bird of prey attacking chickens!!!

[joesmummy]

hi there, i wonder if any one can help. We think we have at least one, possibly two birds of prey hunting in our garden. Up until recently we noticed that the pigeons in our garden were being killed and just the breast of the bird was being eaten. My partner saw, from a distance, a large brown bird with quite large wingspan with white feathers underneath the wing and also on wing and tail tips. Now we think it has stated on our chickens. We have lost two in two days, both killed early in morning with the flesh stripped off neck and eyes taken too. Earlier today both myself and my partner saw two large birds, brown in colour, large wings with white edges swoop down into large ash tree in our garden, we tried to get a closer look but they flew away. we had a lot of birds in our garden, we live in a very rural area in lincolnshire, but the nuber of birds has dropped drastically over past few weeks. any information anyone has would be gratefully recieved.

[barquar]

If its the crop of the pigeons that as been eaten it may be that rats are your culprits as they will tear open the crop to get the corn out.
Barquar

[joesmummy]

hi there, thanks for your help. The pigeons that were attacked had their breast meat eaten only and everything else was intact. in the chicken pen the chickens that were attacked had had all the meat stripped off the neck and also eyes taken. We have not seen any evidence of rats around but obviously you could be right but both myself and my partner have seen at least one, maybe two of these big birds. Any other suggestions?

[Speranza]

I used to use sound effects and plastic kite tails strung around the place when I had the same problem - they didn't like punk or the kite tails (luckily no neighbours) - saw one bird of prey strike - ghastly - got my hen by the neck!

[Jason Green]

we had a lot of birds in our garden, we live in a very rural area in lincolnshire, but the nuber of birds has dropped drastically over past few weeks. any information anyone has would be gratefully recieved.

I wouldn't think this has anything to do with predation, necessarily - as the temperature drops due to the onset of winter, garden birds often move away from rural settings and into towns for more food, particularly as the 'summer berries' are depleted and as people in towns put out bird food for them...

Welcome to WAB, BTW

[Geoff F]

It sounds a bit like the actions of Sparrowhawks which often frequent gardens etc while hunting for small birds, although your description of brown birds with large wingspan tends to point towards buzzards.

Buzzards don't commonly come close to human habitation but this sort of behaviour isn't unknown for them in rural locations, especially early in the morning.

Check the Gallery photos to look for a matching bird. Also see Kestrel but I doubt this would be the culprit.

Failing this, we are considering one of the rarieties. But I would bet on it being be a couple of rogue buzzards.

While I regularly see these birds they aren't my speciality, so perhaps one of the raptor experts can shed more light on the subject.

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by joesmummy

The pigeons that were attacked had their breast meat eaten only and everything else was intact. in the chicken pen the chickens that were attacked had had all the meat stripped off the neck and also eyes taken.

The pigeons are classic Bird of prey kills, the chickens sound more like a mammal and possbly crows have had the eyes. Birds of prey dont strip the neck, but will eat the brains.

[Jim Ford]

Don't Harris Hawks co-operate in hunting their prey?

I know they're not native, but they could be escapees.

Jim

[joesmummy]

hi, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. just a quick up date on the situation, no dead chickens today (wednesday) and no large bird sightings, however, and this is the strange part, two of our chickens have disappeared without a trace. There is no sign of any forced entry into chicken pen, it is almost as if they have been carried off by something! the flock dont seem to be at all upset. Its all very very odd!

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by joesmummy

hi, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. just a quick up date on the situation, no dead chickens today (wednesday) and no large bird sightings, however, and this is the strange part, two of our chickens have disappeared without a trace. There is no sign of any forced entry into chicken pen, it is almost as if they have been carried off by something! the flock dont seem to be at all upset. Its all very very odd!

Something or SOMEONE? Sounds like somebody may have stolen your chucks- I'm sure an animal would have left some signs.