It IS a hawk!!

[Stayc]

@Stayc I live in Tempe, Arizona. So this IS the South they fly too. And living in such a busy city it's strange for a hawk to be around like this. This is the first time in my 19 years of life that I have seen a hawk in our neighborhood and of course it's when we have chickens

Im sorry. Yeah you will have to cover your run.

 

[Snoozeys]

Would the cd/dvd hanging from a tree work in this case ... i know it works on some birds of prey !!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... the hawk never got close. I only saw it very far in the sky, until today. I walked outside and saw the chickens... looking up and I thought the hawk was flying around again so I looked and sure enough, it was the hawk, but it was sitting in our tree in our backyard.....

... There isn't much you can "legally" do... maybe you could tie some long pieces of rope.... crisscrossing over the top of your run? Anything to deter the hawk from being able to just swoop down easily...

Most Chicken or bird hawks are ambush hunters who (as DuckMochi just discovered) like to sit quietly in an overlook position and window shop before selecting a meal. Think of your trees like they are the menu boards in the McDonald's drive through. If or when a hawk does any swooping it has already selected a victim as well as a clear path to get to it.

 

[TexasSam]

Describe the hawk what color how big and where do you live

 

[TexasSam]

Scarecrows work but you have to move them around every other day

 

[Cacique500]

Here's a video from a couple days ago...watch behind the run and you'll see the hawk swoop down. He then tries to run around at ground level. He stalked them for 10 minutes before giving up and flying off. The girls wouldn't come out of the coop for two days.

 

[junglejane]

try using a stuffed dog to keep the bird at bay. Not a tiny one though. find a large stuffed one. I have one that I tied to a line and it moves in the wind.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Being in AZ, you likely have as many as six or more species of hawks as well as both black and turkey vultures.
Turkey vultures only eat carrion. Black vultures eat carrion too but occasionally will harass livestock.
Just a side note, they are all protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and killing one carries a $15,000 fine along with jail time.

My roosters have been quite successful at thwarting hawk attacks. They almost never even try any more.

 

[junglejane]

this haws looks like a Swainsens hawk. judging from the color and tail .
or variety of it

 

[Kathy Golla]

Omg @Cacique500 thank goodness those hens were in the run.
That's hard core.
@greggooo has an epic video too.