Fake owls and hanging crows

BBB Becky

Chirping
Nov 15, 2016
57
8
66
Georgetown, MA
I always watch my hens when I let them out. (One time a hawk took one hen and dropped her...we call her Henrietta the miracle chicken.) Now I have a fake owl and hanging crow. Yes, I do move them round. Does anyone use them?
 
Fake owls and crows are absolutely useless. If birds of prey are a problem at your place, you must pen up your birds. The enclosure doesn't have to be very strong to keep birds out but, it must be completely enclosed. Especially on top.
 
I always watch my hens when I let them out. (One time a hawk took one hen and dropped her...we call her Henrietta the miracle chicken.) Now I have a fake owl and hanging crow. Yes, I do move them round. Does anyone use them?

Henrietta was definitely a very lucky hen I tried the fake owls - three of them - and I really don't think they deterred the hawks at all. I've seen the photo @aart posted and feel like it really captures how the hawks view the plastic owls...not much respect there.
roll.png


I hope they work better for you.
 
I've told this before here but I bought a fake owl at a garage sale for a $1. It scared the heck out of my chickens more than it did any other bird around the place.
D.gif
D.gif


Red tails and Cooper's are thick as thieves around my place (endangered my foot). My hens have to stay in their covered run unless I am going to stay out with them the entire time they are out.

The Coopers are the biggest problem, the Coopers will come in get on top of a standard size hen and hold on with one foot and stab all over with the other. I've had several survive with multiple puncture wounds. The red tails for the most part leave me and my hens alone.
 
I've told this before here but I bought a fake owl at a garage sale for a $1. It scared the heck out of my chickens more than it did any other bird around the place.
D.gif
D.gif


Red tails and Cooper's are thick as thieves around my place (endangered my foot). My hens have to stay in their covered run unless I am going to stay out with them the entire time they are out.

The Coopers are the biggest problem, the Coopers will come in get on top of a standard size hen and hold on with one foot and stab all over with the other. I've had several survive with multiple puncture wounds. The red tails for the most part leave me and my hens alone.
yuckyuck.gif
So true...

This is a bad time of year for the same kind of hawks around here, too. The RT hawks don't like people around, so if they see you, they skedaddle. Not so for the Cooper's hawks - they are audacious, to say the least.
roll.png
 
FoodFreedom you are correct about Coopers.

The last attack, WHILE I WAS OUT, the little devil got a hold of a Speckled Sussex and it was a wrestle royale all over the yard with me in pursuit kicking and screaming the whole time.

I still don't know if the hen managed to free herself or if the hawk let go as he figured I was gonna get one good kick in come _____or high water.

He buggered her up pretty good but she survived.
 
Cooper's are specifically a predator that targets birds. They are specialists in this. A red tail is more targeted in rodents, but is an opportunist. Coopers, Sharpshins and Goshawks all have special flight feathers that make them superb for chasing down and killing other birds: the wings are shorter, the tail longer, all of which helps them navigate through wooded areas to chase down other birds. So a Coopers. a Gos or a Sharpshin are always going to be more difficult to deter once they figure out you are keeping birds. Great big clumsy flying birds, who basically just sit there and aren't even hard to hunt down like say, a songbird.

These birds are also incredibly intelligent. They can easily figure out that a fake owl is fake. I think we constantly underestimate just how smart these guys are.

My conclusion: cover your run. Then you don't have to spend any time at all worrying about hawks. You can instead spend your time marveling at these masters of the air.
 
FoodFreedom you are correct about Coopers.

The last attack, WHILE I WAS OUT, the little devil got a hold of a Speckled Sussex and it was a wrestle royale all over the yard with me in pursuit kicking and screaming the whole time.

I still don't know if the hen managed to free herself or if the hawk let go as he figured I was gonna get one good kick in come _____or high water.

He buggered her up pretty good but she survived.
ep.gif
Glad to hear your girl survived...yikes!! The fact that CH aren't concerned about humans being out and about is concerning and puzzling - seems like unusual wild animal behavior to me.
 
My back area is about three acres so I don't know that he knew I was there when he attacked. The bottom line is he didn't want to let go.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom