Do hawks always hunt chickens?

[jmtcmkb]

thanks to all you have been very helpful. Yesterday I ordered some bird nettting for when I choose to let them out in this contained area. Until then I am going to watch them like a "hawk" so to speak when I let them out. I cant tell what species we have around here but I do know they are abundant. I live adjacent to a very large field that is lined with tall pine trees and I'm pretty sure that is where they nest. But like I said I see free ranging chickens within a 1/2 mile of here every day. Maybe I will get out some binoculars and see if I can determine what kind of hawks we have. I'm confused a bit by the crow remarks, we also have many crows around here, do they co-exist in the same territory?

 

[jmtcmkb]

late this afternoon I decided to let them out, within 5 minutes or less 2 hawks were circilng-- I am going to surmise I need to provide cover for me girls..........3/4 " bird netting is on the way.............

 

[Nambroth]

if a hawk will attack a chicken depends on 5 factors, Size of pray compared to hawk, How hungry is the hawk, Approach the hawk has Available, species of hawk, age of hawk,
now let me explain this to you. normally 2 most diurnal Birds of prey that will attack chickens or most Fowl is RedTail hawk and Coopers Hawk others do attack just less common,
Size of Pray Compared to hawk, a Coopers hawk wont even attempt a larger chicken but will take on smaller breeds(Depending on how hungry they are), Redtails will try almost any size Chicken But there Slow so you can Make there approach less suitable which will give your chickens a greater chance of escape and evade.

How hungry is the hawk, a starving hawk will go suicidal on a bird 10x bigger then them, 75 80% of first year hawks die in the first year due to starvation, Man, Larger hawks, Disease (non are human contagious) and even killed by pray will we will get in to that on age of hawk , During the summer when pray is Very abundant your chance of loseing a chicken to a hawk decreases
Greatly, but around Oct to Nov during migration and when most pray left has got smarter birds get hungry and they will try stuff they normally would not which lead to lost fowl.

Approach the hawk has available, most hawks wont attempts a long flight (note im not Referring Falcons Which will not normally attempt chickens) Referring to Buteos and Accipiters
Approach is the path and the cover the hawk has to reach the pray before its alerted, Long flights give reduced chance of success for the hawk and they don't want to waste energy on missed flights so they wont attempt 90% of the time all comes back to hunger, if your free ranging your chickens keep them away from wood lines, or a solid wall over 4' with no sight through it,lone standing trees in a field these tend to hold redtails alot waiting on rabbits and mice your lose more to goshawks and coopers close to wood lines, Low cover no more then 2 1/2 feet tall like bushes shrubs or hides for them to take cover yet dosnt impair the sight of a incoming hawk. if your birds get sight and start running there is a greater chance of them surviving the hawk will have a less chance of geting a good hold on a running chicken rather then a stationery one,

species of hawk, there are about 208 species of hawks in the world but only about 7 types will attempt a chicken (not including Eagles as i do not have much experience with them) these include Coopers, Redtail, Furreginous, Redshoulder hawk(smaller chickens), Goshawk (only if you live up north or in the mountains), Harris Hawk(mainly confined To Texas newmexico), Great Horned owl,

Age of bird, this is probably the biggest defining factor if its a Adult it normally would not attempt a chicken for hawks they really are not that nutritious for hawks, they perfer darker meat birds like ducks, but for a first year hawk they do not know better its like a teenager they think they can take on more then they can most will attempt once get hurt by the chicken or miss to many times and give up but they do get lucky those are the ones you lose the reality is your chickens probably get attacked daily but hawks are only 5% successful on there chases

if you pay attention to the approach that hawks might have on your property and adjust it you can Reduce number of attacks and lost fowl provide low cover for chickens to allow them to evade
and hide Hope this helps

This is a really good post, very informative and I agree with everything said. I've bolded a few things that I've found to be especially true-- the emphasis is mine.

