Hawk on my chicken run!! (And two pics of the chickens!)

[sarahandbray]

Wow--that's was close! My son noticed a "big bird" down back sitting on the dog run component of our chicken enclosure. We have the coop going out into the run which then opens into the electrified pasture with poultry netting.

We scared it off and then went to work using chicken wire to cover the run part, at least. No chickens lost yet--44 still there. 30 ran into the coop and 14 were hiding under a bush on the far side of the coop like statues.

Any other good hawk deterrents besides covered run, hiding places for chickens, and CD's? I don't want the chickens to lose the freedom of being able to be pastured...but this hawk made me nervous--they're pretty big already but only 6-weeks old. Perfect hawk fodder


Anyway, here's my happy chicks eating mash (meant for our crossbeak but they all go CRAZY over just feed and water!

 

[Free as a Bird]

Ya hawks are tricky. I ended up losing one of my chickens to a hawk last year. I eventually just had to completely cover the run. Good luck!

 

[sarahandbray]

I successfully covered the 100sf run with chicken wire, so it's a safer place for the chickens to run to in a pinch (and then hustle inside the coop), but I specifically bought electrified poultry fencing so they could have the luxury of being "almost" free-range. Pretty sure that would be tough to cover--it's 1600sf! Hopefully, they'll outsmart the hawk--I put out a huge dog crate upside down they can run under and will maybe put part of an old deck out there they can hide under.

We'll see how tomorrow goes...

 

[goodb]

I feel for you. While finishing my first year with chickens and trying to raise more, a hawk ended up helping itself to 12 of my birds. The final straw was the broody mama that hatched out 11 chicks for me. The clutch was only 3 weeks old when it happened. Fortunately, a small group 2 weeks older fostered them. Good luck.

 

[sarahandbray]

So far, the chickens seem "smart" enough to run for cover...let's hope they keep it up! Wish I had one of those bean-bag guns and I could just scare off the birds while I sit there with my coffee. I know it's illegal to kill them, but scare them a bit?!?
Stupid hawks. Plenty of mice for you in the giant fields nearby!!