Hawks! How can I keep the hawks away from my chickens?

I am so sorry to hear of so many losing their flock to Hawks. I'm not in a rural area but have an ordinary cottage backyard but still get Cooper's Hawks. This is what we did if any of it can help someone.

I started with two Silkies that we kept penned in a 4x6 coop we bought at a feed-store that a customer custom-built. It was built better than a pre-fab kit but still made out of sub-quality materials and we found it wasn't big enough for 2 Silkies. So, we started to free-range the Silkies in our very open and flat backyard but watched them. When we added 2 LF to the flock we let them free-range longer. We had built a small lean-to to shade their feed/water and found the chickens liked to snooze/hide under it. They also rested under the stickery rosebush along the fence. When I saw how much the chickens used these "shelters" we added a pop-up canopy, 4 XL doghouses, made more lean-to's, added potted plants, wheelbarrow, cedar lawn chair, and even a couple large city trash cans lined against the fence.

The Cooper's Hawks seem most active in Spring when breeding so they can make several visits a day in the neighborhood. Several times we found a Cooper's Hawk sitting on our fence or right by the back door sitting on the lawn chair sometimes within 5 or 10 feet from chickens hiding under one of the shelters. The Hawk could see the hiding chickens but would not go after them. Apparently hawks prefer to fly and swoop down on prey, especially running chickens, so we eliminated wide open spaces in the yard so the hens could quickly duck into a nearby low shelter. We spaced doghouses around the yard along with several lean-to shelters. In 5 years of open backyard ranging we have not lost a chicken yet even with the Cooper's Hawk in the yard staring at them.

The backyard used to be open and flat with no shelter for the chickens except their little 4x6 coop. A perfect fly-zone for a Cooper's Hawk that we worked to remedy asap!


We left the wheelbarrow out along the fence and the chickens often would shelter under it.


Low-to-the-ground plywood lean-to shelters work for shade, snoozing, and hiding from aerial predators.


Between the cedar lawn chair and the lean-to in the background is the coop to the right (not showing) so hens have a short running area to duck into/under something when Mr Hawk visits.


4 hens snoozing/hiding under a shelter (Black Silkie between the lean-to and wheelbarrow).


A lean-to, a wheelbarrow, and a trash can all provide hiding areas.


Hens would gather under this cedar lawn chair to hide from flying hawks.


This pop-up canopy became our flock's favorite place to sit under. In the summer we turn on a water mister so they can stay cool in the shade and not worry about the hawks flying overhead. We added a couple doghouses under the canopy for added hiding places.


An old stickery rosebush climbing out of control on the fence was a favourite shade/hiding place for the hens.


All our chickens like to hide/snooze mid-day in the doghouses. We have 4 houses and plan on a couple more. We got the houses recycled from thrift stores, yard sales, and friends. What we were glad to see is that the hens never used the houses for laying their eggs. They went to the coop to lay.





While remodeling with a new block wall we made sure to position doghouses and makeshift lean-to's around the yard during construction.


The contractor's scaffolding made a nice lean-to for the chickens. I hope he let's me keep it when they're done with the work!!


In a sudden rain downfall all 4 of our hens sheltered in this large doghouse.


I don't know what rural areas/farms can do to have a lot of closeby shelters for chickens to hide/snooze under but it seems the main thing in our yard is to not have an open flat area where the Cooper's Hawk can pick off a running hen. I saw someone use their huge recycled trampoline as a shade/hiding place for their hens on their large property - some owners get very creative with ideas for shelters. The neighbor behind us today had a Cooper's Hawk that tore apart a pigeon in her backyard but none of our hens was attacked. I put up some potted plants around the new patio slabs that have not had the roofs put over them yet. One of the hens likes to snuggle close to the largest pot and another hen hugs the compost roller bin. Chickens are smart to stake out all the good hiding places. With Spring approaching and hawk breeding season around the corner I'm hurrying to get more shelters replaced which our remodeling had destroyed.

Great post - how timely! In addition to the crazy surveyor tape over their pens, I have been planning to add some additional shelter areas for the chickens - yesterday I ended up picking up a large semi-circular short children's table at a yard sale. Should make a nice place to hide and also offer shade.

We always have hawks, all the time (not just seasonal). They nest in my yard and in the adjacent ones. So it's a constant issue. I haven't lost any to hawks yet - am hoping to maintain that track record.

- Ant Farm

@Fire Ant Farm How cool that you haven't lost any birds to hawks! We've been lucky so far too. Our hawks generally get chased by the Crow flocks but the Crows have been slack lately and people around us are locking up their Chiquaquas and cats. All the neighbors around me are reporting Cooper's Hawk sightings with our backyard neighbor finding a bunch of pigeon feathers in her yard today. Must be the female getting ready to claim her territory for breeding season. There are no trees around 6 of us neighbors but the 210 Fwy is just down the hill with tons of huge trees lining the hill so Cooper's Hawks are always going to be in our area. The children's table sounds excellent for shelter. I like the little child playhouses too but expensive when new so we settled for recycled doghouses. Trash day we tour the streets to see if anyone throws out plywood strips or wood headboards to make lean-to's out of them. My hope is to afford a curved walking bridge to put dead center in the backyard as another shelter for the chickens and hopefully perk up the aesthetics of the yard a little from the mundane canopies, doghouses, and lean-to's. Hey, as long as it keeps the hens safe I'll settle for mundane LOL!

Get a 12 Ga. Shotgun. Start eliminating the threat. Most states have provisions for protecting your property. Even then the hawks will either stay just out of range or simply wait until you turn your back.

Without a special permit, it is illegal to kill a hawk. In fact it is even illegal to harass Raptors of any type. I know a lot of people don't worry about it bring illegal until they get caught........ However huge fines, costs of lawyers and jail time could cost you your home/farm.

