Deterring Hawk?

[chickchoon1]

A hawk will only take prey it can carry. So if your chickens are fully grown there shouldn't be a problem.

Just got on here to see ways to"deter hawks" because I NOW have had it brought home, heartbreakingly so, that small hawks can/do kill/eat large chickens on site. I have had chickens for many many years now and although I had seen many hawks in the past I was told "shouldn't be a problem" and obviously nobody told this Coopers hawk he was too small. Thought I had weasel issues but never had a sighting so after 2 chicken deaths(found in shed partially eaten) I finally saw the culprit in chic shed 2x and 2 deaths later I am finally trying to deter hawks. Would have been easier to deal with weasels probably! 4 partially eaten chickens in 2 weeks.And 2 were 7 lb hens. Other 2 were 6 year old pets(both appx. 4 lbs) so doesn't take but 1 rouge raptor to do lots of damage.

 

[alldembirds]

crow decoys are supposed to help scare hawks away

 

[chickchoon1]

crow decoys are supposed to help scare hawks away

"Supposed to". Would if I could. Can't purchase anything for a while and will be putting up CDs and netting(which I happen to have lots of TG!) Being surrounded by a hundred acres of big woods is nice but now heartbreaking because of the dang hawks. I wonder if using some very black cloth in the shape of a crow could work? Gotta get busy.

 

[LittleRedCoop53]

A hawk will only take prey it can carry. So if your chickens are fully grown there shouldn't be a problem.

Not true....they will kill and sit and eat it right there.... first hand experience

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A hawk will only take prey it can carry. So if your chickens are fully grown there shouldn't be a problem.

There is NO hawk living in North America that can carry off a recently killed Standard Sized Full Grown hen or rooster. After the hawk and its mate eats their fill for a day or two then MAYBE they can get air born with the grizzly remainder. The problem is not with the weight of the chicken but rather with the drag or wind resistance of a dead chicken combined with 4 to 9 pounds of dead chicken weight.

The largest North American hawk is the Red Tail Hawk and the female red tail tops out at little more than 4 pounds and almost two pounds less for a male red tail. A Bowing 747 in contrast weighs 430 tons but can only carry 250,000 pounds or 125 tons or less than 30% of the plain's gross weight. Furthermore all the cargo is carried internally or in the case of the space shuttle the cargo is designed to be aerodynamic so drag is dramatically reduced.

A hawk is not a helicopter even though a hawk and a helicopter both takeoff vertically and remember that a dead chicken clutched in a hawk's talons is hardly aerodynamic. Therefor the main reason a hawk must takeoff vertically is because it is difficult if not impossible for a hawk to taxy or do a high speed roll out to build enough lift to achieve takeoff speed all with a dead chicken clutched in the raptors, feet.

Hawks are also poor or inept killers as a search of this web sight for hens that survived a hawk attack proves, even after large portions of her body was ate by the attacking hawk. Here are two such instances of this in only the last week or two.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/957292/something-got-a-huge-chunk-out-of-henny
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/955930/hawk-attack-graphic-pics-updated-pics-4-days-out-post-86

 

[Chxfried12]

OH MY!!!!! I'm not sure where your hawks come from, but once they get a taste of chicken they will not very soon go back to mice and robins. Esp in the winter when natural food supplies are low. I do agree they are not going to make off with the whole bird. I have one I have been fighting all winter and have found him on top of carcass with very little concern about me. I recently fenced in a run for the flock, but have yet been able to get netting up (tough winter). Have lost 5 full grown birds since fencing them in. They are now inside until i can get netting up. He has had his fill and IS NOT going away anytime soon. (((((. If crumpet disappeared I would think Racoon, coyote or fox. Bushes and trees have not deterred my KFC eating hawk...

 

[NateinFL]

"Supposed to". Would if I could. Can't purchase anything for a while and will be putting up CDs and netting(which I happen to have lots of TG!) Being surrounded by a hundred acres of big woods is nice but now heartbreaking because of the dang hawks. I wonder if using some very black cloth in the shape of a crow could work? Gotta get busy.

The CD's are useless, trust me I know from firsthand experience. Was a waste of my time.

 

[LittleRedCoop53]

I know what being 'watched like a hawk' truly means now that two hawks, a cooper hawk and a red tail hawk , have discovered my chickens.
I put netting up over their runs and only free range in my small front yard, when I'm right there with them... i can't leave them alone, i dash in and out of my house now... because it really only took being inside 5...10 minutes refilling a cup of coffee, to coming out and seeing a red tail hawk on top of my dead silkie rooster.
I do believe they are here to stay now...i had almost 3 years of free ranging with out a thought of hawks, locking the chickens up at night worried only about the possibilities of racoons. The cooper hawk can see me look out the window and flies away ...it's so smart. yep nothing like being watched like a hawk hahaha

 

[RichnSteph]

I'm guessing that you can't just shoot the hawk?

 

[alldembirds]

All hawks and owls are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 USC, 703-711). These laws strictly prohibit the capture, killing, or possession of hawks or owls without special permit. No permits are required to scare depredating migratory birds except for endangered or threatened species