Can Hawk attacks be prevented??

Quote:
There's a ton of smaller red-shouldered hawks here, and countless vultures. The chickens have learned that the vultures are harmless, all they do is eat road kill and circle overhead. Though having been attacked by a red shouldered hawk when they were young, they have learned their call (And the hawks are very vocal) and sound the alarm and use cover to their advantage.
 
I have mentioned this before, but I would think that encouraging certain wild birds to hang around can also give you an early warning/distraction for a hawk. I love little killdeer and they are often hyper-alert and can see a hawk/falcon coming from miles away, plus they have a really loud alarm call. Of course, they are often what those hawks/falcons like to eat. Crows/ravens can help fight hawks, but a lot of hawks like to eat them, too.

But, from what I've learned here on BYC, if you free range, you will eventually lose a bird to predators at some time. It might be years before you would see a loss, especially if you're diligent, but it will happen.
 
I lost my first rooster to a hawk today, we called him hermie because for the longest we couldent figure out if he was a rooster or a hen, he developed real slow and was much smaller than the other roosters, but he did have an attitude he was the meanest thing on 2 legs lol he used to chase my mastiff mix dog back into the house..... but he was no match for the hawk..knowing hermie he challenged the hawk...as I just read here if you free range your going to loose birds and theres nothing you can really do about it..its against the law to shoot a hawk, even if you do there will be another one to take his place... I have 17 hens and one rooster in a covered pen there safe, now I have 2 road island reds left free rangeing, tried putting the in the pen but i think there safer with the hawk because the rooster in the pen is much bigger anyways i lost hermie today.....
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom