HennyPenny59 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Are there any native Birds of Prey that are a danger to chickens ... We have one that is visiting everyday and the girls of are very wary of it. It sits on the apex of the shed and appears to be looking at them, so im slightly worried. Unfortunately I cant decide which one it is, because the moment it sees me looking it flies away ... Its a mid grey colour all over with a round head, and about three quarters the size of a hybrid hen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zakjon-98 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I think the only bird of prey that would worry me would be a buzzard which are pretty common. The only other bird I would worry about is the eagle owl which has reintroduced back into the uk but these are only found in very small numbers. Both of which are large birds of prey. I think the bird you are describing is possibly a sparrow hawk and I doubt very much it would be big enough to take a hen since they mostly eat small birds with a dove/small pigeon being the biggest prey the larger females can tackle. I think a hen would put up quite a fight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zakjon-98 Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 There is a thread here about this- http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=12665 It seems that only very large birds such as eagles (only in Scotland), eagle owls or possibly buzzards seem to be a threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenthelibrarian Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Interesting... We live in the Chilterns, where red kites have been reintroduced very successfully. When we first had our hens they used to freeze and stare at the kites, who are themselves very nosy and tend to fly low for a good look at anything interesting or new. The hens now ignore them. A friend who visited some charity projects in Sierra Leone was surprised to see purple chicks running about at a hospital, and wondered what exotic breed produced them. Turned out the nurses had sprayed them with puple antiseptic in the hopes of confusing the local hawks and owls and letting at least a few of them grow up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanTheDiver Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 We had a sparrowhawk land next to one of our chickens once and the chicken went for it pretty quickly. The sparrowhawk didn't hang around for a fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HennyPenny59 Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 Hi everyone, thankyou for your replies ... I looked at some images of Sparrow Hawks but they didn't really resemble the one I saw today, I don't think it had barred feathers on its chest, and its head was too big, but I could be wrong ... The overall size of the bird seems about right though. Anyway, it does seem that its not going to be a threat to my hens which is a relief, as it was beginning to really worry me. Am going to go up into the attic later, to find those binoculars that I know are up there somewhere!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
