Hawk Deterrent

Bobbimarks

Chirping
Sep 27, 2015
59
5
56
We just lost our first chicken...a hawk got it a couple days ago. And of course it was one of my favorite ones!

Any recommendations for hawk deterrent?
Is fishing line enough? What about plastic poultry netting? Or some camoflaughe netting?

The hawk is certainly not shy, it flew right up to my house to try to pick off a second bird. It got a few feathers, but that was it.
 
If you have hawks then free ranging birds is not an option. There really isn't much deterrent. What you can do is cover your run with bird netting or wire, Hang CD's from trees to distract them, have bushes, low trees, or pallets on top of bricks that the birds can run and hide under, or keep them in chicken tractors that you can move daily in order to still be "free ranging".

I have hawks flying over head several times daily. After losing one of my chickens to a hawk my runs have wire on top and haven't lost anymore since.
 
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If you have hawks then free ranging birds is not an option. There really isn't much deterrent. What you can do is cover your run with bird netting or wire, Hang CD's from trees to distract them, have bushes, low trees, or pallets on top of bricks that the birds can run and hide under, or keep them in chicken tractors that you can move daily in order to still be "free ranging".

I have hawks flying over head several times daily. After losing one of my chickens to a hawk my runs have wire on top and haven't lost anymore since.
Same with me. I only have 4, so losing one is not an option.
This daytime outside area is connected via a chicken tunnel to my coop and run.
 
Same with me. I only have 4, so losing one is not an option.
This daytime outside area is connected via a chicken tunnel to my coop and run.
did you find this difficult to set up working around the trees? I want to do something similar but have more low trees but not confident enough not to secure the area.
 
At least keep your birds in their safe coop and run for two or three weeks! This hawk will return, often every third day or so, unless it's not worth it in meals.
Having a covered run is safest! Here we have had losses, one bird at a time, usually bantams or youngsters. We've learned, after our first year with chickens! And the survivors will be more careful, having places to be under cover, also essential.
Mary
 
I've watched a two foot tall shrub foil a hawk attack before. It's really just a matter of having sufficient coverage and predator resistant chicken breeds

Typically the people losing chickens to hawks have their chickens in big empty fields, which is completely unnatural for forest dwelling galliforms
 

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