Hawks! How do I keep them away?

[choven05]

I'm in the process of looking for a rooster now. We've talked about getting one so that we don't have to replace our chickens by buying new ones. It was suggested to me to try BYC and see if anyone was looking to re-home one. I've looked around and there are a few available, but they aren't what I'd call close to drive to. Is it possible to ship them?

Also, and idea what kind of mothers amber links chickens make? I got 8 at TSC this spring and didn't know they were hybrids until I joined this forum.

 

[scooter147]

Being hybrids I doubt they will go broody and want to become mothers.

 

[Nambroth]

You can ship roosters, but it might be more expensive than taking a drive to pick one up. It probably depends on your gas mileage and such.

While it's not impossible, ambelinks are somewhat unlikely to go broody. They are a hybrid production breed (as you found out) and have actually been bred to lose the broody trait, so they may never sit on eggs for you. You can always see if anyone around you is re-homing a breed that tends to have a broody streak. Just be sure to quarantine and be cautious about the health of the flock they are coming from.

 

[XtremeRooster]

There was another thread on BYC where someone suggested shooting them. DO NOT do that it is against Federal law. Trust me I am from the federal government and I am here to help. LOL

No seriously I am a federal LEO and I can tell you about my one experience with a red tailed hawk. I did not know a dang thing about them but I found out the hard way. All I know is they are a beautiful bird and are highly protected. I am an avid hunter and collector of taxidermy mounts. On my way to town one day I see this rather large beautifully colored bird laying in the highway, it had just been hit by some type vehicle. It had no injuries at all except a broken neck. I thought it was a red tailed hawk but I was not sure. So I took it over my friends house and showed it to him and told him where I found it and I was going to take it to the taxidermist and get it mounted.

He said man I am pretty sure that is a red tailed hawk and you cannot even posses it. So I take it home wrap it up and put it in the freezer until I can find the right taxidermist. In the mean time my friend told his friend who happened to be a state game warden that I had the bird. Within a couple of hours two Ga. State DNR trucks pull up at my house and ask me outside to question me. Do you have a red tailed hawk? Yes, I think that is what it is? Can we see it, yes I said. I went and got the hawk out of the freezer and gave it to them. They verified it was indeed a red tailed hawk, then they wanted to know where I shot it at. I told them numerous times I did not shoot the bird and showed them my federal LEO id. I told them I would show them where I found the bird in the highway which was less than a mile from my house.

I went and showed them the exact spot where I picked up the bird. There was a small blood spot on the road, they took a dna swab of the blood spot. Then they returned to my house and again tried to get me to tell them where I shot the bird at. I told them they would find no other wounds on the bird except his neck was broke and he had bled some through his beak. I had to fill out a GA, State Affadavit telling the story about finding the bird and picking it up along with who had seen the bird. They also interviewed my friend

They called the USFWS they had to come out and interview me and I had to sign a federal affadavit, which they explained to me I could be charged with illegally possessing a federal bird of prey. Then they go aquire the bird from the Ga, State DNR rangers to take the bird for an autopsy, which if the bird would have been shot I could have been charged. The bird was given an official federal bird of prey id register number and certificate. The bird was autopsied then stuffed and given to the Raptor Center at Georgia Southern University for display. Anywhere in the US that stuffed bird moves it has to have that ID number and certificate attached to the display case. Also there has to be a request made to USFWS to transfer it from place to place.

The State DNR ranger got an award from the State of Georgia for being instrumental in aquiring a bird of prey for display at the college. I was told by the state and federal game wardens you can be arrested for picking the bird up and moving it. I told them the next one I find will rot right where it lays and I will not call you all and tell you I even saw it.

 

[Fancychooklady]

You can't blame the hawk for looking for an easy meal. The rooster will go some way to helping your situation. I ended up putting a Shetland pony and a goat in the free range area. Larger animals seem to make them a little more wary.

 

[scooter147]

No offense Xtremerooster but that is typical gov't, no common sense.
I worked for a company that had gov't housing contracts. We had this one family that was just nasty, dirty, well just plain disgusting. Never cleaned their apartment, dishes with not just a coating of food but full plates of food that had mold on it, food in the fridge that had been there goodness only knows how long, grease just caked on the stove and in the oven, dirty dishes in the dishwasher (dishwasher hadn't worked for months but they didn't bother to call and let anyone know), don't think their clothes had seen the inside of washer in years. You get the picture.
Needless to say the place was INFESTED with roaches, I never seen it that bad.
Well by now you have probable guessed where this is going, we got fined for the roaches and to reprimand to the tenants.

SSS

 

[Nambroth]

With all respect, discussions about shooting, SSS, and politics surrounding the legal protection of raptors in the USA nearly always turn into personal arguments and sometimes even get threads shut down.

Bottom line is: Know the laws, but let's discuss peaceful means of reducing hawk loss.

 

[katchickmom]

I had 4 chicks that would now be 4 months old. One of them happened to be a rooster. I know I have hawks here. So far I have lost 2 chicks. My rooster is HUGE he is a light bram he is up to about my knee and loves his hens. Here is my question though, I have never lost a laying hen before I had a rooster and I have always had hawks, so is it possible that two of them went broody and are hiding?? I am really upset. I am assuming it is a hawk only because I have never found feathers or bodies, I lost a black star and then my little arcana went missing this morning. My rooster just recently started to get frisky with his hens that I have seen so is it possible to get a hen fertilized this young??

 

[scooter147]

Typically with any predator attack you will find feathers. Birds will do what is called a "predator molt", when being attacked feathers loosen and come out easily so that hopefully the predator ends up with a mouth full of feathers and the bird can escape.
Don't rule out human predators either.

 

[LisaLouHoo]

This afternoon I came home to a hawk eating one of my free-range hens. She was not even dead yet!!!! She was a buff orpington, so quite large. The hawk was eating a piece of her up in a tree and she was laying wounded on the ground. He flew off when I went to the hen. It was totally grewsome and I had to finish her off out of pity for her. My rooster had gotten most of the other hens into the coop which is where I found them. There were still some missing so it took awhile for me to call them and they were quietly hidden in a brush pile next to the coop. We are in a heavily wooded area and have had foxes kill 4 hens, but I had just been saying that I was happy we didn't have a hawk problem and attributed it to the brush and trees everywhere. Well, he got this one and I'm hoping he won't come back. I think all of the chickens learned the hard way and now are experienced enough to hide next time.....hope, hope, hope.

This pic shows the area that some were hiding.