Keep Franken-hen safe from another hawk attack

sherahart said:

I've been reading BYC for over a year but never posted before. We bought a house last year that came with 12 White Leghorns. Predators got most of them before we found a way to secure the coops and runs from bobcats, foxes, dogs, raccoons, possums, etc. Then we added Marans, Barred Rocks, and EEs, thinking we'd sell "free range" organic eggs. Not that easy. Although I'm a former Clinical Lab Scientist, I wasn't ready to stitch up a chicken after a hawk attack because I couldn't find a vet who would help an "exotic animal." Who knew chickens were exotic? Not me. Well, Frankie, (short for Franken-hen because she looked like Frankenstein after I sewed her up) laid an egg the next day in spite of about 50 amateur stitches. Yes, she recovered and I put her back with the others once her chest feathers started growing in. But so much for the idea of fencing to keep our free-range birds safe in the orchard during the day. Our fruit trees aren't big enough to provide good screen yet. What next, overhead wires? Fake owls? What works best?

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