Hawk near miss. Looking for clarity!

[KyCoop]

November is a very dangeous month for migrating hawks. Is there a way you can fence off a small area outside the run? I created a chicken yard that I criss crossed string across. It's a large area 50 x 100 for my 9 girls. It's not fool proof but knock on wood it's working for us so far. With that said, my girls are hawk savey and listen to the blue jays. I don't let them into the yard until 2 and put them up by 5. It's been my experience that hawks look for breakfast , lunch and dinner. So I let my girls out after lunch and before dinner.

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

I have no roosters (I honestly got straight run and bargain bin chicks and my only males were meat birds and those are already processed) but my run is large and covered with fencing and I have chicken fence wrapped around the bottom bowed out a foot at least (like a c shape to curve and create a longer dig for a predator). When I let them have 'playtime' it's supervised by me and because I have a thicket of that awful zebra grass stuff (was planted by the prior owner so they didn't see the shed I guess she didn't like seeing it not a big country person even living on the acreage) They play in there and the ducks I have always check up in the sky and call out if they see anything. Our saving grace is weirdly the crows around here. The crows that hang around all summer here attack all of the hawks that come near 'their' trees. Downside is I hear that caw caw caw a whole bunch. Otherwise the crows so far have not been a bother. Our fence we used pvc pipe bowed to help make an arch frame for the run (added stability and shape I didn't want a boxed up square) the rounding has helped deter things from trying to climb buuuut the fencing we cut has poking metal that I made into defensive line so they climb they get cut/scraped up and people generally don't play with the top rim and kids can't reach it. Zero attempts still and it's been adjusted this way since mid July.

 

[Folly's place]

We have a coop and small roofed run combination, and have lost birds to hawks. Most often it's a bantam or young bird, and then survivors are more cautious.
If we do have a hawk attack, or one lurking, our birds are locked in for at least ten days, and usually two weeks or more. A successful hawk will try again!
Our roosters alert to any large bird overhead, including vultures, sandhill cranes, and geese. Better too careful than unaware!
Trees, shrubs, and 'stuff' to hide under all helps, because chickens really aren't meant to be on open grass at all. They are jungle animals originally.
And our worst daytime predators have been canines!!!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Our first hawk experience, when our first birds were all bantams, involved one idiot cockerel lost every third day, until we wised up and locked them in for two weeks. Three cockerels gone, but we did learn!
Don't think that a few days inside will be long enough...
Mary

 

[McChooky]

Hi! This is my first post (been lurking since April when I started my flock! Hi all!) I know there are thousands of hawk posts (I’ve read most of them!) I have some specific-to-me questions for the community and am hoping it can provide me and anyone else lurking some insight to reduce risks. Thank you in advance!

Brief background- we have a small urban flock of 6 in the Bay Area of CA. Got ladies in April/June as 6-7 week pullets. They have been allowed to free range in our backyard nearly since then. Coop and run access all day. It’s wooded but suburban so we’re not talking acres here. Just a nice patch of hill with two large trees. Food and water inside run. No predator issues until this week.

This past week (first week of November) I heard a commotion and looked to see a hawk swooping out of our yard. I ran out but was not able to ID hawk type. Thinking red tail as most common in this area. Cooper is possible too. Wing undersides were light brown/sandy in color. I thought the bird was huge but… city person here so take that for what it’s worth. All the girls were present but our head lady in charge had some missing feathers and on inspection a decent gash. (We’re doing wound care and thanks to posts here, she is healing well it seems. Eating/drinking excellent. She actually seems unbothered, whereas the others are still a bit frazzled.)

Specific questions in my mind:
1. Our yard has two large trees that the girls spend most time under one of them. The attack happened under/very near said tree. It has finally gone complete bare of leaves this week. Assuming this is not coincidence? Is this a fair assumption. And if so, is ranging them once the tree is filled out again “safer” ( in quotes as I know safe is a relative term and predators will predator). I feel like a full tree is not enough to stop a hawk! But looking at my yard I’m realizing how much more sky is exposed now and the timing seems, important.

2. We have a border collie who is trustworthy unsupervised with hens but he’s not a guard dog (ha!). He often sleeps on our deck while the hens graze the hill. Would just his presence be enough? Surely it depends on the hawk but would gladly leave him out when ranging the girls if it would make a difference?

3. In my hawk obsession this week I’ve done lots of reading on crow-hawk relations. Some articles saying hawks won’t bother staying anywhere crows nest. Our neighborhood is home to MANY crows. Murders upon murders of them. Is it too much wishful thinking to think perhaps this was a one off? That this hawk was making his way through and saw an “easy” meal and won’t necessarily be back?

Thank you for reading all this! Appreciate this community. Like I mentioned this is my first post but I’ve learned so much from lurking the past 6 months so thank you!

