Earlier this year I had 30 meat chicks in small paddock with my horse. They were confined in a predator proof area of a small barn overnight but during the day I would let them out to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air... within short order a pair of red tail hawks honed in and took out 6 over three days. I moved them about 1500' away into an old cement silo with a missing roof. I thought it would be perfect well two days later I was down another 4 birds. So I moved them about 300' from the silo into a paddock with my ten completely free range laying hens, 8 completely free range pullets, 3 completely free range guinea keets, and goat and her (at the time) 4 week old kid. Never saw the hawks again. Well now I'm weaning the goat kid so I moved her over to the paddock with my horse and the hawks are back and watching her. She probably weighs around 35 pounds. Do I need to worry they will try and injure her to come back later??? Thanks!
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Red Tail Hawk is stalking my 8 week old goat kid (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter skybloo4u
- Start date
Corvus cornix
Well-known member
Hi,
I wouldn't think you've got anything to worry about. Birds of that size would only be after much smaller prey. The chicks would be an ideal size for them, but the kid would be much too big and powerful for them to tackle. It may be that the hawks have been away from the area raising their young and are now back in the area, knowing there's an easy food source (the chicks). Red-tailed Hawks will eat a wide range of prey items, including carrion, so they may just be hanging around in anticipation of an easy meal.
Cheers.
I wouldn't think you've got anything to worry about. Birds of that size would only be after much smaller prey. The chicks would be an ideal size for them, but the kid would be much too big and powerful for them to tackle. It may be that the hawks have been away from the area raising their young and are now back in the area, knowing there's an easy food source (the chicks). Red-tailed Hawks will eat a wide range of prey items, including carrion, so they may just be hanging around in anticipation of an easy meal.
Cheers.
