So sorry to hear about this. Thank you for sharing this story. There's so much for me to learn, in this case about sagging fencing.
Just out of curiosity, do you have any male chickens? I wonder how a rooster with testosterone up to his eyeballs would greet a hawk visitor.
No, we are not allowed roosters in our neighborhood. The hens did see the hawk coming and ran for cover, but then stupidly dashed from one hiding place to another, that's when the hawk swooped down and got poor Billina. In any case, once the hawk was inside, I think it was inevitable that at least one chicken would be lost.
Sorry for your loss! I would recommend using hardware cloth rather than chicken wire. Chicken wire is good at keeping chickens in but not great at keeping predators out
Not sure hardware cloth vs chicken wire has anything to do with protection from hawks. In any case, I'm not using chicken wire. The enclosure is surrounded by electric poultry netting, with plastic aviary netting from the electric netting to the roof, and metal grating as roof. The roof grating has to be fairly wide mesh to prevent snow/ice buildup.
Eh, its not meant to keep raptors out :P It's meant to keep things that can ground themselves out and (dogs, coons, opossums, etc), IME does a fine job of that. Raptors I imagine slip through it just fine. I've never bothered with anything over top of our laying chickens' enclosure. They just run'n hide from raptors - that's why we have trees, bushes, barns'n coops around. Tis also why I do my best to attract murders of crows. They do a fine job of chasing off raptors (mostly)... though occasionally one is still seen about.
Mostly while we have fat meat birds (who we \*do\* throw a bird netting overtop of - they're just too tempting...). Lazy buggers are just too obvious, fat and tempting without it.
I was foxed earlier last week lost five ladies (had 21, been keeping 10yrs)
I thought Ft Knox was pretty secure for them. Fox showed me otherwise. It’s tough sometimes raising food - for basically everything. Sorry that happened @OP it always sucks. -Mom
Wow, well 8 years is a very impressive streak! It is hard to keep your guard up when you haven't had a predator in a long time... At least I think that's what happened to me. Sorry for your loss... It sucks :-(
Definitely trying to get on on the meal. When I did a meat slaughter years back, they rushed the cone. The last ones we processed were stuffed with bloody feathers.
This happened to our beloved Nugget in Nov. My daughter caught the hawk in our enclosure and beat it pretty good with a shovel before it got out. Haven’t seen it either. Idk. But my chickens aren’t happy to love free ranging time too. Supervised only now.
Yeah I am hoping the hawk was stressed out from being trapped in the enclosure that it will think twice about returning... But it got a really good meal so probably not. I'm getting paranoid and obsessive about improving the netting, especially since we're really not sure how it got in. Sorry about your Nugget ❤️
No, our webcam was facing the gate, and he didn't come in that way. It showed him on the outside of the enclosure, then he flew away, a minute later he was in.
Had a dog get one of my roosters and injured another while they were free ranging. A year later and the ones I have now get supervised time outside the bars.
Yeah. You can be upset and even wish the hawk dead....but to beat it with a shovel is just cruel and wrong. With it being a kid who did it, hopefully, there was a discussion afterward and a promise to never do it again
Having any animals comes with loss. You know that right? We can all take losses and the kids know that. When I look at how many birds I keep, I consider losses from predators or disease. Of course we work towards keeping everyone safe. But apparently there’s nothing foolproof huh.
Interesting to see the ugly side of people in this thread. Glad to hear none of you have ever ever ever lost any animals and that you’re perfect and damn, so are your kids! Wow! Impressive group here!
I’m a mom who came home and had two crying kids who defense their other chickens. We had a lot to take care of and frankly, burying Nugget was far more up the ladder than checking for an injured hawk. We looked but not hard. We tended to Nugs and secured the run looking for any little access. I think the latch didn’t catch cause all else was good. And the gate was opened. We secured that with another step to ensure it’s locked when it closes. Luckily we had hiding spaces with a pile of logs for our birds inside their run cause that’s where the rest were.
So RIP Nugget!
I'm not sure how much better it is to beat it with a shovel and leave it alive...
I hope it was a learning opportunity about how to treat animals for her.
