Hawks! How can I keep the hawks away from my chickens?

[LaceySilkieLove]

Me and my husband just moved to a different part of Atlanta. At our old house out of no where we developed a serious fox problem. They got 6 of my chickens. Where we moved to, I do not think there will be any foxes and I thought there wouldn't be any predators and my chickens would be able to safely free range but I was wrong.
The other day me and my husband were outside with our 13 Cochin bantam chicks (almost full grown) letting them play in the grass. We went in to grab them a treat and when we came back around the corner the chicks had all ran under their favorite bush except for one (spicy) and she was giving her destress call. I was walking over to get her when a gigantic hawk swooped over my head and grabbed her. We were both screaming at it but it flew away with spicy and she was never to be seen again. :-( when it swooped down we were probably only 25 feet away.
I don't know what to do now. They love to come out and play, but I can only let they play right around my feet. And we are building them a larger fenced in play aria.
Is there anything I can do to keep the hawk away? Like a scar crow for hawks or something?
We still see the hawk flying around and I was curious if any of y'all have had any success with a hawk problem. Oh! And our hawk was bigger than a red tailed hawk, it had stripes and an almost 4 ft wing span! Does anyone know what kind that was?
Thanks!

 

[chickenboy2001]

We use an owl lawn ornament on a post next to the chicken yard, since hawks and owls are enemies.

 

[redneck farmer]

A hawk got my Hen Audrey today. Full size big hen. I heard something and there he was killing her. I screamed and chased him off with snow/ice balls. Supper scared he will be back for my other girls. This hawk lives in my neigborhood. I scream and throw snow at him whenever I see him. Any ideas?

I'm from Florida so I ain't really know bout them snow hawks but down here we put up poles with fishing lines over the areas where r chickens Rome an when a hawk comes an flys smack into te line they tend to not do that again

 

[Eps32]

During my 5 years of keeping chickens, I've heard a lot of tips on how to deter hawks. Here's a few.

1) Buy birds that are dark-colored. I have heard that the darker the bird, the less likely a hawk will attack it (this doesn't mean that it won't get attacked, but it does mean it's chances will be lower). This may be a myth, but it's something I've heard.

2) Don't free-range your birds, and put poultry netting over their run. This is something I've never done (though sometimes, when a hawk is prowling about, I lock them in the coop for a day or two until the hawk leaves), but it is something others have done with great success.

3) Buy a rooster that you know will beat off hawks. There are literally roosters out there that will kill hawks that mess with them or their ladies. Gamecocks are probably a great choice...just don't keep more than one, or they'll kill each other before either of them kills a hawk.

4) If you have a gun, fire into the dirt (do NOT fire into the air, as this is very dangerous because the bullet will land somewhere) to scare off a hawk that is eyeing your birds. Some hawks are spooked by this and leave...others aren't.

4) Shoot any bird of prey that is eyeing your birds. This is something I have never done (though I have longed to do it more than once), and this is against the law of Big Brother, and environmentalists love to persecute flock owners who are trying to defend their flocks, so this is a last resort and should only be done if you live in a rural area where no one will see you do it. But even then, some avian enthusiast may have put a tracking device in the bird, and when they follow the signal to a hole in your backyard and find a bullet in the animal, you're as dead as one of your birds. So really, it's not a good idea.

The fifth suggestion is one of my own that nobody has suggested to me. I have found that it works very well.

5) Fly a flag or two at your house. Awhile ago, I was having some serious problems with hawks attacking my birds. Two or three times, I literally had to whack a hawk off the back of my birds with a stick. It was getting bad. Well, around that time, I put up an American flag and a battle flag to show my patriotism. I haven't had a hawk attack since. It could be coincidence, but I think the constantly-waving large objects (combined with the proliferation of red in both of the flags) spooks the hawks enough to deter them.

There's a old timer iv bought chickens from. And he shoots Hawks no questions asked. I asked him the same thing aren't you worried about a fine a lot of these Hawks have tracking devices. He said they go right into the burn barrel after he eliminates them. I told him I can't afford to take the chance of getting fined and arrested so I'll take other methods. He said he's tried all those methods nothing works. He's in his late 60s so I think he's set in his ways. He's giving me a lot of good tips on my chickens he's been doing it for thirty years. A lot of good tips. But his method I do not recommend unless you don't care about fines and being arrested. I just can't see getting in trouble with the law for a few hens. If you free range you just have to understand that you occasionally lose birds to predators. It's just the circle of life I guess.

 

[Sylvester017]

I free range mine but now I might have to re think that. I just hate the fact of having to confine them.

Better to confine your precious birds for a little while until you can make a larger covered pen rather than having them as free-range bait for hawks. We have a small suburban cottage backyard but still have a Cooper's Hawk issue. Most of the time the black Crows will chase off the Cooper's but it will show up sometimes for 2 or 3 days in a row in our backyard. We've free-ranged the hens in the backyard for 5 yrs and so far haven't lost a chicken to the hawk. We found out that the hens are quite smart about hiding from the hawks if we provide them plenty of doghouses and lean-to's and plants to hide/snooze under. A Cooper's can be 5-feet away from a hen but if she is in a doghouse or under a lean-to he won't go after her even if he can see her. For some reason the hawks like to swoop with talons on a running hen so we eliminated wide open areas by using lawn furniture, pop-up canopy, dog houses, lean-to's, potted plants, thorny climbing rose, and have plans for some evergreens and thorny berry bushes. There is a hiding area about every 5 feet in our yard. We and our surrounding backyard neighbors all chopped down our old tall trees to eliminate critters like raccoons, possums, feral cats, rats, mice, etc from hopping yard to yard.