While I don't free range my flock myself I do know what works if you want to keep birds safe. Until I got my run covered in hardware cloth netting was all I had. It comes in all shapes and sizes and colors too.Instead of relying on trees to give your chickens cover add netting .Hawks will be able to swoop down and grab one without landing without it!

 

[FlarryEyeGrey]

We just moved to our new property earlier this year and this is my first time dealing with birds of prey... suffice it to say that I underestimated them. On my neighbor's advice, I didn't even try free-ranging during midday due to the hawk presence in the area. The chickens get to run around from 5pm until sundown. Other than that, they have 24/7 access to their covered runs.

Welp... a couple weeks ago a great horned owl literally squeezed himself into one of the coops through a 4"x5" gap and took out 6 pullets. Apparently none of the cockerels took it upon themselves to intervene, as they're off the clock as soon as they hit the roost. After he dispatched the girls he couldn't find his way back out. I did my best to scare him silly and then let him go. Well, wouldn't you know it — he came back that very same night after I went to bed, squeezed his way in again, and finished his meal (just the ones he'd already killed, thank goodness). He was in the coop, fat and happy as a clam, when I came in the morning to clean up the bodies.

My takeaway: birds of prey aren't scared of you and don't care about whatever obstacles you throw up at them. If they're around, chickens either need to be very well secured or need to be able to get somewhere the larger birds can't access.

 

[McChooky]

We just moved to our new property earlier this year and this is my first time dealing with birds of prey... suffice it to say that I underestimated them. On my neighbor's advice, I didn't even try free-ranging during midday due to the hawk presence in the area. The chickens get to run around from 5pm until sundown. Other than that, they have 24/7 access to their covered runs.

Welp... a couple weeks ago a great horned owl literally squeezed himself into one of the coops through a 4"x5" gap and took out 6 pullets. Apparently none of the cockerels took it upon themselves to intervene, as they're off the clock as soon as they hit the roost. After he dispatched the girls he couldn't find his way back out. I did my best to scare him silly and then let him go. Well, wouldn't you know it — he came back that very same night after I went to bed, squeezed his way in again, and finished his meal (just the ones he'd already killed, thank goodness). He was in the coop, fat and happy as a clam, when I came in the morning to clean up the bodies.

My takeaway: birds of prey aren't scared of you and don't care about whatever obstacles you throw up at them. If they're around, chickens either need to be very well secured or need to be able to get somewhere the larger birds can't access.

I hate surprises so I use hardware on all my coops and runs even the vents.I have an apron too.I'm sorry for your loss!

 

[FlarryEyeGrey]

I hate surprises so I use hardware on all my coops and runs even the vents.I have an apron too.I'm sorry for your loss!

I went cheap on this run and did 2"x4" horse fencing with just 2 feet of hardware cloth around the bottom. Chicken wire top that had a few gaps prior to the owl invasion (none now). It's only about 15 feet from the house so that dissuades most large predatory mammals, and thankfully raccoons aren't an issue here. I felt very good about it before this happened, but alas, in the chicken biz you very often find you get what you paid for when it comes to the coop build.

 

[Folly's place]

Many of us start with chickens and underestimate what having safe housing means, and how vulnerable they are at night especially. We learn, but the very hard way!
No openings anywhere larger than 1/2" diameter!!!
And only flocks totally enclosed 24/7 are completely safe. We free range most days, and do have losses. our very worst was to one of our own dogs, when our dog fencing failed!!!
Mary

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Thank you so much. Yes, in trying to be brief I didn’t detail- they have a fully covered and aproned run and a coop. Usually the run door is open all day and they go in and out as they roam the yard. Currently they are on run restrictions.
In your reply you touched on someone else I didn’t include- hoping this scare will inspire the hens to be more…. Wise This was their first scare and they are still young but they didn’t quite react until it was all over! Poor things.
They will be run restricted for a while. (Part of that is my own anxiety) Run is big enough for this but it is a shift for them. Looking into lots of extra things you mentioned as well. Shelters/Tractors etc. the yard is such a slope though I’ve got to plan out what will be feasible. Thanks again for your insight!

(and LOL about the border collie comment. I couldn’t agree more but I keep reading “get a dog” ha)

Ditto to all the above good advice. We have all of the predators native to Southern Ohio, plus neighbors who don’t confine their pets. My biggest concerns are our five species of hawks, two species of eagles, and our resident Great Horned Owls. My twelve girls have a large, roofed run and only come out with me. Even so, I’ve had one close call with an eagle, one with an unknown four-legged predator, and several very low fly-overs lately from Red Tailed hawks. Because I can’t be everywhere, I’ve added a large area in front of the run that’s covered by camo netting. One side of the netting attaches to the run and the other is held up by a post set in a concrete-filled five gallon bucket. They love it! Now that it’s wintertime, I’ve taken it down. They are much more inclined to stay right by my side or inside the run.