What are best hawk deterrents? Have a situation here!

[YARDBIRD]

I have covered most of my yard with 1 inch plastic netting. I once had a red-tail sit on my gate, fly under the netting, grab a chicken, and fly out. I now have netting down to my gate.

I have heard that you can make "chicken-tables" for them to hide under when a hawk is seen.

Also, my guinneas see hawks first and sound the alarm which prevents more deaths for my free range birds.

 

[justusnak]

I have a 40 x 40 fenced yard for my girls....and also have a hawk problem. I simply put a radio on the coop....country of course....and a cheap scarecrow on a tall pole....which I move from place to place weekly....keeps them guessing if its real or now. However, I also have Muscovy ducks....I call them the pit bulls of fowl....they are mean and deter most hawks.

 

[CharlestonChick]

Shooting a hawk is a federal offense (International Migratory Bird Treaty violation) punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Baaaaaad idea. Really bad.

One good idea is to get a big, plastic, Great Horned Owl sculpture (sometimes garden stores have them for keeping pigeons off buildings) and put it where the hawk can see it clearly. They are often very afraid of owls and might decide the chickens are not worth it.

Verbatim what I was going to say! In addition I'd like to add: move the fake owl every day to every couple of days and get one with shiny or glittery eyes.​

 

[keeperofthechickens]

They don't deter them all the time, but there are a small flock of crows that hang out near my property and they will harass any hawks and owls they spot

 

[tennessee_chicken_lover]

Quote:
Not every town

 

[Llysse]

LOL! My town has 300 people in it--I don't think one is a falconer, yuk-yuk. However, there is an agency within a couple hours that would come out, I believe, if livestock was involved. (At least, I hope so! Although I have to admit I probably would regard it more as a danger to pets than to livestock!)

 

[chicknmania]

Well, talk about staying on topic...that "SSS" BS when you're dealing with federally protected wildlife is really inflammatory and ignorant, as well as illegal. We've had chickens for two years and lost one to a hawk. We are surrounded by woods and wetlands and have lots of hawks. When the hawk comes around, if you keep the chickens locked up, they should be discouraged after a few days. Especially in the spring when there's lots of other stuff to eat. If they're not, all you have to do is look up. The hawk will hang out where the chickens are. When you see him, fire off some bottle rockets or, better still, bird bombs if you can find them. These are designed to scare off (but not injure) birds of all types. Trust me, the hawk WILL be discouraged. Also, the chickens instinctively look for them and have enough smarts most of the time to get out of the way.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

I wondered what would happen if a fake person was propped in a chair in the run and moved daily whether that might help -this is getting fancy, but if a radio set on talk radio was stuffed in the fake person maybe it would seem more real...My imagination runneth over.

If only it was that easy! I can pretty much guarantee that this will not work. A real person (me) was out in the yard, only a few feet away from the chickens, when a young hawk decided he wanted a snack. The hawk dived and missed, but this was enough of a lesson to never leave the chickens out in the yard without either a watchful eye or putting the chickens in a covered run. If I can't be out there, the chickens they hang out in their pvc/deer netting tractor that we constructed specifically for this purpose.

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
I agree. It's happened to me, too. Thankfully, nobody was taken away.

 

[Llysse]

I have a question: I was just looking up some info on Red-tailed hawks, which are the most common hawks for me to see, and the "book" info about them says they usually (USUALLY, mind you) prey on small or medium-sized birds. So I was wondering... are the heavy breeds of chicken less likely to get attacked by hawks, or does anyone know? Of course, young birds of any breed could get snapped up, but I was wondering if adult Brahmas, Giants Orpingtons and the like would be safer?