Aerial Assault

[Zoomie]

So sorry for your losses... it is hard to lose them when you've put so much time and effort into them.

I solved this problem with a covered run. I live right across the street from the National Forest. We have more predators than you can shake a stick at, if I let them free range they would all be dead, alas, so in my circumstances a covered run is what works. These are highly intelligent predators, very clever and very agile. That's OK though. I am a highly intelligent mammal with opposing thumbs and a big brain... I built a big run with a very good strong net on top. It is 3/4" mesh so it even keeps out the wild birds.

Some of my neighbors do OK with a dog, but... I think they are also just lucky in their location away from water. I have an irrigation ditch running right through my yard and a creek at the bottom of the property. That water attracts animals and therefore predators. You have to adjust to fit your own situation, in mine, free ranging is simply off the list.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Don't put you trust in things that a hawk can light in like trees and bushes. All three chicken hawk species are basically ambush predators that watch and wait from a tree etc, for the prey bird or animal to be sufficiently distracted, and then pounce or in the case of a full grown chicken run the bird into thick cover or up against a fence where it is cornered and hopefully killed. The reason that I said "hopefully" is because hawks routinely eat their victims alive. Death comes from massive tissue loss in many cases.