A hawk has lifted our chickens into the air what should I do??

[EggSighted4Life]

We use Aviary netting. Works great! But it will deiend on the area you need to cover. I also now patrol the netting daily as sadly I found a small bird caught i. It. Two birds in 5 months. Cover any area the hawk has a ckear path or open ground to attack.
The netting doesn’t interfere with your view, and is relatively inexpensive

The killing of random song birds in addition to the material breaking down and becoming a crop hazard are the main reasons I have moved away from this stuff... I still find pieces of it to this day on occasion.

If I was going to use this.. I would consider using standard galvanized poultry wire (as opposed to the soft stretchy material envision as the netting).. I haven't YET found any random dead animals caused by chicken wire.. to keep aerial (not ground) predators out.. Depending on the type of tree coverage, it may require maintenance to keep debris free.

Both glad and unfortunate to hear others have experienced the song bird issue. I think the rigidity built into wire verses netting makes the difference for wildlife being able to escape verses getting more tangled. And it may rust eventually.. but is unlikely to scatter my pasture in tiny fragments.. I would say over all, *maybe* more natural..

Stretch that netting tight though.. and plan it to last for no more than a few seasons, more or less depending on weather and other forces.. and it can work well. Thank you for sharing and letting me also!

 

[BigFuzzball]

My wife was indoors last week on a phone call and witnessed a Hawk (first one we've seen land) on one of the 6ft fence panels watching our girls....soon left when it heard us coming out but we're rather surprised all the local Crows, Blackbirds, Magpies etc didn't go crazy and raise the alarm for all as usual...........makes you more protective but given the size of our girls am not sure a Hawk that size would ever lift one but it'd be a kill & eat on the ground ?
We do see Red Kites occasionally circling high above, usually being harassed by Crows - am assuming Kites would be big enough to lift a chicken ??

 

[chicken fam]

Thank you so much for all the info

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I’ve had a hawk attack before, my dogs chased it off before it was able to do serious damage to the hen. Like eggsighted4life said, lots of hiding places help. We set up one of those fake owls and haven’t had any issues since, maybe one of those would help you as well. This time of year you have to be especially vigilant of them because the seasons are changing, which means hawks are on the move and hungry, so a big slow chicken looks like easy pickings to them.

Hi there. When you say this time time of year, what exactly do you mean? I've been reading some hawk threads, and have seen a few people refer to hawk migration. We've had no hawk issues in the 18 months we've had our chickens, but had 2 attacks in less than a week. I'm trying to figure out why suddenly its an issue. This time last year, I would have been working and the girls would have been in their run most days. Now that I'm WFH they've been out pretty much everyday. Since the attack last week, I've only let them out under supervision, but this morning a hawk attacked within several feet of me and my big dog. Both attacks were unsuccessful for the hawk - no missing chickens and no injuries I'm happy to say. But what gives? I'm wondering if it is a young & dumb juvenile who is still learning how to hunt? Or do they migrate and this is a "new" hawk that is just passing through? Are they more assertive during Fall because it's getting colder? I recognize that hawks are a threat all the time, but I'm hoping this sudden surge in bold hawk attacks might be temporary. My poor girls are so used to free-ranging, that they are miserable in their run. I'm balancing their safety with their happiness. They yell at me when I don't let them out, and I've explained my rationale to them, but it doesn't seem to help with their attitude.

 

[cmom]

When you free range it's a risk you take. Eventually a hawk or another predator will get a bird(s). My pens are covered with good heavy duty 2" netting. No wild birds get caught in it. I do have trees in my pens. I worked the netting around the trees. I did have to cut the netting. I originally used cable ties to fasten the sections together but they eventually deteriorated, so now I use hog ring. A hawk found a gap and went on a killing spree in a pen. I got the hawk out and retrieved the bodies. I have seen hawks since but none have been able to get my birds.
My fences are 5' high and I'm 5' tall. I do have to duck a little in places where it sags a little. I have made T-posts to hold the netting up in some of the pens. I had some crappy netting up over a couple of the pens because I initially ran short. I bought some netting online but it wasn't what I thought it was and an owl went through the crappy netting and killed some birds. I moved the birds to another coop and pen and put up a camera and the owl came back after I replaced the piece the owl went through and it went through the crappy netting again. After I replaced the crappy netting with some good netting the owl tried again and got caught. We got it into a cage and called a wildlife rescue who came and got it.
These are my pens.

Some of the birds killed by the hawk. They were close to starting to lay.

This is the netting I used. This didn't cover all of the pens. This netting was the replacement for the crappy netting.

Good luck...

