogs (lab mix and a doberman) last year and the year before. So we actually just recently adopted a puppy. I joke that his only redeeming quality is that he's going to turn into a dog eventually lol. But as of now he's very much a puppy. This is Laszlo. And I've officially hijacked this thread. Sorry.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Omgoodness you aren't kidding. Over the years I've had AT LEAST a dozen clients with small breed dogs that broke their legs. The most recent was just this past December, 4 month old schnauzer.
Charlie is adorable. Is he a lab or mix? We lost our senior dogs (lab mix and a doberman) last year and the year before. So we actually just recently adopted a puppy. I joke that his only redeeming quality is that he's going to turn into a dog eventually lol. But as of now he's very much a puppy. This is Laszlo. And I've officially hijacked this thread. Sorry.

Charlie just turned a year and is finally starting to resemble a dog instead of the evil spawn of satan we thought he was. He is a lab/pit mix and is as stubborn as he is energetic. He is a BIG TIME CHEWER and that is the last real bad habit that he is holding on to.
We lost 3 geriatric dogs (choc lab at 15, german shep mix at 17 and choc lab at 19yrs old) in a 2 yr span from 2014-2016. We had 2 if them from pups but were devastated by all their losses. It took us some time to be ready for another dog and we wanted a better living situation for him. So last year we got Charlie. Our older gals were VERY well trained and so Charlie has very high standards to live up to. He is taking way longer to train than our other dogs did, but he is slowly coming around.

Laszlo is a handsome fella!

 

[Painted Calls]

Laughing at all the small dog shade being thrown. I too share your sentiment. No ill will toward the yappy bitey little things. Just not for me.

I have a family of RT hawks that live here with the occasional drifter (that promptly gets chased away)... They are fearless. They will come right down and perch on the chicken pen while I'm right there. One I even had to throw a stick at because he wouldn't go away!

I haven't had any owls or eagles go after the chickens, but I did have a bald eagle go after a new calf. Greedy. Luckily my scream scared him off.

 

[ValerieJ]

Laughing at all the small dog shade being thrown. I too share your sentiment. No ill will toward the yappy bitey little things. Just not for me.

I have a family of RT hawks that live here with the occasional drifter (that promptly gets chased away)... They are fearless. They will come right down and perch on the chicken pen while I'm right there. One I even had to throw a stick at because he wouldn't go away!

I haven't had any owls or eagles go after the chickens, but I did have a bald eagle go after a new calf. Greedy. Luckily my scream scared him off.

We have had three calves killed by eagles in my area that I know of. No one ever believes me. They think coyotes must have killed it first. No. Coyotes don't leave an uneaten calf for the eagles. This the first year for that happening here, but if an eagle is hungry enough it will eat whatever it can.

 

[Painted Calls]

We have had three calves killed by eagles in my area that I know of. No one ever believes me. They think coyotes must have killed it first. No. Coyotes don't leave an uneaten calf for the eagles. This the first year for that happening here, but if an eagle is hungry enough it will eat whatever it can.

Yep, they certainly will go after calves! Nobody believes me either. I wish I'd have gotten it on camera. Knock on wood they haven't done it since. They sure like to perch here and just watch though. I give them the stink eye and tell them that's all they better be doing lol.

 

[ValerieJ]

Yep, they certainly will go after calves! Nobody believes me either. I wish I'd have gotten it on camera. Knock on wood they haven't done it since. They sure like to perch here and just watch though. I give them the stink eye and tell them that's all they better be doing lol.

My neighbor took a video of it. She sent it to me, but I didn't watch. Nope. Don't want to see an eagle eating a newborn calf right in front of its mother.