I have read in various how to keep chicken books, to plant shrubs and dense foliage in open areas where your birds are the most exposed. I know that when our flock spies a hawk, they head for the bushes or tall ornamental grasses around our property. I have even used my son's Halloween scarecrow, that has a huge scary pumpkin head on it,in the middle of our back yard where the Coopers Hawk kept chasing them. It was working last year. I moved it around every day.

enola said:

Without a special permit, it is illegal to kill a hawk. In fact it is even illegal to harass Raptors of any type. I know a lot of people don't worry about it bring illegal until they get caught........ However huge fines, costs of lawyers and jail time could cost you your home/farm.

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Agreed - that our predatory raptors are losing ground and are protected. You hear exciting news when Eagles and Condors have successfully hatched and reared their new chicks in the wild. Not only is it illegal killing raptors but in the city we couldn't go shooting shotguns without police at the front door in seconds anyway so coming up with ingenious ways to protect our free-ranging backyard chickens will always be a challenge. For protection from stray neighborhood dogs we've replaced our crumbling chainlink fence with a block wall and fenced the property front and back. We've double-gated the entrances to the backyard, have a rolling driveway gate to keep out the strays (and annoying solicitors). Stickery thorny bushes or berry plants make safe hiding havens for chickens. We have several doghouses, lean-to's, lawn furniture, potted plants/trees, and pop-up canopy for places to hang out or hide. We saw 4 hens suddenly dive into a doghouse one day when the Cooper's Hawk landed in the yard. It wouldn't go after the hiding hens even though it could see them. We don't have or raise chicks so that temptation is not present for our resident Cooper's Hawk. We have some bantam Silkies but they have plenty of hiding places in the yard nearby should the hawk show again. We've open-ranged our flock all day in the backyard for 5 years and haven't lost a hen yet.

A shady canopy over a doghouse, dustbox, and drinking station.



Leftover scaffolding set on bricks made a shady lean-to for the flock.


End-of-season potted plants for the chickens to have fun exploring or hiding under!


Several doghouses were placed around the yard during backyard remodeling.


Small doghouse in foreground and another doghouse in background next to green waste bin.


It surprised us that the hens never used these doghouses to lay eggs but go into the coop to use the normal nestboxes.


Several hens don't seem to mind sharing the same doghouse.


This little pop-up canopy was used often as a rest area by the hens that we eventually invested in a bigger one.



Nothing fancy but a piece of remnant plywood on bricks made a shady hiding place.



Old chainlink fence had a thorny rosebush that the White Leghorn liked to snooze under and the hawk never bothered her there.

LaceySilkieLove said:

Great tips everybody! I guess my plan is to keep them in their coup which is actually pretty big while I finnesh the covered run. Il let them out only when they are full grown. I have a rooster or 2 in the bunch. And only when I'm right there with the dogs. I have two. They get allong with the chickens fine but they are small and fairly useless but I love them to death

!!! They will help with hawk antimidation while I'm around. I'm going to make sure I'm building this run right and check out some designes. Anybody have a run they really like?
LivingTheDream65, good luck getting your chicken area coverd and I hope that hawk stays away from your chickens! I can't believe it was just sitting their on your fence! :0

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You've got a Coopers Hawk. The female is who you saw. Male will be slightly smaller but equally as aggressive.


Male


Female

Over the last 6 months i have lost 8 of my girls to hawks never a Red Tail its always the small hawks that get them, so I did some research and found someone on amazon who sells a UV resistant nylon netting that is 100 ft x 50ft I have bought 2 of these nets which run about 80 to 100 bucks and come in various sizes now i can put a top on my backyard to keep those pesky #$%^# out of my yard.

Aviary Netting on Amazon

During my 5 years of keeping chickens, I've heard a lot of tips on how to deter hawks. Here's a few.

1) Buy birds that are dark-colored. I have heard that the darker the bird, the less likely a hawk will attack it (this doesn't mean that it won't get attacked, but it does mean it's chances will be lower). This may be a myth, but it's something I've heard.

2) Don't free-range your birds, and put poultry netting over their run. This is something I've never done (though sometimes, when a hawk is prowling about, I lock them in the coop for a day or two until the hawk leaves), but it is something others have done with great success.

3) Buy a rooster that you know will beat off hawks. There are literally roosters out there that will kill hawks that mess with them or their ladies. Gamecocks are probably a great choice...just don't keep more than one, or they'll kill each other before either of them kills a hawk.

4) If you have a gun, fire into the dirt (do NOT fire into the air, as this is very dangerous because the bullet will land somewhere) to scare off a hawk that is eyeing your birds. Some hawks are spooked by this and leave...others aren't.

4) Shoot any bird of prey that is eyeing your birds. This is something I have never done (though I have longed to do it more than once), and this is against the law of Big Brother, and environmentalists love to persecute flock owners who are trying to defend their flocks, so this is a last resort and should only be done if you live in a rural area where no one will see you do it. But even then, some avian enthusiast may have put a tracking device in the bird, and when they follow the signal to a hole in your backyard and find a bullet in the animal, you're as dead as one of your birds. So really, it's not a good idea.

The fifth suggestion is one of my own that nobody has suggested to me. I have found that it works very well.

5) Fly a flag or two at your house. Awhile ago, I was having some serious problems with hawks attacking my birds. Two or three times, I literally had to whack a hawk off the back of my birds with a stick. It was getting bad. Well, around that time, I put up an American flag and a battle flag to show my patriotism. I haven't had a hawk attack since. It could be coincidence, but I think the constantly-waving large objects (combined with the proliferation of red in both of the flags) spooks the hawks enough to deter them.