Fishing line as hawk deterent - Need how to help

[ARose4Heaven]

Have you tried a radio? I had an owl roosting in my machine shed. DH put a radio on LOUD talk radio for a few days...the owl went away. I think he didn't like Rush Limbaugh.

 

[AlbionWood]

Quote:
Must be true what they say - owls ARE wise!

As for the fishing line - what has worked for me is a 6' high fence around the chicken yard, then a criscross of 20-lb-test monofilament over the top, basically going from post to post zig-zagging and criss-crossing, mine is very irregular and has large holes but the Cooper's Hawk has been around for weeks and hasn't gone in since we put up the line. (We did lose one before that.) I think it works because the Cooper's Hawks fly very low, about eye-level, and so the monofilament net is edge-on to them and looks like a complete tangle. So the tall perimeter fence is a key part of the deal, without that the hawks will simply come in under the lines. I think it also helps that mine is at different heights, from about 6 to 8 feet up, it looks like a giant irregular cobweb.

15 or 20 pound test line is very cheap, especially 15 lb, and strong enough to stretch very tightly. I have some 10' T-posts that make a high line down the center of the yard, and I run the fishing line over that, so it's mostly above my head. Eventually I will have to replace it when it starts to break down, but it goes up pretty fast.

Whether it will really work or not depends in part on your hawks. Mine seem to avoid it and go hunt elsewhere, but if one bird comes along and figures it out, the whole thing is useless. So I don't know if it's really effective, or the hawks I have just now are not that interested in my chickens.

 

[Erica]

Hi Chickensioux,

Have you tried making several chicken shelters and putting them all around your coop? About knee height is good, just a big flat bench-type thing about 6ft x 6ft. You could make them out of anything really (timber, sheet metal and stakes). Even bamboo would work with shadecloth and some extra bamboo sticks for bracing across the top. Anything chickens can scurry under would work.

It probably won't stop every single hawk attack, but if there are enough of these low shelters the hawks will lose the advantage and may go away empty handed.

Erica

 

[chickensioux]

Quote:
Yes, I have these. My chickens have alot of hiding places. But he still seems to catch one off guard. Fishing line went up this weekend and he was out there, but no losses.

 

[speckledhen]

That neon nylon Mason's line works just as well and is super strong. Plus, much easier to tie than fishing line. I use it in my smaller pens, with CD's dangling and twisting in the wind. Never had a hawk dive into any pens that were covered that way, and I didn't use much, just a few crisscrossed lines.

 

[guineahen14]

We zigzad fishing line all over my chicken yard in October, put up fake crows, cats, hung cd's and other shiney objects, it worked until late December, then a hawk found out it could land on the top post of my chain link fence and just dive past the line into the yard. I lost two of my sweet chickens, heard the commotion from my Guineas and got out there both times and saw the hawk find it's way out. Now I have purchased heavy poultry netting and as soon as the weather breaks we will install it. I hate hawks. Chickens remain on lockdown.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

You can get step-in posts and plastic fencing to make a pen, then use clips of some kind to fasten a tarp over the top. Move it every day or two and you will have the benefit of free ranging plus a covered run. All very portable, and fairly inexpensive.