Can I scare hawks away?

[MuranoFarms]

I've been having hawk issues too (see thread 'hawk advice please') The day after our first attack there were 8 of them circling above the yard. No time to load a gun, and I know I shouldn't anyway (not like I can hit the side of a barn as it is

) So I grab firecrackers thinking if they know what a gun means, maybe this will scare them. I had those tiny ones that come like, 20 to a pack. I pull one off and light it...throw it in the yard. Every time ones goes off, they fly higher. Bottle rockets work too, but try to aim away from the hawks....not like you can really aim the things anyway. They wont leave permanently, but it will buy you about an hour or so to round up the feathered kids and lock them in.

I might try attracting the crows for spring.

 

[cmpeagle79]

how do i keep weasels away?

 

[FrenchToast]

Quote:
Can I get more details on how you string the cd's please? I thought about gluing them onto some drinking straws and then put that threw a long nail at an angle so the wind would spin it. Haven't done it yet so not sure it if would work or how good it would work.
I like the idea of it spinning.

Does anyone know how deter owls at night. I've seen those nightguard boxes with the red light advertised and supposedly they work but have several coops so would nee more then one.

I was wondering about just hanging up red mini christmas lights and maybe covering up several lights so just a few pairs of red ones appear now and then to mimic the red eyes like the night guard. It sure would be cheaper.

Any thoughts on these ideas? We've seen hawks fly overhead and DH willl just run out with the shotgun or ? he uses and just fires warning shots to scare them off.
I have dogs but they are tied up and not right by the chickens. I also have guineas but I have yet to see them squak when they've seen them. Even when a fox came up from the field the male guinea was so busy chasig the female in a fast figurre eight pattern when I saw the fox come up the hill it's head was moving back and forth, it couldn't decide quite how to chase the guineas !!! It was actually kind of cute but of course not really. DH ran out with the gun then too but this time aimed to kill !! Kind of glad he missed cause the fox sure was beautiful.

I'm all open for ideas to to scare them off. I live out in the boonies on 80 acres so I have lot of predators. I have lost some to the fox and lost one guinea from something from above. We found it in the middle of the chicken run, dismembered in the fresh snow with some type of bird predators foo prints in the snow.


This is a good thread, how it takes off with helpful ideas to ward off these critters. I'd like to encourage crows too but I don't think with just a bird feeder is going to do it.

Even an abandoned egg might lure in skunks, fox etc before it lures in a crow. JMO

 

[al6517]

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You got to be kidding right............. the CD thing has been proven many many times to be a farse/gimmick for those not wanting to do anything real to deter hawk attacks, it's waste of time not to mention having your yard look like Fred Sanfords yard LOL.
Seriously CD's are a worthless effort.

 

[brownysfp]

I bought an owl decoy after a particularly bad week - six young chickens then told I can't kill buzzards! Beyond belief, the French'll will kill and eat just about anything with a pulse but something that takes your livestock...oh, dear me, no. Anyway, this eagle owl decoy went up on a pole in the meadow. Since then only one chick has been lost and that had escaped and strayed into a field. I got another decoy, a European eagle owl, for the garden and between the two there have been no more losses. But there an awful lot of owls around...

 

[Illia]

Quote:
You got to be kidding right............. the CD thing has been proven many many times to be a farse/gimmick for those not wanting to do anything real to deter hawk attacks, it's waste of time not to mention having your yard look like Fred Sanfords yard LOL.
Seriously CD's are a worthless effort.

They work for me.

 

[sonew123]

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Haha you and Brindle sound like twins!

 

[jimmythechicken]

try to get a couple of 15lb roos we raise english orps an they free range every where an we have not had a hawk take one yet an we have alot of hawks around 2 live in a tree about 150yards away from the coop i watch them sit on top of the coop waiting for a bird that they thought they could take lol.we have alot of roos an it seems to help.our friend wieghted there roo they got with ours an it was 17lbs he was born in feb.they look like turkeys out there lol.

 

[jimmythechicken]

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^-^ x2

And to add to that, full choke with buckshot

made me giggle lol

 

[Illia]

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Hawks take poultry, no matter the size.

If you want a useful rooster, get a Gamecock. Fast, athletic, super fliers and jumpers, and very protective. But in no way aggressive towards people.