Hawks!

sometimes you just have to vent......Im with ya brother...or sista....which ever.

Is that hawk sitting on your loft again?

yeah grrrrrrr!! I have them attacking the sides of my fly pens daily and I dont even let my birds out anymore

Young One

maykuhn loft,

Today I had my old birds out and I had a Cooper hawk chasing them for about fortyfive minutes! He or she didn't get any, so I think it was a yearling on his way north. Still this is not the way I wanted to get some loft flying exercise on my birds to get ready for the season. Maybe it is, they are more cautious when flying now!

Ralph

LokotaLoft said:

yeah grrrrrrr!! I have them attacking the sides of my fly pens daily and I dont even let my birds out anymore

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I would wouldn't know what to do if I had a hawk doing that to my loft everyday.....

LOl! You would not last keeping pigeons here that is for sure! Dave

LokotaLoft said:

yeah grrrrrrr!! I have them attacking the sides of my fly pens daily and I dont even let my birds out anymore

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They have a quota of 5 pigeons each day...Ferals or pur pets, they want to make their babies as healthy as they can be...(my assumptions)

I let 10 out today. As they were trapping, here comes the coops! It is now well after dark and I have 2 of the 10 in my loft. This happens every time I loft fly. I think my team is becoming afraid to come down to trap. What do you folks think?

My experience is once they learn about Hawks, they can not wait to TRAP!!! LOL! Dave

LUCKYT said:

My experience is once they learn about Hawks, they can not wait to TRAP!!! LOL! Dave

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Do you think im doing a sh*tty job of trap training? My birds will hurry through the trap when they are in the aviary, but as soon as they are out flying-----very hesitant.

I am not saying you are doing a ----- job at training, but once my birds become hawk smart, i have to "encourage them to leave the loft, and when i call them in, you had better stand aside! LOL! Dave

Maybe you should take a look at your landing board, maybe it is a perfect hawk "shooting Range" Dave

I think one of my problems is that I feed them too much!?

Ahay! wee grasshopper! (sorry, always wanted to use that phrase) that could be part of it, i would still look at your landing area.(to exposed, to easy for the hawks, ect.) I am a total muck at keeping my birds hungry! As i have said, I LOVE to watch them eat! Dave

What someone needs to do is invent a robotic pigeon that you can fly around the yard. Hawk gets a hold of a robotic pigeon and appetite lost.HuH!

What ya think?

I had that one hawk in my back yard and ran out there like a total maniac on crack. He hasn't been in my yard since (knock on wood).

LUCKYT said:

I LOVE to watch them eat!

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Not to be eaten...I agree...

They are probably too fat to fly or maybe they don't have much energy to fly...

LUCKYT said:

Ahay! wee grasshopper! (sorry, always wanted to use that phrase) that could be part of it, i would still look at your landing area.(to exposed, to easy for the hawks, ect.) I am a total muck at keeping my birds hungry! As i have said, I LOVE to watch them eat! Dave

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I tell ya Dave, Between my wife of two years, my 15 month old son, and my pigeon hotel (as my wife calls it), my life is full of questions!

Pegasus said:

Not to be eaten...I agree...

They are probably too fat to fly or maybe they don't have much energy to fly...

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My birds fly, fly and fly some more. I think that the pigeons and the hawks are conditioning each other in a negative way. The hawk knows not to attack until the pigeon is vulnerable (landing). The pigeon learns this, and doesnt want to trap. I have a feeling that Ill get the rest back in the morning. This has happened before.