R.I.P. SOFIA

Of all the years keeping chickens, my luck ran out today with a hawk.  Generally I just have little Sharp Shinned Hawks that prey on songbirds.  The one in the trees yesterday was bigger - I thought it was a Red-tail.  Today, when I got home, I saw it closer and took photos.  It's a Cooper's Hawk.  

The chickens were silent when I came home.  Golly was outside the back porch (where he and the girls usually hang out) but EVERYONE was silent.  They usually start fussing when I come home because it's dinner time.  Eerily quiet.  I fed the three chickens that are locked up.  Then I went back to Golly's coop - he followed me.  There were just two girls down there, the others were up under the back porch - no one was coming down for dinner.  I checked their water bowl and there was a good handful of fresh feathers in it.  Something was definitely wrong.  I knew, at that moment, my luck had run out with hawks.  

I started to count chickens, there were the two I saw by the coop and Golly. I looked in the coop and no one was there.  Then I looked under the coop.  Someone was laying dead in the back corner.  It was Sofia, one of my Salmon Faverolles.  Sofia was almost four years old.  A very, very gentle and sweet breed.  The other 10 girls wouldn't come out from under the back porch so I brought their dinner up to them and put it under the porch, no one spoke a word.  

At bed time, I took the lattice off the bottom of the porch and tried to coax them out.  It took about 20 minutes but they finally followed me - literally THREE at a time.  I'd get three down to the coop, then go halfway back and another three would follow, then one more time, then finally the last one.  Tomorrow I'm not letting them out of their coops - maybe for a couple days.  I hate to do that and to put food and water inside, but I want them to take a break and feel safe.  I'm also hoping after a couple days that the hawk will have found better hunting grounds.  

I know that crows keep hawks away and, darn it, WHERE are my crows, they're always out there.  I've been told you can play the sound of crows outside to encourage them to the area.  I might have to look in to that.  

R.I.P my Sofia, mama loves you, and I'm sorry. 

Here is the Hawk - he is beautiful but he is no longer welcome.