Hawks having lunch with my silkies

[lsmichel]

I live in a city raising chickens but having troubles with Hawks coining and makind dinning with my silkies. I have other breed but so far the silkies (the smaller of the breeds) have been food. Any suggestions on how to deter silkie buffets? The backyard has a wonderful canopy of oak and ash trees but several openings are still available for the hawk. I currently stringing fishing line in most areas. Should I hand anything from the lines??

 

[chicknmania]

Yes, you can try hanging wind spinners or old cd's, either individually or made into mobiles. It's unnecessary to hang them everywhere, we hang a few discreetly close to areas where our birds take cover, or, we have a couple of moveable mobiles that we can move about, made of old CD's and ribbon. We feel that they do help, we've seen hawks sitting in other areas but not where the flashing spinning things are. Wild bird stores have recommended this technique to us, and it does seem to work pretty well. We also use "Bird Bombs" on occasion, they also work very well. Roosters are useful in that they are constantly on the lookout for hawks and other predators, where the hens might not be. And the roosters will warn the flock if they see or sense anything strange.Some cities are now making allowances for city residents to have a rooster under certain conditions. Guineas are good too, although I don't know if they'd be allowed in a city. Sometimes having a couple of larger birds, like geese, around, can be a deterrent . Lastly, make sure your flock has plenty of cover. You can make "hawk bunkers" out of brush and other materials, if you don't have enough in key areas.

 

[chicksmom30]

Hi,
Something else to think about besides hanging things on the wires which is a good idea is: Do you have any little shelters that they can get under? We have about 4 covers. about 2 ft high and 4 ft across that help keep predators from reaching the chickens and our ducks . get 4 pieces of wood ( same size make small posts and then nail on a roof of some type that should help a lot.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. Chicknmania has given you some good suggestions to try and they might reduce the rate at which you are losing Silkies to the hawks. However, based on my 50 years of experience in raising chickens, I don't think that there is any way to completely protect your Silkies from hawks except for a completely enclosed run. If you chose to free range your Silkies, I think you are going to have an occasional loss, no matter what you do. Hopefully you can reach a point where you consider the losses acceptable and still worth continuing to free range. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in protecting your Silkies.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

X2 on Chicknmania and Michael's wonderful advice!

 

[drumstick diva]

Even if you could just cover your run with deer netting that will give the silkies some protection. Hawks don't want to injure their wings flying through barriers or else the silkies would be dining on them.

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

You got some good advice here. Best of luck!

 

[lsmichel]

Thanks so much for the advice

 

[sunflour]

Glad you joined us. So sorry about your losses. Hope you suffer no more.