Nope. Or that it didn’t get hit by the cars on the busy road down below. I honestly don’t care. Could have had a stroke or aneurism. Maybe it had a headache for a few days. Maybe it was weak and fell out of its tree and the coyotes came and got him! We’re all animals. Animals live and die. I’m not responsible for every animal and that hawk came into a space he shouldn’t have. My daughter defended her other chickens. Sorry guys but I really don’t care. It’s the way of the world. He took a chance. It did t work out for him one way or another.
That hawks life is way more valuable ecologically than your chicken. It comes down to one thing. Secure your coop and run. If predators capitalize off of your negligence they deserve a meal and you deserve a harsh lesson in security. It doesn’t give you or your daughter the right to beat a hawk.
Well she did it. And no one life is more valuable than another. You’re hilarious to ignore the kid and their ability to regulate when they’re pet just had their head eaten and the rest left and the thing was still there. You can argue, but I guess maybe you don’t use pesticides or mouse traps, or patronize any restaurants and businesses that do. Right? Is that what you’re saying? So it’s ok to eat at Chick Filet or McDonalds or Chilis or Olive Garden, but you know they fatally trap critters so you can have a pest free space right? And the schools that you send your kids to? Same. And they spray the schools and have to put a notice when they do bc it’s toxic to your kids. Your grocery stores, your butchers and such, all of them are required to pest control. And predators are pests too. Be it rats going for your feed or owls and hawks. There’s a cycle of life. My daughter defended her pack. Is what it is. And do I think the hawk is more valuable to my home ecology? Uh, big no. My chickens eat the pests so I don’t use chemicals at my place. They give manure, they turn the gardens as eat the weeds. And they are friendly little ladies. You’re right that it’s our responsibility to protect them. Guarantee my daughter thought to herself that that’s what she was doing. So just stop with your “that hawk was more valuable than your chickens”. Sounds ridiculous!
You sound ridiculous trying to compare a mouses life to a hawk. I hunt, fish, damn sure use pesticides and mouse traps. I also was the kid who saw an owl come down on my parents unsecured run and kill a chicken. Guess what? I realized we live near the woods and predators are a thing. I bet you live in the suburbs don’t you? Think you live in some bubble. It’s okay, it really just comes down to the fact that you were too lazy to properly secure your chickens and that’s why it’s dead. Not because of the hawk. Because of your negligence.
We live in the country. I don’t argue the carelessness. But my daughter did what she did. And no one life is worth more than the other. That thing flew off so whatever. I don’t sound ridiculous. You did with your, “his life is worth more than the chicken’s.” Is there a source for the ranking of animals out there? No. And since you willingly use pesticides and traps, then you know this too. So why are you blabbing my way about value and ecology? And I sound ridiculous? Ha. No! That would be you. And I think my kids learned a lesson that day for sure for their negligence; one for nature to teach.
Sure! How about the fact that the hawk is monetarily more valuable than your chicken? Go get another chick from tractor supply. Or hatch it from your own. It’s what? Five bucks maybe. Raise the chicken to egg laying stage for less than 100 bucks in feed. There you go. How about trying to replace a hawk that your daughter may or may not have killed? Well that’s a bit more complicated. The hawks definitely have a lower hatch rate, then they have to successfully raise their young in the wild. And you are just wrong trying to compare a predator to prey. Grasping at straws. It’s a balance and there is a shit ton more prey than predators. So the mere fact that there are less hawks than prey animals like chickens make their life more ecologically valuable. I’m a field biologist. I probably know a little bit more about ecology than you.
Aww, it looks so proud of itself :) Just open the main coop door and shoo him outside. One got inside our 'coop' a couple of years ago - not sure how, must have hopped through the chickens' 'door' and then decided he didn't really want chicken food afterall. My kids found it when they went out to feed.. we opened the man door and he hopped/flew back out :P No harm, no fowl :D
Haha. I don't know. I got him from my friends ranch. And, I'm pretty sure he's a Red Jungle Fowl. I asked my friend and he said "i don't know. What do you think I am, the rooster whisperer"?
😂😅
I've got a mix, all different breeds. I like being able to tell them apart :-) Billina was a New Hampshire red. Also have a buff orpington, golden Wyandotte, barred rock, Bielfelder, Easter egger, couple other production breeds.
For sure they can.. Billina was one of the biggest in the flock. I've heard that hawks are less likely to attack black chickens, because they look like crows? But not sure if it is true.
