Danger of Hawks

[alabama girl]

I lost 3 of my silkies to a hawk, any good advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chickaroo!]

I've heard that some people put one of those plastic owls in their yards. But I think you have to move it around from time to time.

Me, I stay outside with my girls when they free range. If I cannot be outside with them the entire time, I check on them very frequently and am always listening for sounds from hawks.

 

[katknapp]

I also stay close by when "the girls" are out of the run. When we had roosters they seemed to be the "guard dogs" of the flock but we couldn't keep them...I have also heard wind chimes or shiny things will keep the hawks away....

 

[chicknmania]

You can try hanging some old cd's or dvd's around the area the chickens spend most of their time. This helps. The hawks don't seem to like it when the cd's blow around, move and flash. But, they're not real attractive. I don't know if an owl would work or not, but I would think not, since they are both raptors. Owls will help for barn swallows and small birds.

 

[alabama girl]

Hey, thankyou all, chicknmania, you are right i tried the owl and even built huge ugly scare crows, nothing worked, it just had its mind and eyes set on htose particular silkies, eventhough my bantam cochins were out too. i guess now I'll just let them out when I can be with them.

 

[tnkinhunting]

Keep them in a covered run. That is the only way to keep them safe from hawks. I watch my little poodle - he is about 4 pounds. We have lot's of hawks in our area.

 

[Gindee77]

We've been worried about that too. We're just getting back into chickens after a long stretch of not having any. I plan to keep mine in a covered run when they're outdoors. We have all kinds of raptors around here... hawks, eagles, owls. Have you thought of using a chicken tractor that you can move around?

 

[Bamaman]

I had problems with Hawks too. I put a few plastic crows out, mostly ontop of fence posts where they could be seen good and the hawks haven't bothered my chickens since. You may need to move the decoys around every few weeks too.

 

[alabama girl]

This is the second time someone has mentioned "crows" to me, do the decoys also work? Are hawks really scared of the crows?
Gindee77, I just finished my new 6x8 run/coop, don't have a tractor, but I want them to be able to roam around freely, it looks so serene, and I never wanted my birds in the cage, except for the finches.

 

[spudchild]

If anyone has any positive experience with the crow decoys, let me know! I've lost 5 Chickens this year, and not sure if they were to a stray cat or a hawk. One time, a bantam Cochin just totally disappeared. The others were BBR OEB's, and there were feathers, but no sign, and no trace of a body. Each time it was just one bird. One was right next to the back steps to the house, and the other two were right outside the coop. The birds were free ranging. DH was home most of times, and hadn't left them alone for more than 30 minutes. Now they are cooped until we get a solution.