Do I have enough protection to keep out Hawks?

[Wisegirl99]

So I have a dilemma, and I was hoping to get some help from all of you. I am new to raising chickens, we got our first hens in September. We used to let our chickens have free range over our yard, but a month after doing that one of our dear chickens was attacked by a hawk. Now, of course, we are afraid to let them out without watching them the whole time. I have an area that is right next to their coop that we recently fenced-in. This area has three tall pine trees. I took some fishing line and zigzagged it back and forth between the two fences. (See photo) There are some places for the chickens to hide in this area if they feel afraid, and they also have access to run back into their coop through the back. I have yet to let them go into this area without supervision to make sure there's no more hawk attacks. I'm afraid to do it without watching them. Am I being overly cautious? Should I just let them go out there? I don't have a rooster, and I will never be able to get one, I know the benefits of a rooster but it will not work in our neighborhood. Please help!!!

 

[Wisegirl99]

So I have a dilemma, and I was hoping to get some help from all of you. I am new to raising chickens, we got our first hens in September. We used to let our chickens have free range over our yard, but a month after doing that one of our dear chickens was attacked by a hawk. This happened in December. Now, of course, we are afraid to let them out without watching them the whole time. I have an area that is right next to their coop that we recently fenced-in. This area has three tall pine trees. I took some fishing line and zigzagged it back and forth between the two fences. (See photo) There are some places for the chickens to hide in this area if they feel afraid, and they also have access to run back into their coop through the back. I have yet to let them go into this area without supervision to make sure there's no more hawk attacks. I'm afraid to do it without watching them. Am I being overly cautious? Should I just let them go out there? I don't have a rooster, and I will never be able to get one, I know the benefits of a rooster but it will not work in our neighborhood. Also, just yesterday, while we were out watching them, there were 3 hawks circling above. Please help!!!

 

[DobieLover]

So I have a dilemma, and I was hoping to get some help from all of you. I am new to raising chickens, we got our first hens in September. We used to let our chickens have free range over our yard, but a month after doing that one of our dear chickens was attacked by a hawk. Now, of course, we are afraid to let them out without watching them the whole time. I have an area that is right next to their coop that we recently fenced-in. This area has three tall pine trees. I took some fishing line and zigzagged it back and forth between the two fences. (See photo) There are some places for the chickens to hide in this area if they feel afraid, and they also have access to run back into their coop through the back. I have yet to let them go into this area without supervision to make sure there's no more hawk attacks. I'm afraid to do it without watching them. Am I being overly cautious? Should I just let them go out there? I don't have a rooster, and I will never be able to get one, I know the benefits of a rooster but it will not work in our neighborhood. Please help!!!

Hawks have been known to attack chickens right in front of people. And they are very agile.
If you are unable to completely cover the pen, there is always the chance a hawk could get a chicken.
What breeds do you have? Some breeds are far more cautious than others and would alert the others to potential dangers.
Personally I would let them in the new pen. Maybe add some additional places to hide. You could also try hanging old CDs from the fishing line. I've never tried it but some people claim it helps.

 

[paneubert]

I hate to do it, but this is what I post when people ask about if their fishing line or other "non-complete" covering is good enough.

 

[Pork Pie]

I've had hawks attack my flock from less than 1metre away from where I was sat. Lines / CDs have limited effect in my experience. As @DobieLover suggests - a covered run is the best solution. Leghorns are flighty and good sentinels, but don't rely on flighty breeds alone, would be my advice.

 

[ColtHandorf]

"I hate to do it, but this is what I post when people ask about if their fishing line or other "non-complete" covering is good enough."

Might I point out...

"As typical of the genus Accipiter (as well as unrelated forest-dwelling raptors of various lineages), the northern goshawk has relatively short wings and a long tail which make it ideally adapted to engaging in brief but agile and twisting hunting flights through dense vegetation of wooded environments. This species is a powerful hunter, taking birds and mammals in a variety of woodland habitats, often utilizing a combination of speed and obstructing cover to ambush their victims." - Wikipedia

Goshawks are a bit of an exception to the rule when it comes to hunting in dense woodland. Most other species do not hunt in that fashion and require more open areas to successfully capture their prey.

Other raptors exhibit hunting techniques that do not require that level of aerial dexterity.