Some of our hiding areas for the hens:

THE HUGE TREE IN THE BACKGROUND IS FROM THE FREEWAY AND IS A PERFECT NESTING AREA FOR COOPER'S HAWKS TO EYE OUR FLOCK. WE HAVE A CLUSTER OF POTTED PLANTS IN A CORNER OF THE YARD FOR THE HENS TO HIDE. AND ON THE RIGHT IS A LARGE DOGHOUSE (SHADOWED BY OUR RAISED GARDEN BED NET IN THE FRONT).


THE LARGE DOG HOUSE IN THE BACKYARD AND A ROW OF POTTED PLANTS THE CHICKENS HAVE USED TO HIDE BETWEEN.


DOG HOUSES COME IN HANDY ON A RAINY DAY TOO.


CHICKENS HANG OUT UNDER THIS CANOPY MOST OF THE DAY AND INSIDE THe MEDIUM DOG HOUSE WHEN HIDING/SNOOZING.


THE GIRLS ARE CHECKING OUT THE POTTED CONTAINERS - CHICKENS BROWSE THE YARD EVERY DAY TO FAMILIARIZE WHERE ALL THE GOOD HIDING PLACES ARE IN CASE A HAWK SHOWS UP.


CONTRACTORS LEFT THIS SCAFFOLDING BEHIND SO WE USED IT TO BUILD A COMBINATION BENCH FOR US AND A LEAN-TO FOR THE HENS.


ANOTHER DOG HOUSE PLACED IN THE YARD. IT SURPRISED US HOW MUCH THE HENS USE THE DOG HOUSES AROUND THE YARD.


OUR BIGGEST HEN SNOOZING IN OUR SMALLEST DOG HOUSE.


3 OF OUR ORIGINAL HENS SNOOZING UNDER THE THORNY CLIMBING ROSE BUSH - ONLY THE WHITE LEGHORN IS REALLY VISIBLE BUT THERE ARE 3 HENS RESTING UNDER THAT ROSE BUSH!


LAWN FURNITURE, CANOPIES, EVEN A TARPED FENCELINE MAKE GOOD HIDING PLACES FOR THE HENS


AN OLD PLYWOOD PIECE ON BLOCKS THAT PROVIDES SHADE AND SNOOZING/HIDING AREA NEXT TO A FENCELINE - THERE ARE 4 HENS IN THIS PHOTO - CAN YOU SPOT THEM ALL?


AN OLD WHEELBARROW HAS PROVIDED HIDING/SNOOZING AREA. 3 HENS ONCE WERE UNDER THIS 'BARROW WHEN THE COOPER'S HAWK STOOD 5-FT AWAY FROM THEM AND WOULDN'T ATTACK.


THIS GREEN TRASH BIN WAS OFTEN USED TO HIDE BEHIND.


THE LOW MAKESHIFT LEAN-TO'S ARE POPULAR DURING HEATWAVES AND THE DOG HOUSES ARE POPULAR FOR DIVING INTO WHEN THE HAWK SHOWS UP.

 

[centrarchid]

Juveniles and bantams are hawk bait. If bird small enough for hawk to pack off, then birds too small for free-range without protection. Several tricks, in addition to covered run, can be employed based on species of hawk. Red-tails and Coopers hawks can be managed for differently when vulnerable birds present. First and most effective option is an active dog that can get to chicken (therefore hawk) being attacked. Another with Coopers hawk to have fully adult standard sized rooster free-range with vulnerable birds. My preference for such is a game rooster as such more inclined to go after hawk on ground. Hawk will not want to grapple with something if it involves risk of being attacked by something else at same time. Dog and aggressive rooster can both provide risk. Cover can help but hen only and juvenile only flocks often result in hawk simply pursuing chickens in cover. Roosters more apt to attack hawk in cover making so hawk can not fly.

 

[ldutch123]

I had a hawk trying to get my silkies for days and he was actually landing and jumping at them too. It freaked me out and they have a huge fenced area so I can't cover it all. But they also have bushes and stuff to hide under BUT.... I tied rope from several trees to make a clothes line and hung CDs or DVDs from it. I also put out 2 scarecrows and I'm going to move them every week or so and for a week I have been hawk free.

This method doesn't work for some but it works for me. It's worth a try. Hang the CDs from random trees if u can. They make so much reflection it actually makes me think I saw something out of the corner of my eye lol. But I did hang a lot of them!

 

[Kim95037]

http://www.birdbusters.com/scare_bird_pest.html

These guys make quite a few items. I had a hawk dive bomb at my biggest chicken, it missed but not by much. I was thinking about getting some of these balloons maybe Im not sure yet. I havent had a hawk dive at another chicken but I hear them and see them flying around all the time. I have some baby chicks which are inside with me right now in the brooder, but Im pretty nervous about letting them outside. I have a nice big run, but I let them free range inside my fenced in yard when Im home. I wonder if anyone has tried any of these kinds of products?? They say the predator preventor would work on hawks, but Im not sure about that one either.

 

[Kim95037]

http://www.birdbgone.com/products/bird-deterrents/repeller-360.html

Heres some more stuff Ive been looking into. I would hate to put bird wire over my whole yard, its huge.
Let me know what you guys think of any of this stuff.

 

[Mattemma]

If you don't do a perm. run just set some bird netting over some bamboo poles attached to plastic fence.You can move the fencing around easy,but the netting is a pain.Thing is to do the netting loose,so when the hawk attacks it will tangle them.If it is tight the hawk will rip right through it.Tangled gives you time to save your chickens,and then deal with the hawk.

Speaking of hawks I just saw ours on the grape arbor.I sure wish that pretty bird would disappear.