Bold Hawk - Lesson Learned

[Davaroo]

Quote:
I agree 100%, but I think your county agent is wrong. All hawks are protected by the Migratory Bird Act, an outdated law in my estimation. If you have a LARGE chicken enterprise, you can usually get a permit to kill specific hawk breeds; however, small flock owners invariably get the "try other methods" runaround from the government.

Oh dear Joe, another enlightened man. That's what like about you.

TMBA was initiated for reasons that don't generally apply any more - if they ever did. There isn't much trade in hawk feathers, for example. Like all such restrictive acts, it sweeps up the good with the bad.
But like all laws, you pay the devil to get rid of or change them. In these eco-friendly, "green" times you can expect you never will be shut of this one.

Fortuantely you can always breed more chickens - some for you, some for the hawk. In a sense, you are footing the bill to be environmentally friendly and feed the hawks. Way to go!

Also fortunately, you can put in place enough mechanical controls so that a balance of sorts can be struck.

 

[CMV]

That cursed Migratory Bird Act is giving me problems, too. Hawks are my most successful predator as far as my birds are concerned. My poor fish have also recently taken a huge hit from Great Blue Herons, which are also protected under that Act. The heron is so big it makes mincemeat of my netting protecting my pond.

GGGRRR! I am torn between enjoying the majesty of nature and protecting my animals from decimation.

 

[Brindlebtch]

It sounds awful to watch one of your hens br carried off. I'm so sorry this happened.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
In other times you would be obligated to place you and yours above wild creatures. It is in recent times that we have felt what might be considered guilt, and so the need to reverse that situation.
For most people, it comes down to being rid of the predator, regardless. Hoping it will go away rarely turns the trick. You may deter it, but it is still hanging around. Admiring it's grandeur as it kills your animals is also of limited value.
Its a difficult balance, between you and nature. Semantics hardly ever gets the job done. All you can really do is tip the balance in your favor.

 

[Quillgirl]

The hens are still spooked today and haven't really ventured outside the coop, even when offered watermellon! Poor things. They hear the hawk screech from somewhere in the woods and scurry back inside the pop-hole, or perch in the pop-hole with an ear and eye to the sky. Sigh. How long until they get over their fear? Their run is well protected.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Sometimes it sucks to be a chicken.

I wonder how long they will take, too. I think they never will. Its not that they will remember this particular attack, but that they are wired to run like hell when anything looms from above.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Sometimes it sucks to be a chicken.

I wonder how long they will take, too. I think they never will. Its not that they will remember this particular attack, but that they are wired to run like hell when anything looms from above.

And that in itself would be some kind of satisfaction for me because I'd know my hens and rooster were all somewhat safer.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Sometimes it sucks to be a chicken.

I wonder how long they will take, too. I think they never will. Its not that they will remember this particular attack, but that they are wired to run like hell when anything looms from above.

And that in itself would be some kind of satisfaction for me because I'd know my hens and rooster were all somewhat safer.

This segues to what I was suggesting about sheltering shrubbery and range shelters.

My sister did this once. The doctor she worked for got some Australorps and built a fenced, open range area for them. It wasn't long before they began to suffer serious predation from hawks. It seems the BOP's had discovered the wide open buffet laid below them.

"David, you know something about chickens - what should we do?" she asked
"Well, it aint natural for a chicken to live out in the open, exclusively," I told her. "Like any animal, they will dip out into the open to feed, but their natural environment is a jungle floor. So try to creat that on your range."

I suggested these thing:
- Add some teepees of brush tied together as "dive shelters."
These are places the chickens can dive into when the hawks loom.
- Clear the branches and places where BOP's could perch.
If they have to plot their attacks from a distance, they lose some of their surprise and their effectiveness is reduced.
- Put the feed and water in shelters of their own.
This keeps the chickens from being exposed at their weakest.
- Keep these things close to each other.
Within about 10-20 yards., was what I suggested.

I also recommended "living shelter" in the form of shrubs or tall plantings of sunflower or amaranth, 3 feet apart. But she couldn't plant on her range at that time and it was too late for that, by then.

In the end, the range area was dotted with little "islands" of brushy tepees and a covered feeding station - and the predation pretty much stopped. Once in a while one of the chickens would get stupid and get nailed. But it was rare after the changes, she said.

It worked in this situation, that's all I'm saying. I've heard of hawks that will drop to the ground, saunter into the coop with a "how'd ya do" and take a chicken. But that isn't how most of them do it and we 'aint got none of them around here, that I know of.

This gives an idea, I hope.

 

[birdsofthefarm]

We live on 7 acres and all we have had is crows. Poor Bettie

 

[Brindlebtch]

It must be a real bummer to taste good to everything.