Deterring a Hawk- Covering A Large Garden

[Carols Clucks]

I thought about using PVC "posts" zip tied to the garden fence posts with fishing line and then tying strips of the plastic tape surveyors use to flap in the wind. Of course I was thinking about running this around the outer edge of the garden to keep the chickens out, but I think if the pvc posts were higher I could use the fishing line to run across instead.

 

[centrarchid]

France,

Roosters of a large breed can serve as a deterrant that decreases odds hawk will go after birds. Having a dog in the enclosure can be even more effective. Also consider providing cover your chickens can retreat to when hawk strikes. More than one cover patch likely needed since hawk is faster and distance chicken is to travel to cover needs to be shorter. Larger breed roosters greatly enhance effectiveness of cover. All chickens are frightened by hawk operating above them. When hawk on ground, many roosters can and do repell a hawk. Cover can force hawk to approach chickens on foot which plays into hand of roosters. No ballsy rooster increases odds hawk will simply follow hens in to cover on foot to catch one.

 

[knjinnm]

AllCoop'dUp :

Not sure how tall your garden post are, but mine are 8ft to keep the deer out. I have suggested in the past to others here that you might want to try running fishing wire back and forth to deter birds of prey from swooping in. I know a Koi farmer who does that over his huge ponds and it works great. Good Luck!

I once use 50 # mono filament fishing line to keep crows out of our garden. The garden was 8-9 feet wide by 50 feet long with fence on both long sides. I zig-zagged the line back and forth about every two feet. Crows could hop into the garden from the fence but were deterred by being unable to immediately lift off if they needed to.
For hawks I'd hang CD's and other flashy items to alert the hawks before they swooped in.

Another possibility would be to use yellow caution tape instead of mono filament line, that is if your neighbors have no objections.
Joe​

 

[chickerdoodle]

I live in the "burbs" of Portland Oregon and other flock friends have seen hawks dive right into their small yards and kill a chicken--while they are standing in the yard!!! Talk about shock and awe!!

Perhaps they are bolder in the city?? All I know is it is a real threat right in and around the city. We have plenty of raccoons and coyotes too. My yard would be a 5 star restaurant for the raccoons as we have 2 ponds with fish as well. One is 1,100 gallons and the other is much smaller at 150 gallons. My defenses?

1. Forte Knox coop and run. Netting over extra run.
2. Never leave the house without putting the girls back into Forte Knox (our coop is affectionately called "The Egg Plant)."
3. Our ponds have no shelves for plants near the edges which leaves no place for raccoons to wait and grab at the fish. The sides drop to nearly 3 feet deep right next to the
edges and they won't won't jump in and swim after the fish. Both are above ground ponds too.
4. We have netting over 75% of the pond so Herons will not touch it (they fear getting tangled).
5. A trained Belgian Malinois who takes guarding her yard seriously--chickens and fish included.
6. I also love our murder of crows who although on occasion are annoyingly noisy they do keep the hawks from staying long in the towering evergreen trees next to our yard.

My recommendations to consider:

Scatter the netting in workable blocks so you only have to put supports for it in a few parts of your yard.
String up fishing line with hanging shiny objects on it to connect the nets.
Add cover for the girls in various places as others have recommended.
Shiny objects may also attract crows!

This should make it seem like a real obstacle course and you won't have to net the entire area end to end.

 

[kyle7630]

My 3 guineas do an outstanding job of warning everyone about danger from above. They were raising all kinds of sand yesterday and I saw nothing. All of a sudden, a red shouldered hawk came in and ran another hawk away. The hawk that got chased off was concealed very well in a cedar tree that was less than 30 yards from me and the birds. They were all on alert though, credit to the guineas! Crows do hate hawks too! Corn attracts crows.

 

[yomama]

Quote:
I once use 50 # mono filament fishing line to keep crows out of our garden. The garden was 8-9 feet wide by 50 feet long with fence on both long sides. I zig-zagged the line back and forth about every two feet. Crows could hop into the garden from the fence but were deterred by being unable to immediately lift off if they needed to.
For hawks I'd hang CD's and other flashy items to alert the hawks before they swooped in.

Another possibility would be to use yellow caution tape instead of mono filament line, that is if your neighbors have no objections.
Joe

This summer, I witnessed a hawk chasing my favorite hen, on the ground, grabbing at her with it's beak as they ran! Luckily, no harm was done, and when I yelled, it flew off. We still have hawks though, they never left. Just saw one the other day, about 30 feet up above my yard, scouting the area. However, I use the cd method, and so far, knock on wood, no hawk attacks. I positioned them on the trunks of some Douglas firs, as well as on the roof of the coop, shiny side up. When the sun hits those, man do they shine! All different colors too, kind of like a prism. It's quite blinding to look at them, so I could imagine how it looks to the hawk. Our chicken yard gets the sun from about mid afternoon, till it goes down, so I aimed the cds that direction, with that also being the main direction the hawk would and did enter the yard. I think it makes a big difference where you position the cds. You want to make sure they get as much sunlight shining on them as possible, making sure it would be visible to the hawk. I thought it was going to look kind of hokey, but it really doesn't look bad. You can't see the ones on top of the coop, and you don't even notice the ones on the trees till the light hits them. Hopes this helps, good luck!

 

[corliss]

I strung 50 lb fish line up from the house to small trees on a slope approximately 30 feet away in about two foot intervals to deter hawk attacks. The fish line is nearly invisible and snow doesn't make it sag, unlike bird netting.

 

[Judy]

I used to see posts on here all the time about hanging old CD's to deter hawks, not so much lately. Never tried it myself as the crows seem to keep the hawks under control, or the roos, or there are enough mice and rabbits in the pasture behind me, or something....

Anyway, I took mental note that you suspend them in a way that they will wiggle a little in the breeze, and are parallel to the ground. Evidently the reflected light is what deters the hawk.

 

[machodoc]

AllCoop'dUp :

For hawks I'd hang CD's and other flashy items to alert the hawks before they swooped in.

We criss-crossed our (wooded) chicken pen area with strands of red nylon twine, then hung pairs of old CDs from strands of the same line at random heights and intervals. We used two CDs on each strand so that there would be a shiny side facing out no matter how it turned. We've got several types of hawk and owls, as well as eagles, where we live and our place had become the neighborhood buffet for all of them. We were losing birds as fast as we could grow them to where they could get outdoors, but this put an instant halt to it all. We haven't lost a bird from that area since. As an added bonus, this also seems to have virtually eliminated visits from other types of night time critters. Any amount of light that reaches the CDs from our house is reflected back, making them look like giant glowing eyes. When they turn around in the wind, they are pretty creepy looking. Even a hungry hawk is going to be very wary of something that looks like it may be a trap.

It also seems to be that our large black chickens, Australorps and Jersey Giants, are left alone a bit more than other types. Maybe the hawks think they might be crows and are more cautious?​

 

[augustwest]

Quote:
I don't have much to add except that we are also in the process of hawk proofing our run- we just lost our roo and 2 hens to (we think) a hawk. Actually, my husband told me he saw 2 red tails over the house this afternoon. The chickens were killed yesterday- I wonder if they hunt in pairs?

Anyhow, my girls are coop confined now due to the losses and the snow. We play on draping an area with deer netting when we free range in one section of our yard. It won't be perfect, but might buy the ladies a few seconds and tangle the hawk. We are also planting loads of cover for them, ordering a plastic owl and using the CD idea another poster described. We're MAD.

I just had to add that I am working at my desk next to a picture of my daughters sitting on that same chicken that your child is sitting on in your avatar! At least I think that it is--- from Story land? How funny? I'm in north central MA.