Red-tails have a very varied hunting style:

"The most common flighted hunting method for red-tail is to cruise approximately 10 to 50 m (33 to 164 ft) over the ground with flap-and-glide type flight, interspersed occasionally with harrier-like quarters over the ground. This method is less successful than perch hunting but seems relatively useful for capturing small birds and may be show the best results while hunting in hilly country. Hunting red-tailed hawks readily will use trees, bushes or rocks for concealment before making a surprise attack, even showing a partial ability to dodge among trees in an Accipiter-like fashion. Among thick stands of spruce in Alaska, a dodging hunting flight was thought to be unusually important to red-tails living in extensive areas of conifers, with hawks even coming to the ground and walking hurriedly in prey pursuit especially if the prey was large, a similar behavior to goshawks. Additional surprisingly swift aerial hunting has reported in red-tails who habitually hunt bats in Texas. Here the bat-hunting specialists would stoop with half-close wings, quite falcon-like, plowing through the huge stream of bats exiting their cave roosts, then zooming upwards with a bat in its talons. These hawks would also fly parallel closely to the stream, then veer sharply into it and seize a bat. In the neotropics, red-tails have shown the ability to dodge amongst forest canopy whilst hunting. In Kansas, red-tailed hawks were recorded sailing to catch flying insects, a hunting method more typical of a Swainson's hawk. Alternately, they may drop to the ground to forage for insects like grasshoppers and beetles as well as other invertebrates and probably amphibians and fish (except by water in the latter cases). Hunting afoot seems to be particularly prevalent among immatures. Young red-tailed hawks in northeastern Florida were recorded often extracting earthworms from near the surface of the ground and some had a crop full of earthworms after rains. Ground hunting is also quite common on Socorro Island, where there are no native land mammals and invertebrates are more significant to their overall diet. A red-tailed hawk was observed to incorporate an unconventional killing method which was drowning a heron immediately after capture. One red-tailed hawk was seen to try to grab a young ground squirrel and, upon missing it, screamed loudly, which in turn caused another young squirrel to break into a run wherein it was captured. Whether this was an intentional hunting technique needs investigation." - Wikipedia

"Swainson's hawks hunt using various methods. Many still-hunt, watching for prey activity from a perch such as a tree, bush, pylon, telephone pole, hummock or other high object. Others hunt by soaring over open ground with wings held in a dihedral, using their stellar vision to watch for prey activity below. It occasionally courses low over the ground like a northern harrier (Circus cyaneus) or hovers like a rough-legged hawk (B. lagopus) while hunting. They frequently engage in transect-glides while actively hunting in flight. It commonly perches on the ground both during migration and on the breeding grounds. While hunting on the ground, almost entirely for large insects, their gait can appear awkward but they are often successful in pinning down several insects per day." - Wikipedia

So in part, yes the fishing line will probably protect the chickens. However that depends on how well it actually covers the run. Also bear in mind that clear fishing line will be much harder for hunting raptors to spot and they can seriously injure themselves if they fly at a high speed into it.

All that being said, why don't you just cover that whole run with poultry netting and be done with it? That would definitely work and you wouldn't have to worry as much as you are now. I'm getting ready to do mine as well.

 

[paneubert]

"I hate to do it, but this is what I post when people ask about if their fishing line or other "non-complete" covering is good enough."

Might I point out...

"As typical of the genus Accipiter (as well as unrelated forest-dwelling raptors of various lineages), the northern goshawk has relatively short wings and a long tail which make it ideally adapted to engaging in brief but agile and twisting hunting flights through dense vegetation of wooded environments. This species is a powerful hunter, taking birds and mammals in a variety of woodland habitats, often utilizing a combination of speed and obstructing cover to ambush their victims." - Wikipedia

Goshawks are a bit of an exception to the rule when it comes to hunting in dense woodland. Most other species do not hunt in that fashion and require more open areas to successfully capture their prey.

Other raptors exhibit hunting techniques that do not require that level of aerial dexterity.

