Hawk, Falcon, seagulls or Eagles How to Avoid loosing chickens!!

[vineviewfarm]

Hi All, My free range chooks are being taunted and some taken by Hawks and big black backed sea gulls is there anyway of disuading the predators??
any help appreciated
perhaps building a shade shelter where they can seek refuge away from sight? their home run is under thick forest so is fine but they enjoy roaming on the open pasture.
We like having the predator birds around as they kill the stoats, weasels, cats and rats that naturally find themselves living around the forest habitat so im not keen to shoot them..
any help as always much appreciated
Regards
Ben@vineviewfarm

 

[Molpet]

my dog chases them.... other people have put up shiny things and scarecrows. others run fish line 1' apart

 

[KYTinpusher]

Hi All, My free range chooks are being taunted and some taken by Hawks and big black backed sea gulls is there anyway of disuading the predators??
any help appreciated
perhaps building a shade shelter where they can seek refuge away from sight? their home run is under thick forest so is fine but they enjoy roaming on the open pasture.
We like having the predator birds around as they kill the stoats, weasels, cats and rats that naturally find themselves living around the forest habitat so im not keen to shoot them..
any help as always much appreciated
Regards
Ben@vineviewfarm

Shooting them is illegal - the hawks and raptors anyway - so I would advise against that. I don't know about the seagulls.

Make sure you have multiple roosters to get good coverage of the area and put out things they can hide in/under for cover. If you have the time and money available, make an enclosure for them in the pasture that is covered in bird netting. Make it big enough to allow them plenty of room, but small enough that you can move it when they need new pasture.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hi All, My free range chooks are being taunted and some taken by Hawks and big black backed sea gulls is there anyway of disuading the predators??
any help appreciated
perhaps building a shade shelter where they can seek refuge away from sight? their home run is under thick forest so is fine but they enjoy roaming on the open pasture.
We like having the predator birds around as they kill the stoats, weasels, cats and rats that naturally find themselves living around the forest habitat so im not keen to shoot them..
any help as always much appreciated
Regards
Ben@vineviewfarm

Where on Earth are you located?

 

[CoopDeDoo]

Quote:
x2 - I am leaning towards not USA based on the seagull description use of the word "mozzies" in his other post. IMO there is only so much you can do to reduce - not eliminate - predator risk if you are free ranging.

 

[chickencoop789]

all I could say is just give them places to hide and escape predators in the area they are free ranging. there really isn't much else you can do to prevent free ranging chickens from being snatched up by a hungry predator.

 

[chickencoop789]

and im gonna go out on a limb here and say that what you think are great black backed gulls aren't actually gulls at all... I find it close to impossible for one of those birds to pick up a chicken and carry it away, despite theyre large size. Possibly an osprey? they both have similar coloration but the osprey actually has the power and the talons to do so.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

The great black gull can kill an adult puffin. I would put it past a gull.

 

[vineviewfarm]

Hi there, we are blessed enough to live in sunny Marlborough, New Zealand!

 

[vineviewfarm]

Hi there thanks for that, good idea. The ground is former riverbed so dragging an enclosure around proves difficult but i think a lightweight frame on a couple of decent inflated tyres might do it,

reg shooting them, oddly enough the sea gull is the one that would get me in trouble( shooting it ) the harrier hawk is introduced and in pest volumes, Unfortunatly we arent lucky enough to have our native Forrest Falcon around anymore as they have all but been displaced...

The gulls although we see them in number they are native and are nice to have around
Cheers