Hawk deterrent

[chicknmania]

First off, whoever joked about hawks being "yummy"? They are protected by Federal law, so you cannot kill them. You can't shoot them if they are "killing your livestock". CD mobiles are excellent deterrents; if you put them close to where your chickens would run for cover, that works well too, and it's a great use for old cd's or dvd's.

You can apply for a permit to use bird bombs, which are designed to frighten birds , and those work well, too, not only for hawks but other predators also. We just only use those when we have a significant problem; not necessarily just an occasional sighting unless we can tell the hawks are stalking the flock. You don't have to shoot AT the hawks to use those; just shooting them into the air works great.

I also sometimes walk around with a pair of pan lids, which make a hideous noise as far as raptors are concerned, and they flash too, which is a good predator deterrent. Once in a great while I will set off some Black Cat fireworks, if I think my flock is being stalked by something.

Just walking around, talking, making unusual noises at unusual times, even talk radio, all help with hawk and all predator problems.

The main thing is to be inventive and to find several ways to use to deter predators, hawks included, so that they are never sure what is going on, and they don't have an opportunity to get used to anything.

Make sure your flock has plenty of cover.

Roosters are very good at watching for predators, and warning the flock; most will also sacrifice themselves to give the hens a chance to get away.

Good luck!

 

[gillyfleur]

I have Belgian d'Anvers and d'Uccles (and a few rescue chickens). Hawks can be a BIG problem when free ranging little guys like mine. I have red tail hawks and in the fall/winter occasional migrating Coopers hawks. Most of my losses came from juvenile hawks that see chickens as easier to get than their usual prey. I also have learned to listen for crows making a fuss and it nearly always is a hawk or two hanging around.
Because I have a breeding flock I have multiple roosters and they do a great job of keeping multiple watch posts to alert for danger. In the wild flocks have roosters that "manage" the flock, roosters that keep guard and roosters that help the hens forage.
I have a rescue frizzle Colchin (bantam) that is not the brightest bulb on the tree, but about a year ago I was once watching the flock from inside my house and a hawk dropped in from nowhere and landed on one of my hens. Before I could even react, the Colchin boy ran over and kicked the hawk in the head knocking it off the hen! The hawk flopped on the ground for a second then flew away. The hen was fine, the rooster got lots of treats that night!
2 years ago I lost my beloved Aussie/Springer/Newfie mix that was the BEST livestock guardian dog. He wouldn't go after the chickens even the few roosters I had that would attack him. I didn't lose a single chicken when he was in the yard.
So to sum up: a mixture of deterrents is best.

 

[dogkahuna]

If balloons, cds, scarecrows, etc. work for you, then great. I find that birds get used to them within 1-2 days. What works for me is zig-zagging rope across the top of the run so that a raptor with a big wingspan can't find enough space to land.

 

[happyfrenchman]

My red jungle fowl rooster is a great protector. I had hawks try to come after my hens before I got him, but now he gets them inside everytime a hawk comes near, then he raises heck while standing in the doorway. I know he will fight anything that comes after his girls, because I've seen him go after a playful beagle when she ran too close. She wasn't after the hens but he didn't like her running back and forth past them and jumped in her face. Red tails never come close to my pen, even though I see them high overhead doing their mating calls. Cooper's hawks are all that have made a dive at them.

I would like to see that. A real fighting chicken going against a Coopers. The chicken could win. But the way the hawk operates, they try to avoid the rooster if he is present. I watched on video as one drove my birds across the yard, back and forth, until he had one isolated and cornered. The rooster was on the other side of the yard with the majority of the hens. There was plenty of cover available, but, some people seem to forget the fact that chickens are essentially stupid birds, and will break cover if the hawk knows what it is doing. That one did.
As far as them being yummy, I have found that they are generally mangy and scrawny. They reminded me of vampires. They have a hard life and by the time they get to chicken killing, they are sometimes desperate. But if you let them continue they will laugh at your CDs and pan rattling. You can walk around your yard doing pretty much anything you like and the hawk is not going to be a problem. It is when you are away. If you are able to babysit your chickens that is great, but I have no desire to do that.

 

[17 chickens]

I thought I seen a Hawk!

 

[Texas backyard chickens]

I have Belgian d'Anvers and d'Uccles (and a few rescue chickens). Hawks can be a BIG problem when free ranging little guys like mine. I have red tail hawks and in the fall/winter occasional migrating Coopers hawks. Most of my losses came from juvenile hawks that see chickens as easier to get than their usual prey. I also have learned to listen for crows making a fuss and it nearly always is a hawk or two hanging around.
Because I have a breeding flock I have multiple roosters and they do a great job of keeping multiple watch posts to alert for danger. In the wild flocks have roosters that "manage" the flock, roosters that keep guard and roosters that help the hens forage.
I have a rescue frizzle Colchin (bantam) that is not the brightest bulb on the tree, but about a year ago I was once watching the flock from inside my house and a hawk dropped in from nowhere and landed on one of my hens. Before I could even react, the Colchin boy ran over and kicked the hawk in the head knocking it off the hen! The hawk flopped on the ground for a second then flew away. The hen was fine, the rooster got lots of treats that night!
2 years ago I lost my beloved Aussie/Springer/Newfie mix that was the BEST livestock guardian dog. He wouldn't go after the chickens even the few roosters I had that would attack him. I didn't lose a single chicken when he was in the yard.
So to sum up: a mixture of deterrents is best.

 

[Texas backyard chickens]

I am interested in learning about your d’Uccles and Danvers, I am interested greatly in both breeds. I have a breeder shipping me a trio in a week or so.