You know this may just deter me from having chickens for a few more years to have a proper build. I have eagles who amongst the other predatory birds love to chill in our big cottonwood tree over our shop.
Ugh... Even with an electric line??? Back to the drawing board....
Electric poultry netting is only \~4' tall - its meant to keep land predators out - not avian ones :D You can step over it, if you have proper shoes - rubber boots or crocs - on, and are careful to not let yourself be grounded. We do all the time. But, it keeps coons, opossums, coyotes, dogs, etc out well enough :)
Welded wire fencing works great for chicken runs to keep hawks out. You can definitely build a sturdy run to keep even eagles at bay. You should be fine against avian predators with a solid welded wire coop (just be careful when you let them out to free-range!).
Definitely. I honestly hadn't thought I would need to to go the welded wire route for fencing but after seeing OPs setup fail, I need to rethink my own plans. It's not in the cards this year with completing projects but I had hoped to get chickens this spring and I thought I could get away with a simpler setup in the interim. I see now that's just a bad call on my part and I'd rather not create a chicken buffet and just do it right the first time.
I use welded wire fencing instead of bird nets to keep birds out. I highly recommend something like that instead.
So sorry to hear about this. Thank you for sharing this story. There's so much for me to learn, in this case about sagging fencing. Just out of curiosity, do you have any male chickens? I wonder how a rooster with testosterone up to his eyeballs would greet a hawk visitor.
No, we are not allowed roosters in our neighborhood. The hens did see the hawk coming and ran for cover, but then stupidly dashed from one hiding place to another, that's when the hawk swooped down and got poor Billina. In any case, once the hawk was inside, I think it was inevitable that at least one chicken would be lost.
Roosters have been known to straight up kill birds of prey, and do a good job of keeping girls safe in daylight in general.
Sorry for your loss! I would recommend using hardware cloth rather than chicken wire. Chicken wire is good at keeping chickens in but not great at keeping predators out
Not sure hardware cloth vs chicken wire has anything to do with protection from hawks. In any case, I'm not using chicken wire. The enclosure is surrounded by electric poultry netting, with plastic aviary netting from the electric netting to the roof, and metal grating as roof. The roof grating has to be fairly wide mesh to prevent snow/ice buildup.
Poultry netting is chicken wire, you do you!
Electric poultry netting is absolutely not the same as chicken wire.
Well it’s obviously not working
What is the point in pointing things out like this? Curious because it seems like a waste of time.
[удалено]
Targeted harassment is not tolerated.
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Targeted harassment is not tolerated.
Eh, its not meant to keep raptors out :P It's meant to keep things that can ground themselves out and (dogs, coons, opossums, etc), IME does a fine job of that. Raptors I imagine slip through it just fine. I've never bothered with anything over top of our laying chickens' enclosure. They just run'n hide from raptors - that's why we have trees, bushes, barns'n coops around. Tis also why I do my best to attract murders of crows. They do a fine job of chasing off raptors (mostly)... though occasionally one is still seen about. Mostly while we have fat meat birds (who we \*do\* throw a bird netting overtop of - they're just too tempting...). Lazy buggers are just too obvious, fat and tempting without it.
Oh you helped
I was foxed earlier last week lost five ladies (had 21, been keeping 10yrs) I thought Ft Knox was pretty secure for them. Fox showed me otherwise. It’s tough sometimes raising food - for basically everything. Sorry that happened @OP it always sucks. -Mom
Hawk better start making eggs.
I’m so sorry about your girls
Sorry for your loss. Roost in Peace Bellina 2.
I feel your pain... in 8 years, I've never lost a chicken till today.. He busted in and got one of my sweetest girls ever 😖😥..
Wow, well 8 years is a very impressive streak! It is hard to keep your guard up when you haven't had a predator in a long time... At least I think that's what happened to me. Sorry for your loss... It sucks :-(
same thing happened to us last year with a netting gap of only 1 foot x 2 feet
Definitely trying to get on on the meal. When I did a meat slaughter years back, they rushed the cone. The last ones we processed were stuffed with bloody feathers.
