Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[fowlman01]

Where I am, if you shoot a hawk you are in for a hefty fine. If you were to say that you shot the hawk because it was killing your livestock and you had proof of this, you might could get away with it. Might. It really depends on the person who finds you out.

It does not matter where you are, you can't shoot a hawk or an owl. You can't kill it even if it is killing your birds....you have to call Fish and Game and hopefully they will send a trapper. It depends on what kind of risk you want to take I guess.

Walt

 

[Gargoyle]

It does not matter where you are, you can't shoot a hawk or an owl. You can't kill it even if it is killing your birds....you have to call Fish and Game and hopefully they will send a trapper. It depends on what kind of risk you want to take I guess.

Walt

Note that this hawk shooting discussion is following up to a post about shooting squirrels, but in the pace of this thread it got mixed with hawk discussion. The original suggestion was not about shooting hawks.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Note that this hawk shooting discussion is following up to a post about shooting squirrels, but in the pace of this thread it got mixed with hawk discussion. The original suggestion was not about shooting hawks.

Actually...I think people may have been responding to my hawk question.

 

[Leahs Mom]

That hawk will figure out how to get in there if it wants to badly enough. I had one get in my coop but my girls backed up under something and into a corner and met the thing with beaks and screams. I'm not sure if I scared it off or they did. Nevertheless, I made sure it couldn't get in after that.
Now, though, I have hawks everywhere but they are hunting doves, not chickens. And scrapping with the crows a lot, too. I suppose so long as my one neighbor keeps feeding the doves like he has been this past year, they'll have enough of a supply to leave my girls alone.

I was just out at about 1:00 in the afternoon and saw 2 hawks circling the pasture area VERY HIGH up. I had just thrown out some sprouted sunflower seeds and the "kiddos" were out there. Not sure if they responded to a (different) bird calling, a hawk call, or just saw them, but they ran into the pen area and were knocking each other off the ramp to get into the henhouse. Did my heart good to see that they were that observant - especially when the hawks were as high as they were.

I shut the gate.

 

[Leahs Mom]

It does not matter where you are, you can't shoot a hawk or an owl. You can't kill it even if it is killing your birds....you have to call Fish and Game and hopefully they will send a trapper. It depends on what kind of risk you want to take I guess.

Walt

Walt - if they can trap them....can we? I mean, what do you do to trap a hawk?

 

[Beekissed]

Actually, both the squirrel and hawk problem can be helped with the use of a good dog being a constant presence in the chicken's space. Dogs are a great tool for livestock protection and can also double as pets or companions when you are out in the yard and choring about.

 

[bruceh]

@ happy hen mama. first question i should ask you is how many chickens do you have ? how many nesting boxes do you have? it can be funny with that bird. she could be the only one in her mind to use that box. i doubt it but you never know. she maybe establishing dominance of queen hen or suffering from what i call the the" little chicken syndrome". that is when the smallest of the bunch of the chicks grows up and decides it is pay back time.
chicken curtains could work , however i never used them mine will either lay in a box or as they prefer the coop floor . they make a nest out of the straw and for some reason most of them lay in the corner in that nest. funny sight hen collecting eggs. 1 or 2 in a box and a whole bunch in the floor nest.

however in short i agree with bee just let it be and watch to see what happens.

 

[loanwizard]

Bee has said two very interesting things recently.... among others....

1st, it would never have occurred to me to cull the bird being pecked.... I would have thought the pecker was the problem not the peckee.... Hmmm... points to ponder...

2nd, Dogs. We have too many dogs on our farm, but that is another story. 5 large dogs and 4 beagles. The beagles are kenneled (now) right next to the barn, and 1 large mixed breed dog is out 24/7 with the other 4 out periodically.

Knock on wood, the only predators we have had issue with are coon and possum. The dogs bring us a possum periodically but don't kill them.... go figure.

We live right on the edge of a 214,000 acre State Wildlife area. About 3 miles away, there is a pretty serious coyote problem, and we have scads of hawks, even a few eagles. Not saying the dogs are the answer, but we have been blessed with zero bird of prey problems and no yote problems as of yet.

Shouldn't even say anything, next post will be looking for birds cause all 250 birds will have been eaten....

 

[fowlman01]

Walt - if they can trap them....can we? I mean, what do you do to trap a hawk?

You can't touch them. They use a chicken wire arrangement with a bird inside and all these littler slip knots over the cage and the hawk becomes entangled. I think they only see the bird when they dive with their talons out and become ensnared.
You don't want Fish and Game or whatever they are called in your state coming to your place because of an infraction.. They are one of the few agencies that don't need a search warrant and they really enjoy their work....if you know what I mean.

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

Bee has said two very interesting things recently.... among others....

1st, it would never have occurred to me to cull the bird being pecked.... I would have thought the pecker was the problem not the peckee.... Hmmm... points to ponder...

2nd, Dogs. We have too many dogs on our farm, but that is another story. 5 large dogs and 4 beagles. The beagles are kenneled (now) right next to the barn, and 1 large mixed breed dog is out 24/7 with the other 4 out periodically.

Knock on wood, the only predators we have had issue with are coon and possum. The dogs bring us a possum periodically but don't kill them.... go figure.

We live right on the edge of a 214,000 acre State Wildlife area. About 3 miles away, there is a pretty serious coyote problem, and we have scads of hawks, even a few eagles. Not saying the dogs are the answer, but we have been blessed with zero bird of prey problems and no yote problems as of yet.

Shouldn't even say anything, next post will be looking for birds cause all 250 birds will have been eaten....

The pecker is always the problem. I have red tailed hawks nesting across the street from me and all the time I have lived here I have only had one problem. An immature was sitting on my fence and a muscovie happend to walk right under it so it dropped on him from the fence. The Muscovy did not even break stride as it flicked this hawk against the fence. Coopers hawks hang out here twice a year and they will take a small bird and they will get into cages looking for bantams..but like any other predator sometimes you just have to secure your birds in some way. Be that dogs, wire or whatever it takes.

Walt