Help from hawks

[michelle65a]

Is there anything to spray or put on a Rouen that will keep Hawks away? Anything ANYTHING that will deter a hawk...some kind of collapsible collar with bells or a biodegradable non hazard spray junk that will keep the hawks off my girls? HELP

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Hawks hunt by sight and sound, so you can't spray anything on your ducks to deter them. Depending on the size of the area that they are in, you may want to consider putting up aviary netting over the area where they roam. Hawks are fast learners, and once they find an easy source of food, they will be back. Anything that prevents them from stooping down onto your birds will help. I use aviary netting with my little birds (quail and pheasant), to keep them from becoming snacks for the local hawk population. You can also consider getting something that alerts the other birds to danger - geese, roosters, and guinea fowl all make excellent yard warning systems. Hawks also know that once the prey has been alerted to them, they are much harder to catch!

 

[michelle65a]

Wow..thanks for the respond..so fast! My ducks are spoiled and love to free range thru the woods. This is great when there are plenty of leaves on the trees but not so fun when winter comes. I have considered guineas...do they really deter the hawks? Would they house with the ducks? I also have some small dogs but not too concerned because they do not bother the birds anymore. I need to find out more about guineas I guess. If they would follow the duck flock and alert, that would be great. I have even considered cat collars with bells and faux gems to scare away hawks but I worry the ducks would break their necks. Thanks for the advice. I wish I could net them in but they are really spoilt!

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

If you get guineas, get them as keets and clip their wings, as they will fly quite a bit.

They are LOUD though, and do a great job raising the alarm!

There is a thread about using them as watchdogs here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/216153/guinea-alarm-system

I have geese myself, after losing some young birds to a skunk. They also alert quite loudly, but an aggressive gander may bully the ducks. (We have a drake who puts our geese in their place..) My pheasants also have a pretty distinctive alarm call, and are great for the night watch. Our woods are mainly pine, so there is cover there all year. In the colder weather, the ducks stick close to the house, and take their daytime naps out of sight underneath my potting bench. I haven't had a problem with hawks with this arrangement despite a nesting pair of red tailed hawks about a mile down the road,

 

[donkeydew2farms]

i to have a nesting pair of hawks red tail and I no they see the ducks so far no trouble. my ducks and 2 geese keep a sharp eye on the sky. they see birds before I do and they run for cover of the trees. they nap as close to the trees as they can right between the roots hard to see them. I also saw a coopers hawk the other day which is smaller I think it was after the little birds that feed on the duck food. i wish you luck.

 

[Sfraker]

A Cooper's Hawk will go after your ducks. It's big enough to carry off a small to medium duck.

Guineas will alert to birds, dogs, fox, a bag blowing by, falling leaves, if you move something in the yard, if you look out a window at them, etc...

They SCREAM really really really LOUD! I don't mind it but if you have anyone close by they may mind. The girls talk 24-7 non-stop. I even hear them if I wake up in the night. I always feel bad for the boys having to listen to the non-stop coffee talk.

Guineas are bullies. Mine keep an eye on my bird feeders and will not let any other birds in the yard to eat. Even if I fill them with things the guineas do not want.

I got mine as keets and raised them in a cage in the duck pen so that they would learn that the ducks are part of the flock. It didn't work. As soon as they were full grown they started to attack the ducks on sight. I have to keep them seperate because they were terrorizing my ducks. It's been a few months since they were together and the ducks still run away at the sight of the guineas.

Now let me state that I love my guineas. They follow me around the yard and come running when I get home. They are hilarious to watch, do an amazing job cleaning up the bugs in the yard and garden. Also, I did have them kill a baby snake once. I only have three left of my original six because they like to do things such as fly into a tree hard enough to kill themselves, or into the side of my house hard enough to dent the siding and break their own neck, etc...

What I'm trying to say is that I LOVE guineas and will be getting more this spring, but they are not for everyone.

 

[michelle65a]

This is ask great advice...thank you everybody. I really appreciate this really enlightening and educational advice. It is very confusing to sort out...please feel free to add anything else you can think of. It really helps...thoughts on female geese?