Dang hawk

[pueawjapygrta]

I lost a black australorp to a hawk, then came home to find the hawk in my yard hoping for a free meal, luckily, my coop was all buttoned up, my three chickens were huddled up in the nesting box together, poor things....

I found this in an old book, kinda humorous how the old timers did things:

from Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them, copyright 1910

A Simple Hawk Trap
Make a box 4 inches deep, 6 inches square and nail to a 4-foot pole with cleats at the bottom to keep from turning over. Cover top of box with 1-inch mesh wire. Place a little chicken in the box; then put a steel trap on top of box and set it out under the trees where the hawks lodge to watch for the chickens. If there are hawks around, it is pretty sure to catch them.

Scare Away Crows and Hawks
For keeping hawks and crows away from the poultry yards, get a few bright tin shingles, link them together with wire, and hang upon an arm extending from the top of a high pole, where sun and wind strike fairly. The jingle and glitter is sufficient to keep these pests at a safe distance. You will also find them useful in the corn and melon fields where crows are troublesome.​

 

[TheBigWRanch]

Quote:
I've only heard of scarecrows being used to keep crows out of your garden or orchard. I have never heard anything about them keeping away hawks. We have a ton of orchards around here, and the farmers always say that anything you use to scare away birds will only work for a short time, because the birds get used to it, and are no longer afraid. So you have to come up with new ideas all the time.
Quote:
No, I have a very large population of red tailed hawks around my house, and I often see them plucking the poor wild sparrows and pigeons right up in front of me, but in the 10 years I've had chickens I never once had them even try to dive at my chickens. I always figured they were smart enough to know they were too large, but maybe it's that they are too stupid to know how to do what happened to your birds? I guess I'm just lucky! My chickens actually got so used to the hawks sitting in the trees that they no longer cared that they were there. I also breed guinea pigs for a couple years, and the hawks never bothered them either. I do have a problem with owls eating my cats though.

 

[chicknmania]

Don't do anything to the hawks. They are Federally protected, and, besides, they're just following their natural instincts. So are the chickens; they are really pretty good at watching for them and warning each other. Yesterday we had a sharp-shinned hawk swoop at ours; a few bottle rockets just kinda randomly shot into the air will usually keep em from coming around for a while.

 

[prariechiken]

Don't you all wish chickens didn't taste so good....ok, maybe not, but everything seems to love chicken dinners. Some ways I have found to ward away preds.

1. Check out www.niteguard.com. Seems to work well for some.

2. Hang those "free AOL" cds/dvds up from trees around your poultry yard. The discs spinning in the breeze gives off flashes of reflection that helps keep wary preds out. Guess they don't like bright flashes (gunshots anyone?).

3. Nail cartons of barsoap, (I use Irish Spring Green) around the yard. (nailed to fence posts, hung in bushes, etc.) Usually poke a hole or two in it. Animals associate the perfume scent with humans, deters them from hanging around. Alot of people use this to keep deer out of their gardens.

4. (gross one, but effective) Spreading urine around your perimeter, be it your own or your friends(LOL) "marks your territory" much like a dog does, detering preds.

5. A good yard dog does wonders, just make sure they don't prefer eating chicken to protecting them.

Hope these ideas help, would be interested to see if anyone else has any other creative ideas on this topic.

CB

 

[DizzySkunk]

I just found this forum, and I'm amazed at how much I can relate to the posts! I may go post crazy here for a few. We have lost several chickens to hawks (and neighbor dogs - grrr). The DNR will only give you a hundred outrageous suggestions to try (I think this is to wear you out), but ultimately, you can't do anything directly. However, if you have other birds around, such as crows or red-winged black birds, they will attack a hawk, so don't try to chase these away. We had some Red-winged blackbirds nest on our property last year and they attacked every hawk that dared fly near. Hopefully they will return this year. You can also provide some cover for the free roaming chickens (like ours). We have several forsythia bushes that they just love to hide in. (oh, and the white chickens seems to be an easier target than the others) I may have to resort to a pen with netting myself, just in case a hawk situation gets out of control... any advice as to what kind of netting?

 

[BeaufortBoy]

Monday I introduced my 4 chicks to their new coop. I added the tarp to give them some mid-day shade. This morning there was a large hawk sitting on the tin roof. The chicks were terrified. I chased the hawk away twice and my wife chased him away also. I don't think there is any way he can get inside the coop but the chicks don't know that.

Any suggestions on solving this problem? I was thinking of adding monofilament fishing line under the tarp to deter the hawk.