A small hawk or falcon looking for lunch

[Granny23]

That is a great picture! Scary for you and your girls, but still super cool. Is that a netting? What kind? Would you happen to have a link?

It is just a shade cloth. I ordered it on Amazon. It comes in different sizes and lengths and shade ability....like heavy shading or not so much. I used 4ft wood strips I had and putty cemented them to our block wall. The next day I screwed little "coffee cup screws" into the boards and hooked the shade cloth on it. I did the same on the wall of my house but not as much like the wall. So far it's worked well. After a while I had my nice coop built on to it with 2 doors.

 

[Tired old Rooster]

That's good to know! What are stuka pilots?

Pilots of JU-87 dive bombers. The royal navy tried using searchlights to blind them while attacking. Worked great for about a day.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

Pilots of JU-87 dive bombers. The royal navy tried using searchlights to blind them while attacking. Worked great for about a day.

Wow how interesting, thank you!

 

[allenw]

I've only had minimal problems with my poultry and hawks. I like to see the smaller ones around because they scatter the English sparrows and catch rats and mice. My dogs keep them ran off though so none stay very long.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

I've only had minimal problems with my poultry and hawks. I like to see the smaller ones around because they scatter the English sparrows and catch rats and mice. My dogs keep them ran off though so none stay very long.

I’ve never really had hawk problems, mainly the bald eagles and owls, but since we’ve had the goose nothing has bothered to even try to attack them.

Small hawks are the best, sharp shinned hawks are a nice size.

 

[McChooky]

It is just a shade cloth. I ordered it on Amazon. It comes in different sizes and lengths and shade ability....like heavy shading or not so much. I used 4ft wood strips I had and putty cemented them to our block wall. The next day I screwed little "coffee cup screws" into the boards and hooked the shade cloth on it. I did the same on the wall of my house but not as much like the wall. So far it's worked well. After a while I had my nice coop built on to it with 2 doors.

I'm curious how the Hawk got out of the shade cloth. I used it over my Daturas the first year I planted them and its annoying as heck! I haven't had to use it for a while.

 

[kk+chickens]

Seriously?? Does that mean I should keep them in a large enclosed area all the time??

we used to free range in our backyard and finally had to build a really big second run for the daytime so they are safe from hawks, etc…
it seems like the only way to be sure they won’t get your babies and it will help you have peace of mind

 

[Littleroo]

We have 4 chickens from about 7 weeks to 14 weeks. I covered 25 feet on the side of my house with a shade net for them and I can see them thru a window. We don't let them out into our main backyard unsupervised because they are so small yet. A few days ago Pepper our foundling started hollering and we found this small falcon/ hawk sitting on top of the shade cover. We scared him away...he came back a few minutes later and I sprayed him with water and chased him away.
I immediately bought 3 fake 10 inch tall owls and put them around the yard. The chickens are never out of the enclosed area without our supervision because our yard has no real places to hide yet.
This morning while 4 of us were out watching them this same falcon/ hawk came sailing around the corner of our house and swooped down over Pepper and Rosie the 2 biggest chickens and then landed in the palm next door. My granddaughter grabbed the spray bottle and sprayed towards it and it flew away.
My question is do you think now that its seen the owls it will think twice about coming back...do I need more or bigger owls or do we need to be constantly on alert? What else can we do to protect them? Pepper did his part in alerting!!! His crow is still pretty funny.
Thanks!!!

I experienced that same situation

We have 4 chickens from about 7 weeks to 14 weeks. I covered 25 feet on the side of my house with a shade net for them and I can see them thru a window. We don't let them out into our main backyard unsupervised because they are so small yet. A few days ago Pepper our foundling started hollering and we found this small falcon/ hawk sitting on top of the shade cover. We scared him away...he came back a few minutes later and I sprayed him with water and chased him away.
I immediately bought 3 fake 10 inch tall owls and put them around the yard. The chickens are never out of the enclosed area without our supervision because our yard has no real places to hide yet.
This morning while 4 of us were out watching them this same falcon/ hawk came sailing around the corner of our house and swooped down over Pepper and Rosie the 2 biggest chickens and then landed in the palm next door. My granddaughter grabbed the spray bottle and sprayed towards it and it flew away.
My question is do you think now that its seen the owls it will think twice about coming back...do I need more or bigger owls or do we need to be constantly on alert? What else can we do to protect them? Pepper did his part in alerting!!! His crow is still pretty funny.
Thanks!!!