Red Kites

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Not sure on the spelling, i mean the birds not the childrens toys :-)07
Anyway several years ago these birds were introduced to an area on my county and dont get me wrong I love to see them soaring up in the sky, well until today.

Was sitting in the garden and happened to look up and there was one circling round in the skies above.
it wasnt exactly over my garden be none the less in the village and possibly to close for comfort.

My girls are free range during the day so what im asking is are they safe or are the kites [not sure on spelling] likely to think of them as tasty morsels?

If they are a threat, other than shutting my hens in is there anything I can do to deter them from coming in to the garden EG: fencing of any sort?
Sue.
 
i imagine they may be a risk. they would have a chick for certain. my hens go crazy when big birds go over them. maybe a bird scarer may work? big pair of eyes or a few cd's hanging up? or a fake cat on the lawn??
 
I've always thought they are a threat. I'm not sure what you can do to scare them off but we do have a few buzzards and other birds of prey where we are. Our girls are also free range and always spot them - as soon as they do they run like the wind and hide under the hedges or trees. Have they got any shelter they can hide under?
 
Yes theres a big shrubbery that they tend to go into. Most of my girls are quite savvy about taking cover if anything startles them,
but Im a bit worried about my new ex-bats, only had them a fortnight and they dont even know how to get out of the rain, just stand around dripping.

Do you think they will eventually learn from the other chickens?
 
Seem to remember seeing somewhere that Red Kites prefer carrion (though I could be wrong - was a while ago & I could be getting muddled with similar-type birds...). Will see if I can find the info...

Wrt to your ex-batts - they'll gradually learn what to do from your other hens, but when we got ours we had no others for them to learn from & they still learnt about sheltering from rain or the sun, etc as their natural instincts kicked in & they got used to being out & about.


ETA: just did a quick search about Red Kites & it says while they take carrion they will take live prey like earthworms & small mammals & birds. Despite their size they're v light birds so can't handle large prey & even struggle with carrion unless it's small or a bigger bird/animal has already started on it. Here's a link (hope it's ok to post it) www.redkites.co.uk
 
Thanks Sejjie thhats really helpful. Just going to have a read through the link. :D

The 1st chickens I ever got were 4 ex-batts and they were clueless as to what to do.
Didnt know what to do with corn, didnt scratch and would stand around waiting for ME to dig up their worms.
As I added other chickens that were non-batts the original 4 started to pick up on what they were doing.
They are all now expert wormers and scratchers. Real proper chickens, so Im hoping my 3 new ex-batts will learn from watching the others.

Thanks for the info.
 
Have spoken to a game-keeper friend about Red Kites. He's never known them to take live hens as they're too big/heavy for them but has said they will take chicks if they have the opportunity. Apparently buzzards pose more of a risk to fully grown hens. We have loads of those here but they've not taken any of ours in the few years we've been keeping hens.
 
As has already been said, Red Kites and Buzzards pose little threat to Poultry. we have both here, and Ive seen both feeding on roadkill, but only very rarely have I heard of Buzzards taking young pheasant Poults. only yesterday I came upon a Buzzard feeding on a road kill hen Pheasant, and as I approached it managed to get it's talons hung up in the carcass, which prevented it from taking to the air. Neither Species would be capable of carrying a hen away.
Kites are largely scavengers, and in medieval times were common in towns where they fed on the detritus on the streets!
 
Thanks for the replies, that has put my mind at rest. :D
As my husband tells me all to often, I worry far to much about my girls. :)
 
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