 

[chicknmania]

I would like to see that. A real fighting chicken going against a Coopers. The chicken could win. But the way the hawk operates, they try to avoid the rooster if he is present. I watched on video as one drove my birds across the yard, back and forth, until he had one isolated and cornered. The rooster was on the other side of the yard with the majority of the hens. There was plenty of cover available, but, some people seem to forget the fact that chickens are essentially stupid birds, and will break cover if the hawk knows what it is doing. That one did.
As far as them being yummy, I have found that they are generally mangy and scrawny. They reminded me of vampires. They have a hard life and by the time they get to chicken killing, they are sometimes desperate. But if you let them continue they will laugh at your CDs and pan rattling. You can walk around your yard doing pretty much anything you like and the hawk is not going to be a problem. It is when you are away. If you are able to babysit your chickens that is great, but I have no desire to do that.

that is not true that hawks will get used to the CDs. You do have to move them around to different locations occasionally. If hawks "Laugh" at CD's and pan rattling, apparently they are laughing in YOUR yard. I don't have time to spend my life out there either, but although we sometimes have a hawk problem, it is not often, and we live in an area where there are lots of hawks. CDs are recommended by wild bird stores everywhere as one of the best hawk deterrents. As far as chickens being "essentially stupid birds", that's your opinion. I've seen chickens do some incredibly smart things in the 13 years we have had them.

 

[dogkahuna]

that is not true that hawks will get used to the CDs. You do have to move them around to different locations occasionally. If hawks "Laugh" at CD's and pan rattling, apparently they are laughing in YOUR yard. I don't have time to spend my life out there either, but although we sometimes have a hawk problem, it is not often. CDs are recommended by wild bird stores everywhere as one of the best hawk deterrents. As far as chickens being "essentially stupid birds", that's your opinion. I've seen chickens do some incredibly smart things in the 13 years we have had them.

Okay. Before I started raising poultry, I was an Audubon birder for years. One thing we flocksters need to keep in mind is that wild birds behave differently in different locales. They develop cultures and tendencies just like other animals who herd/flock/pack together.

Hawks in my neck of the woods are evidently inured to discs twisting in the wind. They may work great in other places with other hawks. No need to get ruffled feathers at each others' recommendations. Birds in general aren't stupid (though I've seen birds eliminate themselves from the gene pool doing stupid things, just like humans.) Birds have intelligence that differs from humans and some people just don't have the grey matter to fathom it.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Hanging CDs doesn't do anything to deter hawks. When I had pigeons, I sometimes had hawks buzz right past my ear to attack my flock on the landing board. Are the chickens supposed to hang out under this CD umbrella? People ask for advice and there are surely different opinions. CDs is one method but there are others.

Chickens have alot of instinct .... and some are smarter than others....but relative to a lot of birds, they are essentially not smart. Crows are smart. Parrots are smart. Hawks in many cases are smart... chickens are not what I would consider a smart animal.Their brain is the size of a peanut.

If you want to let them out to roam around, they will eventually get preyed on. Shelters are good, but I found that you cannot expect them to take shelter the way you might have hoped or designed. Mine charged out of numerous perfectly good shelters and stampeded back and forth across the yard in a panic when the hawk frightened them. A fence became a trap. If they had been smart, they could have done numerous things better than charging in different directions and getting isolated. (The attack I witnessed took a couple of minutes before she battened on to an isolated hen. They had plenty of time to take better shelter that was all around them...) That hawk demonstrated the ability to basically pick and choose her victim. If she had been left to continue, she would have done it again and again. Why wouldn't she? Your poor Wyandotte needs some relief.

As a standard process, I use the dead chicken as bait. It is ideal because the guilty predator knows where it is, knows it is food right there.... the predator might have only flew off upon seeing you. It might have fed and went back to it's nest. It might even send it's mate or offspring in to get a bite.... I have seen that too. It is most likely sitting very close by waiting for you to leave. I waited for a long time on that last one... it was almost dark when she returned to the carcass. It might have had youngsters she was feeding... she appeared out of nowhere, low to the ground and actually approached on foot. Reminded me of that old movie "Nosferatu"... It was a very wary bird,... but not wary enough.

That was a year ago... Notably, I have not had a loss since... But I am probably overdue for another attack. It is inevitable if you free range.

You can keep them locked up, you can go out with them and watch them, or you can let them out with a good setup to take their chances. If I know the hawk is hanging around, I will keep them in. I don't look for trouble. I have never seen one prior to an attack. The birds know when they are around generally but not always. If a hawk comes and gets one, and I see it flying off, or I find the dead chicken... I will expend a lot of effort to make sure it doesn't happen again.

People will say another will take it's place... certainly one will, but it is unlikely it will be a chicken hunter. People say they are protected... ? A hawk sitting in a tree salivating over your birds is (in reality) not as protected as you might want to imagine.

Where are you located? In many countries you can kill and eat them and people do. I have found they do not generally have a lot of meat on them. I find them to be like desperate verminous vampires who have to kill every day to live. Mercilessly eating their victims before they are even dead... I would not treat them any differently than a possum or a coon, a rat or a skunk. What is the difference if it flies or runs? It is killing your chickens. This thread is about hawk deterrence... well, I have deterred them for many years now, and I can claim only limited success. Nothing is foolproof except leaving them in. (And there are other health costs associated with that). I like to let them out. I still lose a bird or two every year but I deter the culprits as required. I don't have multiple losses, and I do not consider myself helpless. There are other ways then listening to people telling you that you cannot do anything about it. Or sending you to get a permit you will never ever receive... or a cannon that goes off every now and then. (The neighbors will love that one). Everyone has to make their own decisions. Telling people to hang streamers or CDs is fine, but it is important people realize there are other methods as well.