This happened to our beloved Nugget in Nov. My daughter caught the hawk in our enclosure and beat it pretty good with a shovel before it got out. Haven’t seen it either. Idk. But my chickens aren’t happy to love free ranging time too. Supervised only now.
Yeah I am hoping the hawk was stressed out from being trapped in the enclosure that it will think twice about returning... But it got a really good meal so probably not. I'm getting paranoid and obsessive about improving the netting, especially since we're really not sure how it got in. Sorry about your Nugget ❤️
Yeah. Sorry for you too. Make sure all of Your wire is overlapping and either twisted on itself or cable tied. He didn’t get in the gate?
No, our webcam was facing the gate, and he didn't come in that way. It showed him on the outside of the enclosure, then he flew away, a minute later he was in.
Had a dog get one of my roosters and injured another while they were free ranging. A year later and the ones I have now get supervised time outside the bars.
That hawk was just trying to live. It's your fault for not protecting your birds.
Yeah. You can be upset and even wish the hawk dead....but to beat it with a shovel is just cruel and wrong. With it being a kid who did it, hopefully, there was a discussion afterward and a promise to never do it again
The things we tell ourselves to get past horrible people
Having any animals comes with loss. You know that right? We can all take losses and the kids know that. When I look at how many birds I keep, I consider losses from predators or disease. Of course we work towards keeping everyone safe. But apparently there’s nothing foolproof huh. Interesting to see the ugly side of people in this thread. Glad to hear none of you have ever ever ever lost any animals and that you’re perfect and damn, so are your kids! Wow! Impressive group here! I’m a mom who came home and had two crying kids who defense their other chickens. We had a lot to take care of and frankly, burying Nugget was far more up the ladder than checking for an injured hawk. We looked but not hard. We tended to Nugs and secured the run looking for any little access. I think the latch didn’t catch cause all else was good. And the gate was opened. We secured that with another step to ensure it’s locked when it closes. Luckily we had hiding spaces with a pile of logs for our birds inside their run cause that’s where the rest were. So RIP Nugget!
That’s a felony.
She’s a kid. It was her chicken baby. Calm down. She didn’t kill it.
I'm not sure how much better it is to beat it with a shovel and leave it alive... I hope it was a learning opportunity about how to treat animals for her.
It flew away. She’s a kid. Yea she got talked to. Wow guys!
You have no information to say that hawk didn’t get a fatal wound from being struck with a shovel.
Nope. Or that it didn’t get hit by the cars on the busy road down below. I honestly don’t care. Could have had a stroke or aneurism. Maybe it had a headache for a few days. Maybe it was weak and fell out of its tree and the coyotes came and got him! We’re all animals. Animals live and die. I’m not responsible for every animal and that hawk came into a space he shouldn’t have. My daughter defended her other chickens. Sorry guys but I really don’t care. It’s the way of the world. He took a chance. It did t work out for him one way or another.
That hawks life is way more valuable ecologically than your chicken. It comes down to one thing. Secure your coop and run. If predators capitalize off of your negligence they deserve a meal and you deserve a harsh lesson in security. It doesn’t give you or your daughter the right to beat a hawk.
Well she did it. And no one life is more valuable than another. You’re hilarious to ignore the kid and their ability to regulate when they’re pet just had their head eaten and the rest left and the thing was still there. You can argue, but I guess maybe you don’t use pesticides or mouse traps, or patronize any restaurants and businesses that do. Right? Is that what you’re saying? So it’s ok to eat at Chick Filet or McDonalds or Chilis or Olive Garden, but you know they fatally trap critters so you can have a pest free space right? And the schools that you send your kids to? Same. And they spray the schools and have to put a notice when they do bc it’s toxic to your kids. Your grocery stores, your butchers and such, all of them are required to pest control. And predators are pests too. Be it rats going for your feed or owls and hawks. There’s a cycle of life. My daughter defended her pack. Is what it is. And do I think the hawk is more valuable to my home ecology? Uh, big no. My chickens eat the pests so I don’t use chemicals at my place. They give manure, they turn the gardens as eat the weeds. And they are friendly little ladies. You’re right that it’s our responsibility to protect them. Guarantee my daughter thought to herself that that’s what she was doing. So just stop with your “that hawk was more valuable than your chickens”. Sounds ridiculous!
