Hi all, new here but have been lurking for some time. Got my 11 Rhode Island Red pullets back in May and everything was hunky dory and I love them so much, in spite of being warned to not make pets out of them. They are all laying now - on Friday, I got 11 eggs for the first time! But then on Saturday, there was a ruckus in the backyard and I ran out and tried to figure out what was the problem. One of my chickens was missing and I found a pile of feathers out behind the henhouse. 
I'm pretty sure it was a hawk. I thought I saw one sitting on an old telephone pole not too far from the house on Friday night but I have been ridiculed for thinking a buzzard is a hawk, so I just dismissed it. Also, one of the hens had been making some strange distress noises earlier in the day, she is the oldest and biggest so maybe she was acting like rooster? At any rate, now I am concerned I am going to lose one of my girls every day to this predator and want to do everything I can to keep that from happening.
They are semi-free range since they have the run of the backyard, about a half-acre, so it wouldn't be feasible to use netting or fishing line as some suggested. They have one huge vine bushy thing they hang out under during the day but have to cross the yard to get the henhouse for laying. The henhouse can't be moved, well, without a lot of effort, we actually built it in such a way as there is all kinds of buried security around it since our biggest problem is with coyotes.
I am going to try the reflective tape on top of the hen house and the CDs in the trees, maybe an owl statue. Also going to try to get the phoneco to come out and take down that old pole. But it occurred to me that I might be able to kill two . . . I mean, solve two problems at once. I really want a clothesline. There is an old swingset in the yard about 30 feet away from the carport. I was wondering if I could run a clothesline between the swingset and the carport, which would actually stretch it across the yard between the chickens' bush and the henhouse and with different kinds and colors of things flapping on it every day, maybe would keep the hawk uncomfortable enough to stay away?
Ideas? Opinions? I am new at this whole country living thing (well, not NEW because I grew up here but it's been 30 years since I've lived in the country) and the constant battle with snakes, spiders, mice, fleas, ticks, drought, heat and just plain discomfort is taking some getting used to. Now a hawk.
Melissa
I'm pretty sure it was a hawk. I thought I saw one sitting on an old telephone pole not too far from the house on Friday night but I have been ridiculed for thinking a buzzard is a hawk, so I just dismissed it. Also, one of the hens had been making some strange distress noises earlier in the day, she is the oldest and biggest so maybe she was acting like rooster? At any rate, now I am concerned I am going to lose one of my girls every day to this predator and want to do everything I can to keep that from happening.
They are semi-free range since they have the run of the backyard, about a half-acre, so it wouldn't be feasible to use netting or fishing line as some suggested. They have one huge vine bushy thing they hang out under during the day but have to cross the yard to get the henhouse for laying. The henhouse can't be moved, well, without a lot of effort, we actually built it in such a way as there is all kinds of buried security around it since our biggest problem is with coyotes.
I am going to try the reflective tape on top of the hen house and the CDs in the trees, maybe an owl statue. Also going to try to get the phoneco to come out and take down that old pole. But it occurred to me that I might be able to kill two . . . I mean, solve two problems at once. I really want a clothesline. There is an old swingset in the yard about 30 feet away from the carport. I was wondering if I could run a clothesline between the swingset and the carport, which would actually stretch it across the yard between the chickens' bush and the henhouse and with different kinds and colors of things flapping on it every day, maybe would keep the hawk uncomfortable enough to stay away?
Ideas? Opinions? I am new at this whole country living thing (well, not NEW because I grew up here but it's been 30 years since I've lived in the country) and the constant battle with snakes, spiders, mice, fleas, ticks, drought, heat and just plain discomfort is taking some getting used to. Now a hawk.
Melissa
