Hawks - how to deal with them?

[cj7795]

Had to deal with our first Hawk this morning ... after hearing our 2 chickens putting up quite a fuss this morning (which they don't usually do) I looked outside at the coop/run & saw a Hawk sitting on the top of our enclosed run & our chickens underneath the coop (our coop is raised so they can go under it - it is part of their enclosed run) ... then the Hawk would jump down on to the ground & torment them while they sat under the coop until they ran out ... then he would jump back up on top of the run ... this went on until I ran out in the yard & scared him away ... our chickens are in a totally enclosed run/coop & only come out when we are there to supervise (we never leave them out unsupervised) ... but I don't want them to be tormented by this darn bird all the time ... how do I keep him away?

 

[enola]

If he can't get into the run or coop he will figure that out pretty quickly.

And hopefully he will leave and not come back.

 

[centrarchid]

The tormenting suggest a Coopers Hawk. An adult standard sized rooster would put hawk off.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Make sure your coop and run are buttoned up like Fort Knox, and the hawk will get bored and leave eventually, once it realizes that it can't get to the yummy treats inside.

You could also stand out there with a Super Soaker and annoy the bird so much he doesn't want to come back. Hanging some pie plates or CDs around will work for a day or so, then you need to move them and switch things up so the bird doesn't become used to them.

 

[chfite]

If the chickens are safe, the hawk is just an annoyance. If the hawk cannot get to them, it will go on its way, just as was mentioned.

We have hawks here, but no losses to one. My run has strings run over it. I believe that a hawk would not try to fly in and out, if it cannot see a clear path.

My chickens forage all day, but have lots of cover close by most all the time. When a hawk shows up, the crows will sound an alarm and start to harass the hawk. The chickens run for cover. The rooster stands out in the open.

The crows aren't always around. One day I looked out to see a hawk perched on the shop watching the chickens. It never did anything other than watch for a while before it left. My dog is usually out there, but I don't know what it might do if a hawk attacked one of the chickens.

This is not as good as your completely enclosed run, but it has worked so far.

Chris

 

[enola]

Feed the crows some whole kernel corn. They will hang around more.