On Wednesday afternoon, I heard a noise out near the coop but didn't think too much about it...When I walked up there a few minutes later, to my horror, I found a pile of feathers right outside the coop and only six chickens to be found!!! I was so saddened by what appears to be an "unprovoked" red tail hawk attack!!! At first I was really mad, mad enough that I thought, if it comes back here and I see it, it will be in my gun sight, but my rational side soon prevailed and I realized, it was my fault, not the hawks fault, not the chickens fault!!! I spent all of my energy trying to build a predator proof fortress from the ground up, but failed to cover the coop from aerial predators!!! How stupid...what was I thinking??? I guess I wasn't, so a lesson well learned...My only hope is that she died instantly and didn't suffer too much.
In the mean time I had to quickly rig up something to protect the coop. Fortunately I had a very large dark green tarp for which my dad and I were able to use as a temporary roof for their coop run until we figure out a more permanent solution to enclosing the coop run with a "hawk barrier". We did see a red tailed hawk today, it soared over the house, looking for another free meal I'm sure. But, the tarp that is now acting as both camouflage and aerial protection must have worked because the hawk kept going and never came back, at least from what I could tell!!!
If anyone has any advice on a coop run cover (material's, etc.) or protecting a flock from raptor's, please pass it along!!!
R Dean in mourning...
I've heard about taking fishing line and weaving it back and forth. I don't know. They say the birds cant see it and dive fo the chickens. They get tangled in it so you can decide what you want to do with it.
ReplyDeleteWe put chicken wire over ours, the thin kind and metal t poles to hold it up down the middle. It kind of drapes and bows in the middle but it works. My friend took thin wire and crisscrossed it across the top of her run. Oh by the way if it rains make sure you have a few holes in that tarp...experience speaking here lol.
ReplyDeleteSFG and Denise, thanks for your idea's...you won't believe it, she came back this morning..I posted the story a few minutes ago...R Dean
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