Late yesterday afternoon I heard my chickens having one of their usual squabbles, or so I thought until I heard the sliding glass door being thumped. I went to investigate and a couple of them were frantically trying to get in the house (we keep them in a fenced area adjacent to the house). I looked past them and saw a feathery non-chicken body. I leaped outside and shooed away what appeared to be a hawk, which had pinned down one of my Golden Comets. When I turned around all the chickens had disappeared - they had gone into the shrubbery next to the house. There were a lot of feathers on the ground in two spots. The hawk came back once and my husband chased it off again. It looked too small to have carried a chicken off but I'm sure it would have killed and eaten it in place.
One of the chickens (not the Golden Comet), kept making a strange purring sound I'd never heard them make. We had a hard time coaxing the birds out of the shrubs to get them into the coop. They all appear to be moving normally but I noticed patches where the feathers came off the Comet. She wouldn't let us approach to examine her. Am I right that we should keep the coop closed up today, that the hawk will probably be back? How long will my girls probably be shaken up? If they won't let me touch them I can't check for injuries. I'm going to get an owl decoy and try some of those CDs people have mentioned. Other thoughts?
One of the chickens (not the Golden Comet), kept making a strange purring sound I'd never heard them make. We had a hard time coaxing the birds out of the shrubs to get them into the coop. They all appear to be moving normally but I noticed patches where the feathers came off the Comet. She wouldn't let us approach to examine her. Am I right that we should keep the coop closed up today, that the hawk will probably be back? How long will my girls probably be shaken up? If they won't let me touch them I can't check for injuries. I'm going to get an owl decoy and try some of those CDs people have mentioned. Other thoughts?