Coop/run ideas for protecting chickens from eagles?

[dileas]

We seem to be losing chickens to eagles - it's been an ongoing issue for most of this year, but we've only just realised it's actually the eagles taking them. They've basically taken our entire flock one by one.

Our hens have been completely free range up until now - they sleep in a coop at night, but the rest of the time they're free to roam 2 acres.

I really like letting the hens free range, but obviously it's not working out for us as we're down to a single, solitary chicken.

So I'm looking for ideas...
Does anyone have systems they use that work to protect chooks from eagles?

I'm wondering whether tractor might be our only option, but we've had 20-30 chickens in the past (and we'd be really happy to have up to 50), so tractors would be a very expensive and labour intensive option for that number of hens (assuming we'd need at least 5 very large tractors at a cost of $2000 each, and they'd all have to be moved).

Options as I see them are to just have a small flock in a tractor (maybe with a dog pen or the like next to it for more space), and try to plant a lot of trees so that in the longer term we can hopefully let the chooks free range again with more shelter and protection (the property is an old horse place and has virtually no trees at all).

Alternatively, perhaps we could have a small paddock divided into sections with a coop in the centre and try to mesh over the top of all of them. I imagine that'd be very expensive too.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'd be hugely grateful!

 

[KodiPie]

Hello I am wondering the same thing myself. I have a 1/4 acre my flock grazes and a large run for them as well.
Within a year we will be moving to our other property that has 2 acres they can graze on. We have beautiful
Bald Eagles with large wing spans that may become predators for our hens. I have a large amount of wood, I am hoping they will
go in there to protect themselves. I have Nine Hens and one Large Rooster must be 11 # now he is two years old
he protects our hens from red-tail hawks. I am waiting too for others comments on this subject.
Best of Luck to you, Kodi

 

[SkyWorld]

I saw one persons large fenced in run with clothe wire stretched to a pole in the middle of the run. I have hawks in my suburban yard and I can't let my chicks out with out me monitoring them.

Good luck!

 

[ThePRfan]

WE have a fence cover our coop

 

[dchemphill1]

We ended up running a bunch of wire from the tallest corner (very tall coop building) of our coop to the fence posts around the run area....we then have hung foil strips from the wires...so far we have not had issue with owls, hawks or other birds trying to land in the coop...I read some where that the wires will catch a bird of prey off guard as they try and swoop in...it scares the hell out of them and they fly off. We also have three good sized trees around the run and that helps with protection and shade as well.