So Upset

V

victorias poultry

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Went to start shuting the hens up this evening at around 4 pm and found one of my lovely gold laced orpington bantams dead in the snow in her compound. Something had eaten it, left its head, wings and feet but eaten her insides yet no blood in the snow.
Feel so upset she was a lovely girl, loved a cuddle.
Will have to go through the security camera tomorrow to see if I can find what killed her, but don;t know if I have the heart to watch it...
Buzzard ? Hawk ?

Any ideas on how to deter it, as don;t really want to shoot it as I know it is only nature.
 
Oh I'm so sorry Sue.

It sounds like a bird of prey to me, most likely a Buzzard. They land on the back, ripping at the neck as quickly as they can to kill the bird and then eat the body, leaving head, wings and a heap of feathers.

As for stopping them... covered runs? Bird scarers? Even a rope across the run, zig zagged to make a sort of 'net' can be enough to put them off as they only usually take them from an open space and won't risk diving in through ropes.

It can help to give the hens a covered area where they can hide too - a cockerel will warn the hens and they will run for cover if a bird of prey appears overhead.

It is probably only because food is in such short supply for them at this time with the snow and so on I guess.

Tim
 
i had same prob had a hawk used to try getting my hens i put a old thin net one i used for covering my strawberry plants you can get a realy good size for a few quid but it worked for me stoped him swooping down over my run its just enough to put them off and give the chooks time to get to cover hope this helps but sometimes the dafted method works best sorry to hear about your bird i know it hurts if you lose one thanks tommy and happy xmas
 
Sorry Sue how upsetting------maybe get someone else to watch the tape for you,if you can spot what was guilty then its easier for you to devise revenge/deterrant. Ros
 
Really sorry Sue, :( I know it will be hard but a very good idea by Podstable to get someone else to watch it for you.
 
:cry: :cry: :cry: This probably did happen due to the harsh weather but it does't make it any easier to accept.
 
Now if I'm not mistaken, having known Sue to have alarms going off through the night when a fox breaks the infra-red beams around her enclosure... and being well, shall we say rather dedicated... I'm sure she will come bouncing back from this shortly.... watch this space!

I hope you can come up with something Sue.

It is interesting how the weather changes nature though - I'm sure this was exceptional due to the shortage of food. If it had happened in the warmer months then it would have been quite a worry but once the weather changes, I hope it won't be a regular occurance. :-)02
 
Watched the tape back, the "murder" happened at 11am, looks like a buzzard, it swooped down very quickly, but have to say stopped the tape it as it flew into the compound as I could not bear to watch. The gold laced run is 40ft x 20ft so hard to net over, their hen house is 8ft x 4ft on logs and around 2ft off the ground, so they can get underneath (their food and water is kept under there also).
I have not seen any birds of prey since and hoping it was just a one off, I know they need to feed and is only nature but why do they always so for the friendliest birds??
I am just hoping that her death was quick and that she did not suffer.

Thankyou all for your kind words..
 
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