Attack of the Hawk

A few weekends ago, we witnessed a hawk take down a dove on our back patio at the rental cottage. A lot of feathers and squawking, but also a reminder of the predator/prey circle of life. Just two days ago, we experienced our first hawk air raid on the chickens. It was the early afternoon when we heard a commotion outside and we caught a glimpse of the chickens scurrying into the safety of their coop. Maya exclaimed "Hawk in the chicken coop!" and the sound of nearby panicking crows confirmed the danger. I ran outside still in my socks, clapping my hands to make as much noise as possible. By the time I got to the chicken run the chickens were all in their coop and clucking in alarm mode---no sign of the hawk, but two kinds of feathers scattered around. I counted the chickens (no easy feat when they are weaving around each other), then counted them two or three more times. 27 sounded like the right number but I asked Maya if she noticed any missing hens (she can identify them better than any of us). The feathers belonged to a random buff orpington survivor and to our lead Araucana rooster, Fluffy. Maya was shaken by the near-death experience but I reassured her that Fluffy was a hero, having protected his hens from the predator at the cost of a few feathers (which were then taped to a sheet of paper in honor of his courage). For several hours, the chickens stayed in their coop unless a human was nearby, and then we decided to add a barrier to the exposed top of the chicken run by stringing some twine back and forth like a loose web roof.



This won't stop a hawk, but it will hopefully serve as a deterrent to buy the chickens a few seconds to escape to safety should there be another attack. Despite our efforts to protect the chickens, we must accept natural attrition and predation if we intend to go fully free-range with these egg-layers in the future. One solution, I'm told, is to get goats mixed into the flock.