My son has chickens, 16 I believe, he has lost a few to predators, they are out of their pen during the day, but the other day he lost the pretty rooster, golden polish, he had won in a pet contest and blue ribbon at the fair. The neighbors dogs escaped their pen and they were awakened by the indoor dog barking his head off, this was 6 a.m. dog inside the pen, it was covered in that chicken mesh stuff, now covered in the heavier wire. He has cochins, a blue silkie (rooster), domineckers, white crested polish, two kinds that came from rural King that I don't know what they are, but they keep to themselves, I would get chickens too, but we have alot of dogs going through as well as all the other varmits..hope you enjoy yours as much as we have theirs.

Y'all, if I never again see the puffed-up head of a venomous snake staring at me from a feathered fowl lying dead on the ground, that will be OK with me. You just don't know how close I came to that bird...and was bending over and reaching down to pick it up to dispose of it....before I saw the snake! I learned a lesson that is a good one for anyone out in a rural area.....don't attempt to dispose of a wild critter until you make sure it isn't harboring another wild thing. I also learned long ago that it is better to whip out the cell phone and call someone nearby to either come shoot the thing, or to at least stand and watch it for me while I go for a gun, because if you go inside to get the gun, that snake is going to disappear and you'll have to worry about it popping up and getting a pet or person some other day. I felt kind of bad for both of them.....the snake, after all, was only defending itself, and the hawk was just looking for a meal. None of our neighbors have ever seen a snake get a hawk, although plenty have seen hawks scoop down and pick up snakes. Around here, if you are firing a shotgun, you have to let everyone around you know why so they won't be worried that you are "in trouble" and need help. All our neighbors said they hadn't thought the snakes were up yet, so appreciated the warning....especially those with grandchildren or great-grandchildren visiting for spring break. Randy, I am starting to wonder myself. It is so darn warm here and all the critters are out and about--especially the frogs, toads and grasshoppers. My guineas are wearing themselves out chasing grasshoppers all day. They "collapse" on the lawn at 3 or 4 p.m. every day, fat and full of hoppers, and too tired to move. If the ten-day forecast looks good on Sunday, I may start planting warm-season crops, including tomatoes. Our air temps and soil temps are great here right now. I think it could be that this is our "one year in ten" that the weather cuts us a break! It is cool, cloudy and overcast here today, although those conditions are aggravated by the extreme smoke in the air. (County commissioners lifted the burn ban and everyone is burning brush piles, field stubble, etc. and our air is positively filthy with smoke and ash.) We're supposed to get rain, but it seems to be staying east of us. Dawn

cheryllynn744: (The thread that will never end :-) Your question is what started this thread, lo, those many years ago. Best thing I've been able to do is to use one of those New Year's noise-makers that you crank that makes an ungodly noise--something the hawk has not previously heard that will freak him/her out. I have a stuffed owl up in my back yard, and it might as well not be there. For me, it worked fine for a week, and every bird in the vicinity was stressed out and came to squawk at it from a safe distance, and some were bold enough to get quite close. Couple of Bluebirds flew right above it, and hovered (as Bluebirds will) for a few moments, checking it out. But unless you move the decoy almost daily, songbirds soon learn that it is no threat to them, and they won't pay any more attention to it. Been there for about a year, and most of its feathers are gone, but it still has the silouhette of an owl--to no avail. -------------------------------------------------------- Recent hawk episode for me involved a dove nesting in my window sill. Doves--like pigeons--are "ledge nesters", and sometimes only place a few sticks on a ledge to keep the (2) eggs from rolling away. My dove built a little more elaborate nest, with lots of sticks forming a nest between my double-hung window and double-hung storm window, about 4 inches apart. I had the storm window raised about 10 inches, quite by mistake, and a dove nested there last year (between the 2 windows) and fledged 2 baby doves. Success! Another dove used the same nest this year, and added sticks to it. Unfortunately, the dove began setting on eggs about March 4th, where there were no leaves on the trees (yet) in my area, and the dove was more visible than last year. One morning about 2 weeks ago, I heard a THUMP on the window about daylight, and I opened the curtain and looked out. The dove was gone, the 2 white eggs were exposed in the nest, and a Peregrine Falcon was sitting on a tree limb outside the window, no more than 3 or 4 feet away. The Falcon saw me through the window pane, and flew off. The dove stayed away the rest of the day, and did not come back and begin setting on the eggs (again) until the next day. I thought it was rather remarkable that it even returned, after being attacked by a hawk (falcon). I had no idea how it survived the attack, since it seemed more-or-less trapped there, inside the two windows. But the THUMP sounded like the falcon hitting the window, so somehow, it slipped away. Maybe the falcon tried to attack from above, and hit the glass above the dove. I had an idea the falcon would come back and try again and sure enough, about 4 days later, another WHUMP on the window. Same result--I looked out, the dove was gone, the eggs were exposed, and the Peregrine Falcon was 3 or 4 feet away on a tree branch. But this time, I had gotten my crank, New Year's noise-maker out of the closet and had it on my dresser. I grabbed it, and ran up the hall and opened the front door as quietly as I could. The falcon was still sitting in the tree, and I eased out and cranked-out a bunch of raucous noise while running toward the tree, and the falcon freaked out and flew out of the tree. Unbelievable that the dove returned AGAIN, only a few hours later, and began setting on its eggs again, the very same day, after (somehow) surviving the second strike by the Peregrine Falcon!! Again, it sounded like the falcon hit the glass above the dove. The falcon did not return, and the dove continued setting for about 3 or 4 more days. Then one morning I heard noise in the window, and I peeped out to see the dove turning the eggs over beneath it, and it appeared to be examining them. Soon after, it flew away, and left the nest and the eggs, and did not return. After the dove did not come back many days later, it was obvious the dove had abandoned the nest, and I raised the window and got the 2 eggs out, and put them in my basement. I have an idea what I will find when I crack them open; I think I'll find 2 babies that were nearly ready to hatch until the dove flew away after the first falcon strike and stayed away for more than a day. I believe the eggs may have got too cold that night she was away, and the babies inside probably froze--or otherwise died wiithout their mother there to keep them warm. Shame that she spent weeks there, only to have it end that way. But amazing that she had the resolve to return after 2 falcon attacks and continue to TRY and hatch the eggs. And more amazing that she escaped with her own life. wt

Yes, I agree places to hide are a great help. About a year ago, my husband was standing near the chicken coop, which has trees/shrubs dotted around it, they were out running around, and a hawk landed on a lower branch just 10 feet away from him and aimed at one of the hens. He immediately shouted "hey!" at it and it was so startled it almost fell, but then flew off. In another incident, my largest Golden Laced Wyandotte hen had a small skirmish with a redtail hawk. I was in a nearby garden, and at first thought 2 hens were fighting over something, but the hawk jumped up to a limb and we made eye contact, and it flew away. The Roo was on his way, but I'm glad the hen was on the large side so she had a chance at holding her own for a few seconds. The turkey vultures like to circle low over them as well, and I've been told that they likely won't eat the chickens, but the way they behave, I think they will! They get very low, and I can see their eyes!