Hawk attack

[Rosieposie6]

My beautiful rooster Moose was killed today by a large hawk. I am so sad, never thought I would cry over a chicken but I did. He was a lovely sweet boy, died defending the hens. They are all safe thankfully I think he tried to keep them safe. He just started crowing a few weeks ago so he was still young he was our first rooster. We tend to have hawk attacks more in our area during this time of year than any other time. The one part of the netting I had left open so I can easily get inside their run I left open after cleaning their coop, I should have known better. It was a clear blue sky day which we haven’t had in awhile with the heavy snow so the hawks were out hunting. Gotta keep a close eye on the ladies for the next week annd not let them free range especially cause I know the hawk might come back. So sad thou

 

[SmiYa0126]

I'm so sorry! Sending warm hugs!

 

[AGeese]

Poor Moose, sorry for your loss sounds like he served well. What breed was he and how large?

 

[Rosieposie6]

He was a Welsummer. Not too big yet he was just putting on more weight and crowing so just coming into manhood! The hawk was almost his size it was pretty big.

 

[ksbkeys]

My beautiful rooster Moose was killed today by a large hawk. I am so sad, never thought I would cry over a chicken but I did. He was a lovely sweet boy, died defending the hens. They are all safe thankfully I think he tried to keep them safe. He just started crowing a few weeks ago so he was still young he was our first rooster. We tend to have hawk attacks more in our area during this time of year than any other time. The one part of the netting I had left open so I can easily get inside their run I left open after cleaning their coop, I should have known better. It was a clear blue sky day which we haven’t had in awhile with the heavy snow so the hawks were out hunting. Gotta keep a close eye on the ladies for the next week annd not let them free range especially cause I know the hawk might come back. So sad thou

He is beautiful! So sorry for your loss! We all make mistakes...don't be too hard on yourself for too long.

For weeks, I tried to rehome a perfectly tame and lovely rooster, Sylvester, thinking he was the reason my hens were losing tons of feathers. We finally culled him.

Well, come to find out, the hens themselves were pulling out each other's feathers and if anything, it got worse once he was gone. To add insult to injury, the day after we culled him, we got a phone call from someone wanting him! Definitely lots of regret and learned some things from that mistake. Here is a photo of him with his girls. He is in the back.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I'm so sorry, gut wrenching! Add more protein to their feed. How much space do they have?

 

[ksbkeys]

I'm so sorry, gut wrenching! Add more protein to their feed. How much space do they have?

Thank you! This incident was years ago when I first started out.

 

[AGeese]

He was a Welsummer. Not too big yet he was just putting on more weight and crowing so just coming into manhood! The hawk was almost his size it was pretty big.

Just curious where you got him. Do you plan to get another? Seems like a good breed to have.

 

[Rosieposie6]

Just curious where you got him. Do you plan to get another? Seems like a good breed to have.

I got him from Blains farm and fleet their online hatchery. Yea he was very mellow not mean at all very kind to the hens. Let my daughter hold him, we raised him from only a few days old. Yea we might get another one next year but I’m wondering if maybe we should get a bigger breed. Our neighbors have a big rooster and hawks won’t mess with him.

 

[Rosieposie6]

Aw man I’m so sorry to hear that yea we had to kill our male duck last year he was starting to get aggressive with my hens. We Should have just gotten him more females to keep him company.

He is beautiful! So sorry for your loss! We all make mistakes...don't be too hard on yourself for too long.

For weeks, I tried to rehome a perfectly tame and lovely rooster, Sylvester, thinking he was the reason my hens were losing tons of feathers. We finally culled him.

Well, come to find out, the hens themselves were pulling out each other's feathers and if anything, it got worse once he was gone. To add insult to injury, the day after we culled him, we got a phone call from someone wanting him! Definitely lots of regret and learned some things from that mistake. Here is a photo of him with his girls. He is in the back.