Having said that, once you are part of this forum long enough you will realize that there are 'exceptions to every rule'. While there is the chance that hawks will behave contrary to the above, it's not common. The key word is common. Hence, why it is all about the personal acceptance of risk! There is risk in all that we do, and it is up to you to determine what amount of risk is acceptable to you (or not).

If you saw hawks circling, they are generally not actively hunting (again key word here is generally) as most of the species you need to worry about for attempting your chickens are going to try ambush hunting. Right now hawks are spending a lot of time circling and calling, this is usually territorial and to an extent locational as they are currently in their breeding season.

Crows are beneficial, but the benefit really varies based on location. Where I live, crow and hawk populations are balanced enough that there are not too many of either and thus crows are able to drive hawks out of their (the crow's) nesting areas. In some areas, no doubt the populations are not so balanced and especially in suburban areas and fragmented rural areas, human development and fragmentation of their habitat has changed some of these behaviors. While I have had great success with crows helping to keep hawks away, it should be noted that not everyone experiences this (though there is no harm in trying to attract crows). Their ranges do overlap, and obviously crows are not around 100% of the time to harass hawks so it is entirely possible to still have hawk problems even if you have a rowdy group of crows that live near you. I find that crows offer me the greatest benefit not in physically driving away the hawks, but they give me warning long before I see a hunting hawk (which is rarely circling in the sky but instead blending in with the trees...) and in this way alerts the hens, and everyone gets safely inside of their enclosed run before the hawk has a chance to attempt my chickens. Jays also do this for me very well (sound an alarm), and to a lesser extent the other songbirds do as well, if you learn what to listen for. Of course, this only works if you are outside with the chickens while they are free ranging (which I am, because we have a lot of predators here).

Best wishes!

 

[Adorkable]

Yesterday there were 2 redtail hawks flying over my coops hunting my free range chickens. The coops are maybe 10 feet from my house and the hawks were flying about 10 and 15 feet above the runs. The birds let me know something was out there so I ran outside and I was shocked to see 2 hawks flying together sizing up my free range chickens and ducks. One of them flew off and the other flew higher and circled a few times as I watched it. I've seen 1 hawk before but 2 was certainly unexpected. I actually lost a Rhode Island Red girl to a hawk a couple of months ago.

Also I've seen a coopers hawk swoop down after my biggest, fattest, slowest (and now oldest) orpington hen. The audacity lol

I think I am probably going to end up covering my runs and whenever I see a hawk I'll keep em in their covered run for a few days. This past winter and this spring have been the absolute worst for us as far as predation. These hawks are relentless.

 

[Farmgirl0422]

We have had a hawk try to get our hens before but luckily we had a rooster to protect them

 

[Eggsit]

We have lost 3 chickens to red tail hawks. (and 1 to a dog, but that's another solution).
My father-in-law saw a neat trick used in Florida to keep birds away from fruit trees that we have tried - and so far - so good at saving our laying hens and our meat birds.

Our fenced in area is 8 feet high. We installed hooks all along the fence and then crisscrossed fishing line across the top of the coop. Its transparent, but catches sunlight. We have had no hawk attacks since the fishing line went up! Hope this solution helps you too.

 

[lynnehd]

We have lost 3 chickens to red tail hawks. (and 1 to a dog, but that's another solution).
My father-in-law saw a neat trick used in Florida to keep birds away from fruit trees that we have tried - and so far - so good at saving our laying hens and our meat birds.

Our fenced in area is 8 feet high. We installed hooks all along the fence and then crisscrossed fishing line across the top of the coop. Its transparent, but catches sunlight. We have had no hawk attacks since the fishing line went up! Hope this solution helps you too.

How far apart did you place the fishing line (distance between strands)?

 

[Eggsit]

Hmm. Our hooks are probably every 2 feet but the line crisscrosses from each hook to 2 other hooks. There are big diamond shapes across the top that I could stick my head thru.

You could always add more or less to suit your comfort.

 

[lynnehd]

OK, that makes sense, about criss crossing the lines.

Thanks.