Cooper's Hawk - will it eat a full grown chicken?

[AHappychick]

actually my fishing line works great. I watch the hawks try to find an openening but they cant seem to be able to. Just make sure the lines are no farther than 5 feet apart 4 feet is even better. You can also use that thin rope they use when marking lines for masonry work if you dont mind the string being seen. If you are going for unnoticable except by the hawks then use the fishing line, jus make sure it is higher than the tallest person who may walk out there. I make the mistake of only having mine 6 feet high and nearly too the head off my friend the other day.

 

[gallusdomesticus]

I lost a black sex link to a coopers hawk that got in through a split in my netting over the chickens run. The hawk bit through the spinal cord on the hen's neck and killed it instantly. I no longer allow my girls to free range in the back yard until the hawks migrate north again in the spring.

 

[pride&joy]

Thank you all for your reply’s, I was hoping for something lg enough to in a sense cover an area already fenced in by 6ft wooden privacy fence probably about 60ft x 100ft. I thought we could put up some tall post in the center and attach the ends to the fence? Does such a thing exist?

 

[gallusdomesticus]

If your main concern is predatory birds, fishing line strung pretty close together coupled with CD's that sparkle in the sunlight might work but if you want to be sure to keep any hawks, owls, or eagles out, your choices are probably plastic netting or welded steel fencing. Netting tends to sag and will need to be restretched occassionally, wire will need more closely spaced support poles to keep it from sagging too much.
I orginally had netting but when a small tree branch fell and split a seam in it, I replaced my run's roofing with 2"x4" welded steel wire. In addition, I have two strands of electric fence (about 6" and 18" off the ground) on the outside of my 6ft privacy fence. In addition, I dug down about 18" at the foot of the fence and buried harware cloth to keep diggers out. I also have night guards on the outside perimeter of the fence and a baby monitor next to the coop to listen for any disturbances at night. Guard towers with machine guns are next.

 

[newchickengirl]

I had a coopers hawk dive bomb My girls and guys right in front of Me and his bird of choice was just a tad bigger then him.

 

[Malpower]

Quote:
We constructed a pretty good enclosure with chicken wire walls and a bird netting roof over a good-sized area and the coop last January after a hawk killed one of my first two pullets -- this has been great and no problems at all with hawks. But I do let the girls (4 of them now) out to free range when I'm around to keep an eye on them but sometimes can't lure them back into the enclosure if I have to go out. They tend to stay under the trees and in the shrubbery and are very aware of anything overhead that isn't a bird or crow (they chase the crows away) and take cover usually if they're out in the open when hawks and buzzards are flying overhead -- well, in general, they usually run fast as they can across any open space until they're well into the treed areas. Anyway, now that the hawks are back, I'm getting nervous again when they're out of the enclosure, and we were wondering about putting up something over a couple of larger areas of the yard that are exposed -- were wondering about wire with maybe strips of mylar attached to flutter but aren't exactly sure about what kind of wire we'd be looking for -- wonder if anyone would have a suggestion. Idea being to attach one end to top of enclosure and string over to attach to eaves of the house in one spot, then do the same from a fence to house eaves in another spot -- would be about 7 feet high at one end and then go up as gets to the house eaves. Saw your comment about fishing line and am wondering if this would make more sense than wire of some sort - we don't have any idea what we're doing obviously but seem to recall seeing something like this hanging above vineyards up in wine country. We can't put a roof or netting over all this space, so that's why we were hoping stringing wire (of fishing line) every so many feet would help deter the hawks from swooping down. You say the hawks will see something as invisible to me as fishing line (or so I remember it) and be deterred -- wish my eyesight was a wee bit as good!

Any advice or ideas would help us figure this out, also figure out if it's worth doing. Thanks!

 

[NateinFL]

The answer is YES.

Cooper's Hawks are the WORST offenders around here.

 

[lauriruth]

I've had it! i'm building the world's largest safe-run! the Cooper's hawk was sitting in the Loquat tree watching the hens (in the catawba) when i went out last night. he flew off to perch on my neighbor's roof and watch us. stayed there for about 10 minutes, then swooped in and picked off a dove from the fence...flew 3 ft. over my head with it! does someone know for sure if Cooper's migrate north in spring? i'm in san antonio, tx. if i don't have a respite from this, the entire back yard (big) is going to become a covered run!

 

[smarsh]

Cooper's live in almost all the US year round. only the gulf coast in summer shouldn't have them and a portion of the northern territory in the winter.
I guess it will catch up with me, but I routinely see a cooper's in my yard after feeder birds, but it has never attacked my hens. I cannot say I have seen it when they are out, however.

 

[drsmile]

Check out my earlier thread today. I had our first girl killed yesterday. Put out my trail cam and ...viola... culprit caught! I think this is a Coopers. I am struggling to find a deterent for this predator.