Red-tails have a very varied hunting style:

"The most common flighted hunting method for red-tail is to cruise approximately 10 to 50 m (33 to 164 ft) over the ground with flap-and-glide type flight, interspersed occasionally with harrier-like quarters over the ground. This method is less successful than perch hunting but seems relatively useful for capturing small birds and may be show the best results while hunting in hilly country. Hunting red-tailed hawks readily will use trees, bushes or rocks for concealment before making a surprise attack, even showing a partial ability to dodge among trees in an Accipiter-like fashion. Among thick stands of spruce in Alaska, a dodging hunting flight was thought to be unusually important to red-tails living in extensive areas of conifers, with hawks even coming to the ground and walking hurriedly in prey pursuit especially if the prey was large, a similar behavior to goshawks. Additional surprisingly swift aerial hunting has reported in red-tails who habitually hunt bats in Texas. Here the bat-hunting specialists would stoop with half-close wings, quite falcon-like, plowing through the huge stream of bats exiting their cave roosts, then zooming upwards with a bat in its talons. These hawks would also fly parallel closely to the stream, then veer sharply into it and seize a bat. In the neotropics, red-tails have shown the ability to dodge amongst forest canopy whilst hunting. In Kansas, red-tailed hawks were recorded sailing to catch flying insects, a hunting method more typical of a Swainson's hawk. Alternately, they may drop to the ground to forage for insects like grasshoppers and beetles as well as other invertebrates and probably amphibians and fish (except by water in the latter cases). Hunting afoot seems to be particularly prevalent among immatures. Young red-tailed hawks in northeastern Florida were recorded often extracting earthworms from near the surface of the ground and some had a crop full of earthworms after rains. Ground hunting is also quite common on Socorro Island, where there are no native land mammals and invertebrates are more significant to their overall diet. A red-tailed hawk was observed to incorporate an unconventional killing method which was drowning a heron immediately after capture. One red-tailed hawk was seen to try to grab a young ground squirrel and, upon missing it, screamed loudly, which in turn caused another young squirrel to break into a run wherein it was captured. Whether this was an intentional hunting technique needs investigation." - Wikipedia

"Swainson's hawks hunt using various methods. Many still-hunt, watching for prey activity from a perch such as a tree, bush, pylon, telephone pole, hummock or other high object. Others hunt by soaring over open ground with wings held in a dihedral, using their stellar vision to watch for prey activity below. It occasionally courses low over the ground like a northern harrier (Circus cyaneus) or hovers like a rough-legged hawk (B. lagopus) while hunting. They frequently engage in transect-glides while actively hunting in flight. It commonly perches on the ground both during migration and on the breeding grounds. While hunting on the ground, almost entirely for large insects, their gait can appear awkward but they are often successful in pinning down several insects per day." - Wikipedia

So in part, yes the fishing line will probably protect the chickens. However that depends on how well it actually covers the run. Also bear in mind that clear fishing line will be much harder for hunting raptors to spot and they can seriously injure themselves if they fly at a high speed into it.

All that being said, why don't you just cover that whole run with poultry netting and be done with it? That would definitely work and you wouldn't have to worry as much as you are now. I'm getting ready to do mine as well.

Great post. A lot more useful than my fun video. Haha. Seriously. What worries me is that I see a lot of posts on here that say they have observed hawks just sitting in a tree (close to the ground) waiting to ambush when convenient. Being "lazy" for lack of a better term. If a hawk is chilling in a tree waiting, should not be hard for it to go into a run that is less than completely covered whenever the desire strikes. No need for fancy high speed flight. That's why I have plans to net my entire run before (or lets be real and recognize I am a procrastinator) sometime soon after my chicks start being allowed to range in the run.

I am using tensioned wires as my supports for the netting I will install. The snow sticking to the wire in this photo actually helps to highlight where I ran the wires.

 

[SueT]

Bird netting over your run will probably keep out hawks. It is inexpensive and easy to install. It's like a stretchy fabric. I have it stretched over 25' span in some places and it has been there for 3 years thru all kinds of weather, stuff falling on it, without problems. Our kitten liked to walk/nap on it and it would sag, but bounce back after. When I free range the chickens, they have been chased by hawks, but so far, not in the run, all of which is covered in this net.

 

[ColtHandorf]

When using the fishing line, something like this (green lines):

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-deter-hawks.735405/page-6

This will do the trick better than randomly criss-crossed lines at random.

 

[Wisegirl99]

Hawks have been known to attack chickens right in front of people. And they are very agile.
If you are unable to completely cover the pen, there is always the chance a hawk could get a chicken.
What breeds do you have? Some breeds are far more cautious than others and would alert the others to potential dangers.
Personally I would let them in the new pen. Maybe add some additional places to hide. You could also try hanging old CDs from the fishing line. I've never tried it but some people claim it helps.

Thanks for the reply. I have one of each: buff orpington, barred rocks, and barnevelder.