HAWK Not Only Swooped But LANDED!!

[farm_mom]

We've had a problem here too with a coopers hawk who we had been living peacefully with for years. This year has been different. He will wait in the trees, hop along on the ground chasing songbirds...we've even recently seen him swimming in our duck pool and pouncing on the chicken run trying to find a way in. We used to free range, and we still do, but we are careful to always be present, and have the dog out with us when we range.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

We have lost two nice leghorn pullets and one irreplaceable wild hen to hawks. We got two white Guinea fowl and since have not had a hawk attack.

I have scattered a few hawks with a shot gun, never intended to hit any and did not. However, they are pretty fearless. Spend as much time with your flock as you can and watch carefully for hawks in the air. GET a few Guineas, they really alert at hawks.

 

[TexasJoe]

I would start by buying a few large PLASTIC owls and putting them on fence posts and exposed tree limbs. Also, planting bushes and "scrub plants" like switchgrass will give your chickens a much better chance to hide and escape..hawks don't like swooping into foliage

 

[SarahFair]

I think one got my kitten over the weekend

 

[Lunachick]

I'm sorry you lost your kitten.

That alone would break my heart.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

:aww I am sorry about your losses, both bird & animal.

We have red-shouldered hawks here that have gotten a few of my chicks & chickens over the years. I've also lost a chick to a small kestrel one Christmas morning, and I think an owl took a small rooster sleeping on a fence one night.

I have 6 roos with my flock, they are great for signaling a warning. They have one word for "something flying overhead" and another particularly bad word for "hawk!" When they say that word, all of us in the yard, bird & human, stop, crouch, and look up in the sky. Then all the birds scoot under the nearby bushes & yard furniture. All the roos and many of the hens squawk bird profanities until the danger passes.

I keep shiny moving things around & over my runs, old CDs, pinwheels, sun-catchers from the dollar stores, etc. I like to think that helps, the bright moving flashes reflecting the light rather than any certain warning color. It also helps to have things around in the yard for the chickens to hide under, patio tables & chairs, pallets or plywood up on blocks, rusty old pickup trucks without wheels on cinder blocks, etc...

The hawks here seem to prefer the chicks, and any lame or disadvantaged birds. They've come to the ground to land beside pens of chicks left outside, and have reached through the wire and killed one. Now when I keep chicks outside I cover their cage with plywood and give them places to shelter in the center of the pen.

The saddest loss I suffered was a dear little mixed-breed hen we named Quiche. She was nothing to look at, but she was a superior broody Mama. I think she died defending her last 4 chicks from a hawk, they were huddled in my butterfly garden & she was nearby in the hedge, already dead & getting eaten by this hawk.

The Big Decision is how much you're willing to risk an occasional loss to hawks for how much free-ranging you want for your birds. And how much you're willing to risk letting them free-range unsupervised. A lot of that depends on how prevalant the hawks are in your yard, and how much time you're able to devote to supervising your flock. For me, I just try to give them lots of shelter to escape into and trust the vigilance of the roos & mama hens.

 

[heyeddah]

I have had a couple of hawk attacks. One swooped down and had three month rooster in his talons. My husband had to go out and grab him back. He lived through that one. Just last month the hawk was back and swooped right at the run and tried to grab the girls from the roost. This time of year they get really aggressive.

 

[caltexchick]

I have had two hawk killings in the last week. They seem to go after the smallest birds. They are very bold. I caught the hawk in the act of killing of my beloved bantam polish babe - corella.

He just flew to the top of the fence and glared at me and I was within 10 feet of him. Now the girls are all locked up in their coop, but he is circling. Not sure what I can do to protect them. Maybe cover the chicken yard? Beware - they are ruthless and return.

 

[Cetawin]

I am glad the hawk did not get any babies. As long as thye hide from him, they are pretty safe with hawk on the ground...if they get out in the open the hawk will get em.

Try hanging CD's, the shiny movement will bother them more than colored tape or fake owls. Hawks will watch and when fake owl never leaves or is sitting there in broad daylight, hawk will know it is not a threat.

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
I am so sorry. Are you sure it was not an owl? Owls will snatch cats in a second.