Buzzards!

[Brom]

Our hens live in quite a large run (4m x 4m), we got them about 2 months ago and as the grass is starting to grow around the run I thought it time for them to be given a little more freedom.
I've noticed that a pair of Buzzards have taken to circling overhead so am feeling a bit nervous about letting them out from the safety of the run. To cap it all I found a half eaten pigeon in the tree that overhangs the run which freaked me out a bit.
My girls are not small, they're Blackrocks, so I'm hopefull the buzzards will leave them alone.
I've googled the question but didn't get any definite advice so not sure what to do. Has anyone had problems with Buzzards? I'd be interested to know your views/experiences as I daren't let them out which seems quite a shame.

[Two_Sheds]

We used to get them on Dartmoor, magnificent birds.

How free is free for your hens? Are they in a yard, or do they have the run of a field?

[bearded bloke]

I don't know if they are a threat but living beside woodland we have them perching in trees quite often,Mrs.BB was stressing over it so I made a "roof" for the run out of 4 Heras fencing panels.

[meteor]

There are a couple of breeding pairs in the forest at the rear of my home, these ones mainly feed on rats, rabbits, young foxes, crows and magpies. Numerous people in the vicinity keep free range poultry and there have been no attacks from the buzzards, this is due to the abundance of natural prey in the area consisting of a hundres of acres of native woodland and moors.I checked this with the local wildlife ranger and birdwatch Ireland as I intend to keep fowl again after many years. The availability of natural prey in your area will be a factor in the safety of your hens. When I kept fowl before(chickens and ducks) foxes,mink, and sparrow hawks ( lost a lot of chicks to them) were my biggest concern . It may be worth getting in touch with any local birdwatch societies for info on the diet of local buzzards and in the mean time take no chances with the girls.

[Brom]

Thanks everyone,
At the moment they are in a run with a welded mesh roof (we do have foxes in the area). If I let them out they will have access to a large open area surrounded by trees, mostly conifers.
I think it best to keep them safe for the moment and take Meteor's advice. I'll have a word with the local birdwatch society and there is a park ranger who lives not far away, may have a word with him if I can catch him at home.
Many thanks,
Brom.

[Nicos]

The only attack we have had from birds of prey is from a sparrow hawk grabbing a sparrow pinching the chook food.

We often have 1-3 buzzards flying around and they have never pinched any of the bantie chicks which go outside with the others on day 5.

We do however have 2 cockerels and they keep a close look out.

We also have places dotted around for the chooks to run to if the boys give a warning call.

One thing I did wonder was that as they are free rehanging inside a large area with electric fencing if the electricity gave off a weird feeling in the air so the buzzards tended to prefer to look for food outside the field?

We were however warned about crows attacking young geese!

[Scarlet]

I have a very large run. I use a 50metre fence for 3 sides of their enclosure so access from above is very easy - in fact I had several pheasant in there this week stealing food! We also have buzzards around, one can be regularly seen sitting on a post 20ft from my G/H (we back onto fields) I've never had any trouble from them.

[marchogaeth]

I would be very surprised if a buzzard would tackle a full grown hen. They are fantastic birds to watch especially when they climb in thermals four or five at a time. Their population has taken a real knock around here in the last 20 years as the Red Kite numbers have taken off!

[PyreneesPlot]

That's interesting, marchogaeth. Where we used to live (Oxford) the buzzards have been booming on the back of the red kite population explosion, probably because they get fed so there is ample food for both.

In terms of the OP's question, I understood that buzzards eat more carrion as well as things like frogs and earthworms?

[Scarlet]

They mostly eat carrion although will take small rodents/ small birds on occasion as well as insects etc. The post that 'my' buzzard uses is definitely a feeding post, I assumed ready to take small rodent - not that I've seen him take anything!

[petep]

As already mentioned, Buzzards are predominantly carrion feeders so I don't worry about them with our 3 wandering around in the open. I spoke to a couple of neighbours about it and they said nobody local had lost hens to Buzzards, and there is at least one large commercial free range farm along the road so they can
T be too bothered about the threat. From our land we frequently see 5 or 6 Buzzards flying around but I've only twice seen behaviour that would count as hunting - once one was after a vole in the field, and the other time one swooped up a slope after a young rabbit but missed completely.

We also have some Red Kites in the area but the Jackdaws seem to keep them and any other big birds away from our land - very considerate of them, eh? I'd be more concerned about the owls in the woods next door.


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[Compo72]

In my experience buzzards to be over field margins and the edge of moors .
Roosting in woodlands

They are becoming more common than say twenty years ago .

Though appreciate in other parts of the country
Like red kites numbers are increasing





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