Sparrow Hawk v Chickens......

I'm getting a bit worried.....There's a sparrow hawk that patrols my garden almost daily and he's obviously very hungry or just greedy....he had a black bird for his lunch yesterday and cleared off with a gorgeous big fat wood pidgeon a couple of days ago....
i'm concerned for my chooks,,,as once before he dive bombed them whilst they were happily scratching around amongst the shrubs....that time i thought it might have been a case of mistaken identity but i'm now begining to wonder......
Have they been known to pinch chickens ???? and has anyone else had problems

 

Personally I think a female sparrowhawk will certainly 'have a go' at a chicken and after a quick google search it appears that the general thought is the same, although some do say although they may initially attack them they may be put off by the noise they make, also some said even a female sparrowhawk would struggle with a full grown hen, I think it depends on what breed of chicken you have; young and small birds would certainly be at risk, especially if your resident sparowhawk has already been taking wood pigeons...

 

Oh dear
Up in FIFE we have a programme to re introducing SEA EAGLES, most have flown and set up home in the wilds

One has taken up residence on a commercial organic egg producers hen house
He has breakfast on tap every morning and the rest of the hens have gone off laying
So he is in dire straights the business of selling organic eggs, he has none to sell
He can not shoot it as it is a protected bird and has its wing tags RED 40
Oh and his childrens bunny play centre is devastated too as she is partial to a bit of bunny
Lots of visitors to see it but nothing to sell to them :-(

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Is it evil that I was hoping for a video

Sorry lolimac I shall go back to reddit where I belong

 

Our chucks must be a bit more aware,as we have buzzards around here aswell as hawks.When they are out there always seems to be one of the flock on lookout and squarks if anything is seen and they all dive for cover,ours would be well at risk as over 50% of my flock are tiny bantams.

 

Blinking heck! I've just found this post, I had a sparrow hawk in the garden this morning, the wild birds were going crackers warning everyone, my girls were in the back porch with me but I'm now really fretting about my hens , were your girls ok @Lolimac

 

@Beckie76 ...Yes thankfully they were fine My chooks seem to have got used to the Hawk now and run for cover long before I've seen it.I think the Hawk made a bit of a faux pas when it saw one of my girls amongst the shrubs and didn't realise they were bigger than it expected.

 

Thank goodness for that @Lolimac, I have two very busy blackbirds feeding their young who are living in my conifer hedge, I'm going to be furious if that dam bird gets one of them! It's so beautiful but I have to say I personally don't like sparrow hawks
The girls were ok thankfully, they were all in bed when I got back hubby had locked them up.
I hope my girls look after each other.

 

Yikes! We've been seeing/hearing a buzzard over ours for a week or so now. Hope they don't have a go at the girls!