Coopers Hawk Working Barn Area Hard

[centrarchid]

Hawk perches on top of pen to right.

Single typically targeted juvenile.

Hen with twelve chicks.

Multiple stags and one cock loose on ground appear to be reason hawk not succeeding. Already penned juvenile. Working to keep chicks in pen with hen or she will be released.

 

[PeepersMama]

I have no tolerance whatsoever of anything eating my chickens. Keeping the chicks penned up is a very good idea. Maybe get a livestock guardian dog. They do take a lot of work, but in the end, they are worth it. As for the rooster, KEEP THEM ALL!!! I have only had one rooster that would attack a predator. He was the most awesome dude EVER!!!!
Close of the barn so that it can't get in period. If it realizes there is no food source availiable to him, he should leave.

ETA: here's a link I found: http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/HawksOwls.asp

 

[centrarchid]

Hawk as a route that brings it through multiple times per day. It flies on from west to perch on kennel pannel, makes a run on what is can in the barn the departs through west side. With exception of chicks, no chickens small enough for hawk to fly away with as needed to avoid be attacked by an adult chicken. Hawk is sustaining route becuase other parts of it are productive. It is not here just for my chickens, especially when it has not caught any after multiple days of trying.

 

[PeepersMama]

MAYBE you could call your state department of wildlife, trap it and relocate it - MAYBE. Big longshot, but it's worth a shot

 

[Folly's place]

When a hawk visits, I keep everyone in their safe coop and run for at least ten days, or until the bird hasn't been seen for a while. It turned into three weeks for the Cooper's hawk who visited a few years ago, but he did move on finally. Mary

 

[centrarchid]

I have hawks visit daily year round. More so during fall migration. I may have lost one small juvenile to a hawk more than a month ago. Vulnerable birds only then penned. Other measures that do not harm hawks are also employed to preserve free-range options. This persistant hawk will cause only short-term adjustments. Purpose of this was to describe / record what hawk does and how it can be responded to. This not intended to be an opportunity to over react.

 

[Evanowski]

I had a Chicken Hawk antagonize my flock almost daily. The wifey or myself would run outside to scare it off. It rarely worked really. The only effective solution... let my big broody Marans momma hen get in a tussle with the hawk. Sweetie Hen won and we didn't see that hawk again. We had a big red tail come in the next year, but my dog was helpful with that problem.

I love hawks, but I love the chickens more!

 

[centrarchid]

The game for me is to figure out how a given predator, sometimes down to an individual as in this case, plies its trade. I figure out how it gets around current defenses and shut it down. Sometimes a chicken or two is lost in process although this time none as of yet. Sometimes I have to sleep out in a field or literally in a pen next to chickens to see clearly what is going on. Overall it is fun and the flock as a whole is not threatened as I cull more than predators take.

 

[centrarchid]

I am also having a little Sharp-shinned Hawk working area around pens in the field. It is just passing through like most others but is otherwise too small to harass even the juvenile pictured. Hawks are abundant and most people do not even see they are present except when they actually cause damage. It pays to open your eyes and listen to alarm calls produced by chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

The barn where hawk made at least third pass since noon. It must be looking for a root now.