Black Vultures

[Rosieposie6]

Howdy I have a dumb question but here it is! Are vultures considered predators to chickens? I’ve been seeing em fly over lately they don't attack or anything thou. A few weeks ago 3 of em were circling over my chickens and it made me a bit nervous. We usually only get red tail hawks in our area but was curious about em. Never heard of attacks from em but I could be living under a rock!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We have them here too. Never seen them attack anything. They are scavengers and are looking for deceased critters.

 

[SamLockwood]

I've heard that they may try to snatch small chicks, but I haven't really seen any of the ones around me exhibit anything remotely aggressive. My flock gets nervous whenever they come around like any other large bird flying overhead, but the only time they interact at all is if there's carrion near the fence line. Then the guineas scream at the vultures while the vultures ignore them.

 

[coach723]

There are many articles, some say black vultures do kill livestock sometimes and turkey vultures don't, some say the opposite.
Most say black vultures are the ones that go after livestock on occasion, and have been known to kill newborn calves, piglets and goats.
This is one on Florida vultures:
https://avibirds.com/vultures-in-florida/
We have both here, a lot of them, and I've never had a problem with my chickens. I have a large, open but fenced, run, and I've had them fly over, but never land. My roo's always alert when they fly over and my chickens take cover. On foggy mornings they often roost in dead snags or on power transmission towers in large numbers, which is pretty creepy looking.
I think, like many predators, opportunities vary, depends on how the food supply for them has been, numbers of birds, how hungry they are. I wouldn't necessarily just assume it could NEVER happen, but I don't lose sleep over it. If you have places your birds can get under cover, bushes, tarps, etc, places to hide, it will minimize the risk. I always have my chicks growing out in a covered run, either a tarp or bird netting at minimum, so they are safe from hawks also, until they are bigger. Most air born predators will not fly into or land in a place where they are not comfortable of escaping, or where the odds are against them. Just running strings across the top of a run in a random pattern can be enough to convince a flying predator not to try. I've seen some hang old CD's or DVD's also, the flash of light reflecting can help deter them.

 

[Qwerty3159]

The new world vultures (black, turkey, condors, etc) are generally considered scavengers but they will hunt for easy meals.

If you’ve ever seen a nature documentary with baby sea turtles running to the ocean, black vultures are one of numerous predators that will pick them off.

That being said, vultures are not really suited to hunt down or dispatch able bodied prey. They’re much better at taking down newborn animals (like chicks or turtle hatchlings) or eggs. I have read a lot of sources about them killing young mammalian livestock but I’m not sure how much of this can be attributed to the health of the livestock animal itself. Reports of them somehow maiming and injuring the mother cow also seem completely overblown. In all these cases there’s a convenient lack of data to show that say, the mother cow was incapacitated by the birth and then the vultures set in. An abandoned calf for instance could be killed by vultures in theory, but I think this would still qualify as a dying animal. I think it would be quite hard for even 10 black or turkey vultures to take down a calf or lamb that was able bodied. Especially with the mother around, no way are they equipped, suited to, or known for obtaining meals that involve a struggle.

I guess all in all, keep an eye on your chicks if vultures are around but you’d have to be very unlucky to have problems with them. The hawks and such you don’t see as often that might be lurking in the trees are a far bigger threat. Vultures are also big and ungainly birds compared to hawks, a hawk could make a relatively easy pass through an open chicken run but the vulture would be less agile and quick. I could see them picking off an unattended chick in an open field or lawn, but have serious doubts on their ability to penetrate (or even attempt to penetrate) any type of poultry housing.

 

[coach723]

Here is an article from last year, it's becoming a problem in the midwest, their populations are increasing and their territories are getting bigger.
https://www.kcur.org/2023-08-17/black-vultures-kill-livestock-territory-expanding
I've not heard any local stories here, in N. Florida, about killing of live animals. But lots of roadkill they are all over.

 

[GraceAndHopeFarm]

I have a TON of vultures here but they have never attacked anything in the coop. We have two large geese in there now as insurance against airborne predators. The only incident we had was a hawk trying to attack one of the geese. The goose easily got away.

The vultures are impressive in how quickly they can lay waste to a dead animal. Recently, we had a deer struck on the road. The carcas landed in my neighbors yard. He move it two days later after the vultures reduced it to bones and a head. The speed was astonishing!

 

[123RedBeard]

From - https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/black-vulture

Black vultures occasionally kill young opossums, skunks, and other small animals, including the young of livestock, as well as eggs of birds and reptiles.

https://www.stlpr.org/2021-03-29/a-very-aggressive-nasty-bird-missouri-fights-deadly-black-vultures

 

[mcdze]

i got tons of them around here, ive never witnessed them after my chickens, but im wary if theyre low and feeding on something nearby .. its not uncommon for eagles or hawks to be following the action on a carcass and theyll definitely hit your birds ...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Here is an article from last year, it's becoming a problem in the midwest, their populations are increasing and their territories are getting bigger.
https://www.kcur.org/2023-08-17/black-vultures-kill-livestock-territory-expanding
I've not heard any local stories here, in N. Florida, about killing of live animals. But lots of roadkill they are all over.

We have plenty of roadkill around here too, so perhaps that's why I haven't seen any aggressive behaviors out of the ones around here.