As you may have seen in my other posts over the last two days, a hawk attacked my favorite pullet day before yesterday. I was about 100' away, didn't see or hear him until he was on the ground and he was so sneaky that none of the other chickens even noticed and they just kept on free ranging like nothing was happening. Normally, my birds run for the cover of the coop whenever anything flies overhead - hawk, airplane, geese, whatever. But this was a totally silent ambush out of nowhere.
I have a totally secure run for my birds, with 1/2 inch hardware cloth over the top and walls and concrete sunk into the ground all around. However, they LOVE to free range and I really really want them to. So far, I have only been letting them out when I can be with them (they are now 7 weeks old). When the attack happened, I walked away and was in the house, watching them out the window for a couple of minutes, and then I was back outside and walking toward them when it actually attacked, so I don't know if that counts as my being gone. Well, suffice it to say, I won't walk away ever again, but they still like to spread out and I now fear that hawk will attack even if I'm right with them. I'm trying to figure out how to solve this problem.
I know having a guard dog like a Great Pyrenees or even a herding dog like a Border Collie would probably do the trick, but I already have two dogs and can't get another right now, plus my current two dogs would rather eat the chickens than protect them, and so they have to be kept separately.
So, I am looking for an alternative hawk deterrent to hang out with the chickies when they free range, even if it's still just when I'm around. I read one post on here about a large tom turkey that seemed to do the trick. Has anyone else had success with that or, conversely, had a big tom turkey and still had hawk attacks? Someone else mentioned peacocks - has anyone had success with that? I could get another large bird to live with them, I believe, but I won't go to all that trouble if it probably won't work. I know nothing is guaranteed, but I'd like to know if it has really helped many people, or if it just a couple of individuals have been lucky...
You experiences with this would be greatly appreciated. I suppose I could also consider something like a goat, though it would be harder for me to do...
I have a totally secure run for my birds, with 1/2 inch hardware cloth over the top and walls and concrete sunk into the ground all around. However, they LOVE to free range and I really really want them to. So far, I have only been letting them out when I can be with them (they are now 7 weeks old). When the attack happened, I walked away and was in the house, watching them out the window for a couple of minutes, and then I was back outside and walking toward them when it actually attacked, so I don't know if that counts as my being gone. Well, suffice it to say, I won't walk away ever again, but they still like to spread out and I now fear that hawk will attack even if I'm right with them. I'm trying to figure out how to solve this problem.
I know having a guard dog like a Great Pyrenees or even a herding dog like a Border Collie would probably do the trick, but I already have two dogs and can't get another right now, plus my current two dogs would rather eat the chickens than protect them, and so they have to be kept separately.
So, I am looking for an alternative hawk deterrent to hang out with the chickies when they free range, even if it's still just when I'm around. I read one post on here about a large tom turkey that seemed to do the trick. Has anyone else had success with that or, conversely, had a big tom turkey and still had hawk attacks? Someone else mentioned peacocks - has anyone had success with that? I could get another large bird to live with them, I believe, but I won't go to all that trouble if it probably won't work. I know nothing is guaranteed, but I'd like to know if it has really helped many people, or if it just a couple of individuals have been lucky...
You experiences with this would be greatly appreciated. I suppose I could also consider something like a goat, though it would be harder for me to do...
