I would say that the success rate depends on the hawk. I know some extremely capable hawks and they were less than 1 year old at the time. However, hawks can get discouraged too, so lack of success makes them more likely to move onto something else.
I'd reconsider running the electric fence, there's hefty penalties if a hawk were to die from such a thing. All hawks are protected under the migratory bird act, I feel you'd be playing with fire on that one. Hawks can get entangled in stuff like that and due to their anatomy it can be hard to...
With hawks, they will eventually move on if they are continually unsuccessful because you've taken the time to protect them. However, if the hawk has occasional success, such as 1 out of every 5 attempts, they will continue to depredate on your flock until something forces them out of the area...
Both of these hawks are juveniles and are still learning what they are capable of taking. The best way to keep them away is make sure they have no chance at getting your chickens. Once they are unsuccessful enough times they'll either get discouraged and move on, or more desperate. However...
It took about a month or so to train him, some people have their hawks hunting in a matter of weeks, but it's all dependent in the hawk. There hasn't been anything my hawk hasn't liked yet that I've fed him.
Trapping's like fishing, sometimes you can pattern a hawk and catch sight of it and trap it. Other days you won't ever see a single hawk, or you'll spot the hawk you're after, and never get it to come down to the trap. The best thing you can do is take advantage of anyone that's willing to...
As said earlier, Redtails and Coopers will not fly off with a full grown chicken or duck. They'll usually eat them on the spot, anything quail-pigeon sized is about as big a prey item they are capable of flying off with.
Turkey vultures should never ever bother your chickens as you are correct in that they are only scavengers. As far as the hawk sticking in an area, it depends. Some redtails migrate while others do not, but they usually don't start migrating till late September or October.
As far as how...
Definitely not a peregrine, it's a cooper's hawk. It has a super long tail like most acciptrine hawks do, and it had the immature barring one would have. Besides, I've never heard of a peregrine flying into a chicken coop, they descend from on high and are not direct pursuers like Cooper's...
Shooting a hawk is not worth the fine that comes with messing with a migratory raptor. By negative re-inforcement I meant shouting it off, or maybe shoot of a whistling bottle rocket. Whistles have a pretty good effect on most animals and scaring the bejesus out of them. However, since...
The one thing you have to realize is hawks are opportunistic hunters. While they might never bother your chickens, if a hawk is hungry enough because it can't seem to catch a rabbit, it will go after something bigger than what it's used to. Once it's successful, a switch flips in their brain...
Young redtails tend to have a brown band on their belly, and they have barred brown tails(a definitive identifier), and adults have a white belly(usually) and the red tail obviously. Locking chickens up can discourage them but if the same hawk hangs around it might just eat something else, such...
They won't come back if you relocate them far enough. They usually just find other prey in the area to go after, hopefully not someone else's chickens. The only way to really deter them once they start going after chickens is they need a negative experience strong enough to deter them from...
Sounds like a hawk to me, if it was in the daytime and the head is gone with a few plucked feathers lying around it definitely was a hawk. Seen my hawk do that countless times with the thawed quail I feed him. It probably would have eaten more but I bet it got scared off it's kill.
I...
This winter was pretty hard, I hunted with my hawk through most of it and it wasn't until late February until I had days to hunt that were above 15 degrees. However, you'd be surprised how many will show up out of the woodwork. Most hawks that end up preying on chickens are juveniles, and are...
As a falconer, we hear about hawks taking people's birds every now and then. What we try to do if we're close enough is trap them and relocate them for them. We don't want hawks preying on chickens because they're more liable to get shot. However, the one thing you must know about all birds...
He's a funny hawk, likes to watch TV with us and look at the dog and cat, often when they pass by he'll turn his head upside down. I'm gonna miss him after I let him go next spring, but he was the perfect first bird to have. The quail are a lot of fun to have, they exhibit all the same...
Here's a few pictures of him, we had a decent hunting season last winter. I will be hunting him one more season, hopefully on wild ducks, before I let him go back to the wild in the spring.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i33/Pyro_01/Falconry/IMG_3119.jpg...