Dealing With Hawks and Eagles

[qopt]

Hello! I am curious on how to deal with Hawks and Eagles.
I haven't seen many Eagles around for a while, but I still know they're out there.
Hawks however- whenever I took my Guinea Pigs outside to have some fresh air and to run around-bam-you hear the screech of a Hawk alerting others that there is food nearby.
The Hawks that live around me are not nearly as brave as the Hawks I've seen some people post. While they do get close, and hover around, if my dog, or someone is out there, they will not swoop down.
In fact, I've never seen any Hawks or Eagles ever swoop down when there is a building nearby were they know people and dogs are coming in and out of. But I still would like to Hawk and Eagle proof my yard for my chickens.

I am curious if this decoy would work.



It's being sold around me and advertised as the "perfect Hawk and Eagle repellent".

Something else to note, I have chickens that are going to be brown and black. I was reading that Hawks don't tend to pick up darker colored chickens because they assume it's a crow. Is this true?

I know there is netting you can use over a closed run, but I really want my birds to be able to free range. Especially with COVID-19 spreading everywhere in my area, I don't want to have to buy feed too often.

 

[hayley3]

Dogs or other big animals do keep hawks at bay, otherwise you need cover of some sort.
I have large pine trees the birds hide under. You can also make things.
I read those fake owls do not work and the color of the chicken is unimportant to a hawk.
How many chickens do you have?

 

[ColoradoPip]

The decoys don't work (not my pic)

 

[qopt]

Dogs or other big animals do keep hawks at bay, otherwise you need cover of some sort.
I have large pine trees the birds hide under. You can also make things.
I read those fake owls do not work and the color of the chicken is unimportant to a hawk.
How many chickens do you have?

Just a small flock of 5. They have pretty decent coverage, but there are spots in my yard were they'll be exposed or not by my house. And yes, my English Mastiff works as perfect Hawk Repellent, the moment a Hawk sees him they immediately go somewhere else. But it wouldn't be fair for me to keep him outside all day with the chickens, he's an old guy. Would regular human like scarecrows work?

 

[hayley3]

Same reason I don't get a guard dog, I could never leave them outside all the time.