Hawks

[MsChickenMomma]

I will definitely not be letting my girls out until we can get a run put up for them. This morning I let the girls out and they weren't out for more than 30 seconds when that hawk came out of nowhere an started attacking them. Sunni was in the little door about to head outside and I was standing right next to her, and the hawk flew past and tried to get Sunni (my special needs pullet in my avatar). Sunni flew backwards and ran and hid in the coop. I ran outside because 4 of my girls were still out there, and I watched that hawk try to attack one of my girls, and then one of my white leghorns was behind their old outdoor cage that I have propped up on its side by the barn, and the hawk was lunging at the cage with its feet trying to get her. I ran at the hawk waving my arms and yelled "GET OUT OF HERE!" It flew away and I quickly put the girls back inside and slammed all of the doors and windows shut.

The hawk is the same size as my 19 week old girls, but that isn't stopping it from trying to attack my chickens no matter how big they are. The thing had the nerve to attack my girls when I was standing right there! It was launching itself off their backs!! I am just shaking with anger right now.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Hawks are brutal!
They will attack animals bigger to them and with their beak & talons they can shred them up in seconds.
I'm glad you were there and able to chase him off.
Unfortunately once they know where there is food they will most likely be back, so you will need a cover.
Lowe's sells rolls of bird netting, which is what we used.
We have 2 runs, one for the pet chickens which is 25'x20' and another for the meaties which is 10'x20'. We used the roll and zip-tied it all together.
We live in the city with lots of trees so it's a pain to clean the leaves off of it, but it works great.
And since it's been on, no more hawk!
I've also heard to hang shiny things like cd's to deter them.

 

[scooter147]

A completely covered run is the only sure way to go and free ranging when you can stand guard.
I do agree the white birds stand out but eventually the hawks would have become desperate enough to attack larger prey to feed themselves. The hawks have known your hens were there all along. Keep in mind they can spot the movement of small field mice from great distances so your hens did not go unnoticed.
My guess is that their "natural" smaller prey has become more hard to find. The young rabbits, squirrels, mice, rats, birds etc. have all grown up or been eaten by them or something else.
I have completely covered runs but around this time of the year and all winter long the hawks show up looking for a chicken dinner. They will sit on top of coop, the run, telephone pole, clothesline pole or in the tree and "torment" the hens.
I'm happy your hen showed up unharmed.

 

[hen madame]

Oh crap...I have 2 hawks that hang out around my house. I have my chickens in an open enclosure and have patio umbrellas stuck in the ground to give them some cover...sure sounds like I need to rethink how to discourage these hawks once their other sources of food are depleted during the winter.

 

[scooter147]

Yes please do.
Keep in mind hawks can hunt, catch and kill their prey in dense woodlands. So a couple patio umbrellas will not stop them if they are determined.
My experience is that Coopers and Redtails don't want to "tackle" a full grown standard size hen unless they are desperate but starting about now their food sources start to become more scarce.

 

[hen madame]

As I am in Wisconsin one of my concerns about netting is the weight of snow and ice...I am assuming that the holes in the netting aren't large enough to allow a heavy snow to pass through the openings, am I right about that? They do have a covered run, but I hate to keep them confined to that all winter. Of course they probably won't like the snow very much anyway, though I was going to shovel out little paths for them in their chicken yard.

 

[hen madame]

Yes please do.
Keep in mind hawks can hunt, catch and kill their prey in dense woodlands. So a couple patio umbrellas will not stop them if they are determined.
My experience is that Coopers and Redtails don't want to "tackle" a full grown standard size hen unless they are desperate but starting about now their food sources start to become more scarce.

I do have standard size hens...maybe that's why I haven't had trouble with the hawks yet. I do think one is a Cooper and the other a Redtail.

 

[scooter147]

You are 100% correct.

We probably don't get as much snow as you no in WI but here a few things I do. I think we had one snow over 6 inches last year.

1. I keep a broomstick by the gate. I few good whacks and much of it falls through.
2. I attach the netting to the actual chicken house with cup hooks. That way when I know it is going to snow I simply and very easily remove the netting from the hooks and lower and roll up.
My run is approximately 15 x 40 feet. I unhook about 15 feet of the netting from the house. That way I can get in and enter the coop, my run surrounds three sides of the chicken house.
It does take a little extra effort but I have not had a hawk loss since it has been up.

 

[hen madame]

Thanks for the suggests Scooter147. Seems that I have a project for this coming weekend.

 

[dutchbunny83]

As I am in Wisconsin one of my concerns about netting is the weight of snow and ice...I am assuming that the holes in the netting aren't large enough to allow a heavy snow to pass through the openings, am I right about that? They do have a covered run, but I hate to keep them confined to that all winter. Of course they probably won't like the snow very much anyway, though I was going to shovel out little paths for them in their chicken yard.

I don't know, I'm in southern NC now and never had chickens up in Maryland. You may need to reenforce it better than I did.
We don't get snow every year, and when we do it's one light dusting that's gone in a couple hours.
We've been here for 5 years and only once have we had "real" snow-- it was a good 6" and the governor deemed it a state of emergency and shut down EVERYTHING!
No school, no daycare, no grocery stores, no military installations for a WEEK-- it was pretty insane!
Granted they don't have any salt trucks or snow plows down here, but I grew up in Maryland it's got to be a blizzard to shut things down.