 

[cmom]

Hi there. When you say this time time of year, what exactly do you mean? I've been reading some hawk threads, and have seen a few people refer to hawk migration. We've had no hawk issues in the 18 months we've had our chickens, but had 2 attacks in less than a week. I'm trying to figure out why suddenly its an issue. This time last year, I would have been working and the girls would have been in their run most days. Now that I'm WFH they've been out pretty much everyday. Since the attack last week, I've only let them out under supervision, but this morning a hawk attacked within several feet of me and my big dog. Both attacks were unsuccessful for the hawk - no missing chickens and no injuries I'm happy to say. But what gives? I'm wondering if it is a young & dumb juvenile who is still learning how to hunt? Or do they migrate and this is a "new" hawk that is just passing through? Are they more assertive during Fall because it's getting colder? I recognize that hawks are a threat all the time, but I'm hoping this sudden surge in bold hawk attacks might be temporary. My poor girls are so used to free-ranging, that they are miserable in their run. I'm balancing their safety with their happiness. They yell at me when I don't let them out, and I've explained my rationale to them, but it doesn't seem to help with their attitude.

Some hawks do migrate and some don't. If they find a place where they might get a meal, they will come back and try again. I don't think your birds understand. They get used to routines. You can change their routines and they will eventually adapt.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Some hawks do migrate and some don't. If they find a place where they might get a meal, they will come back and try again. I don't think your birds understand. They get used to routines. You can change their routines and they will eventually adapt.

That's good to know about the hawks. Thank you. I'm sure my girls will adjust in time, but you are correct, they certainly do not understand. When I approach the run they holler at me and call me names. I tell them, "It was a good day. None of you got eaten. You're welcome!" But they still complain... they don't appreciate my humor. Most folks don't etiher...

 

[FloorCandy]

My neighbor has fake owls.. hawks aren't stupid and they quickly figure out they are inanimate..
I wonder if rodents buy it?! I bet they don't.. but.. humans do!
I should go borrow one and see how my guinea pigs react.

My chickens don't give a thought to the fake owls, nor my cats, or my dogs come to think of it.. it's just garden decor.. but let a sparrow or even a humming bird or crow FLY over.. and they all respond. So at MY place at least, that has zero impact on hawk presence.. I urge you not to let your guard down despite not facing issues since placing it AND I will practice the same mindful vigilance with my fishing line! It's a great idea though, in theory and thank you for sharing!

It was my pig and a plethora of fluffy feather that saved one of my bantam hens this year.. who knew! The hawk had her on the ground and the pig was curious and ran towards the unusual commotion, he knows chickens get treats and he's always looking for something to eat. My husband said he saw the ordeal.. HAD he NOT.. I would have wrongfully accused my boy Waldo of wrong doing.. or at least wondered suspiciously.

Petunia, my female pig.. is a HAG.. chickens better move when she approaches and (I) hope they don't get cornered.. cuz she fires things up with her cute little "pimp" snout, mouth open head swinging.. (I'm still a bit ghetto and that shouldn't be funny to me that she keeps her pimp snout strong as prostitution and abuse is no laughing matter). Alas when I say it, it mildly annoys one of my adult children (nothing harmful), which sadly brings me true joy as parent who has paid my dues!

I keep quail and my neighbor has fake owls around like garden statues because he likes owls. I’ve had my quail escape while I clean the cage, and they don’t get far because I clip their wings, but they’re always around those fake owls. They aren’t fooled, and quail are DUMB.

The best way I’ve found to deter hawks is an angry dog with a mouthful of tail feathers and a narrow escape.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

we're rather surprised all the local Crows, Blackbirds, Magpies etc didn't go crazy and raise the alarm for all as usual

Crows are guilty of stealing chicks too.

They seem to harass the hawks more when they are defending their OWN nest.. is my personal assessment.

Super early spring is when I have my heaviest pressure load.. before there is plenty of other prey born maybe..

Early season is also when my fruit bearing plants face sample tastings. Later season when everything is abundant.. not as much.

 

[Willow2253]

Hi there. When you say this time time of year, what exactly do you mean? I've been reading some hawk threads, and have seen a few people refer to hawk migration. We've had no hawk issues in the 18 months we've had our chickens, but had 2 attacks in less than a week. I'm trying to figure out why suddenly its an issue. This time last year, I would have been working and the girls would have been in their run most days. Now that I'm WFH they've been out pretty much everyday. Since the attack last week, I've only let them out under supervision, but this morning a hawk attacked within several feet of me and my big dog. Both attacks were unsuccessful for the hawk - no missing chickens and no injuries I'm happy to say. But what gives? I'm wondering if it is a young & dumb juvenile who is still learning how to hunt? Or do they migrate and this is a "new" hawk that is just passing through? Are they more assertive during Fall because it's getting colder? I recognize that hawks are a threat all the time, but I'm hoping this sudden surge in bold hawk attacks might be temporary. My poor girls are so used to free-ranging, that they are miserable in their run. I'm balancing their safety with their happiness. They yell at me when I don't let them out, and I've explained my rationale to them, but it doesn't seem to help with their attitude.

It depends on where you are as to exactly when the migratory species are moving around you, but generally in the fall many species are heading south for the winter, and then they’re coming back north in the spring. I worry more about the fall because their local food sources are becoming more scarce.