A huge hawk is terrorizing my chickens!!!

[Sonoran Silkies]

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My neighbor asked me permission to shoot a pair of hawks on my property yesterday, as they had killed their Chihuahua. I didn't ask if they carried it off or just killed it on the ground but he was devastated AND mad as heck! Said he's afraid they will kill the other Chi when she's out to potty in the yard (she's certainly not an outside dog). We always worried about the owls here even though our dog was 8 lbs. I have no doubt a hawk would kill a chicken.

This is a federal crime that has severe penalties. You may want to delete this post.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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A hawk could LAND on the ropes and then dive down from them. String, which is much too small for perching upon would work better.

 

[SeaHen]

We've lost chicks and one teenaged pullet in the past to a red-tailed hawk. It couldn't fly off with the bigger one so killed her on the ground. It circled and dove in from overhead, but the more devious one was a Cooper's hawk we had a few years ago that used to just sit on the fence and WAIT. I've heard stories about full-grown fowl and animals being attacked, but the hawks around here are small and seem to concentrate on killing babies. I really like all the ideas for deterrents and will use them.

 

[Iflyonhorses]

Big mistake to allow your neighbor to kill raptors on your property. Hawks mainly eat small rodents, for which a chi could easily be mistaken. i would advise him to keep his chi on a leash and leave the raptors alone. There are many federal protections.

 

[malignstar]

Quote:
My neighbor asked me permission to shoot a pair of hawks on my property yesterday, as they had killed their Chihuahua. I didn't ask if they carried it off or just killed it on the ground but he was devastated AND mad as heck! Said he's afraid they will kill the other Chi when she's out to potty in the yard (she's certainly not an outside dog). We always worried about the owls here even though our dog was 8 lbs. I have no doubt a hawk would kill a chicken.

This is a federal crime that has severe penalties. You may want to delete this post.

I know. I did not say I was going to let him.

 

[merryberry]

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Yeah, last year a big hawk stalked my mini-schnauzer several times. Once we realized what the bird was doing (sitting in the tree above my dog's potty spot, circling, etc), we only let the mini-schnauzer out in the company of my bigger, very watchful Australian Shepherd. I don't know if the Aussie scared her off, or if it was my DH's "warning shots" with frisbees into the trees. I really thought my schnauzer was way too big to be a target (he is almost 15 lbs and about 12 inches at the shoulder).

 

[Iflyonhorses]

I have 3 Australian Shepherds and they are very watchful. My chickens were in a big open run all last summer with no problem. I would see the hawks high above the yard, but they would wheel away, and I gave my dogs credit for that. This year we covered the big run with lightweight ropes just to be safe, but we have so many wild bunnies around, I think that is what the hawks are living on. (I hope)

 

[coldinnh]

we have a birding school about 3 miles down the road- so it may be someone's pet or, like so many other wild animals, have lost their fear of humans due to loss of terriority.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
This is a federal crime that has severe penalties. You may want to delete this post.

I know. I did not say I was going to let him.

It is a class B misdemeanor, I would equate serious to felony.

OP you should wear a hat if the hawk is brazen, they have attacked people and caused serious head injuries. If the hawk dives on you or a family member notify Fish and Wildlife and they will either dispatch the hawk or direct you to get a permit to do it yourself. Killing a hawk is not easy though, they roost and patrol at altitudes outside of shotgun range. And one must be a extremely good shot to hit one on a dive at over 200mph.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Or it could have been a falconeering trained hawk--my understanding is that they are generally eventually released back to the wild.