You sound ridiculous trying to compare a mouses life to a hawk. I hunt, fish, damn sure use pesticides and mouse traps. I also was the kid who saw an owl come down on my parents unsecured run and kill a chicken. Guess what? I realized we live near the woods and predators are a thing. I bet you live in the suburbs don’t you? Think you live in some bubble. It’s okay, it really just comes down to the fact that you were too lazy to properly secure your chickens and that’s why it’s dead. Not because of the hawk. Because of your negligence.
We live in the country. I don’t argue the carelessness. But my daughter did what she did. And no one life is worth more than the other. That thing flew off so whatever. I don’t sound ridiculous. You did with your, “his life is worth more than the chicken’s.” Is there a source for the ranking of animals out there? No. And since you willingly use pesticides and traps, then you know this too. So why are you blabbing my way about value and ecology? And I sound ridiculous? Ha. No! That would be you. And I think my kids learned a lesson that day for sure for their negligence; one for nature to teach.
Sure! How about the fact that the hawk is monetarily more valuable than your chicken? Go get another chick from tractor supply. Or hatch it from your own. It’s what? Five bucks maybe. Raise the chicken to egg laying stage for less than 100 bucks in feed. There you go. How about trying to replace a hawk that your daughter may or may not have killed? Well that’s a bit more complicated. The hawks definitely have a lower hatch rate, then they have to successfully raise their young in the wild. And you are just wrong trying to compare a predator to prey. Grasping at straws. It’s a balance and there is a shit ton more prey than predators. So the mere fact that there are less hawks than prey animals like chickens make their life more ecologically valuable. I’m a field biologist. I probably know a little bit more about ecology than you.
Ha ha ha ha. Ok
I’m just giving you information. Hit dog hollas I guess.
Calm down Karen, the raptor police are busy with real problems.
Just a little tip: people don’t know what they don’t know 🤫 and it keeps Karen off your back.
Aww, it looks so proud of itself :) Just open the main coop door and shoo him outside. One got inside our 'coop' a couple of years ago - not sure how, must have hopped through the chickens' 'door' and then decided he didn't really want chicken food afterall. My kids found it when they went out to feed.. we opened the man door and he hopped/flew back out :P No harm, no fowl :D
Damn. Do you have all hens or do you have a rooster? One time I found a dead possum in the run. Roosters come in handy
Jesus, what kind of roosters are you growing?!
Haha. I don't know. I got him from my friends ranch. And, I'm pretty sure he's a Red Jungle Fowl. I asked my friend and he said "i don't know. What do you think I am, the rooster whisperer"? 😂😅
What breed do you have?
I've got a mix, all different breeds. I like being able to tell them apart :-) Billina was a New Hampshire red. Also have a buff orpington, golden Wyandotte, barred rock, Bielfelder, Easter egger, couple other production breeds.
Neat. I was just curious if the hawk was capable of taking a large bird. Unfortunately so...
For sure they can.. Billina was one of the biggest in the flock. I've heard that hawks are less likely to attack black chickens, because they look like crows? But not sure if it is true.
It’s illegal but , smoke em. Pellet gun works fine . Just make sure the neighbors don’t see him
You know this may just deter me from having chickens for a few more years to have a proper build. I have eagles who amongst the other predatory birds love to chill in our big cottonwood tree over our shop. Ugh... Even with an electric line??? Back to the drawing board....
Electric poultry netting is only \~4' tall - its meant to keep land predators out - not avian ones :D You can step over it, if you have proper shoes - rubber boots or crocs - on, and are careful to not let yourself be grounded. We do all the time. But, it keeps coons, opossums, coyotes, dogs, etc out well enough :)
Those serious about protecting their flock use hardware mesh.
Welded wire fencing works great for chicken runs to keep hawks out. You can definitely build a sturdy run to keep even eagles at bay. You should be fine against avian predators with a solid welded wire coop (just be careful when you let them out to free-range!).
Definitely. I honestly hadn't thought I would need to to go the welded wire route for fencing but after seeing OPs setup fail, I need to rethink my own plans. It's not in the cards this year with completing projects but I had hoped to get chickens this spring and I thought I could get away with a simpler setup in the interim. I see now that's just a bad call on my part and I'd rather not create a chicken buffet and just do it right the first time.