FOGHORN LEGHORN~ "Lookit here son, I say, I say son, did ya see that hawk after those hens? ....

[Sally Sunshine]

Foghorn Leghorn: Lookit here son, I say son, did ya see that hawk after those hens? He scared 'em! That Rhode Island Red turned white. Then blue. Rhode Island. Red, white, and blue. That's a joke, son. A flag waver. You're built too low. The fast ones go over your head. Ya got a hole in your glove. I keep pitchin' 'em and you keep missin' 'em. Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball. Eye. Ball. I almost had a gag, son. Joke, that is.






Jokes Aside,
HAWKS Concern me!
We have lived in our home in the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania for over 2 years now, and I can't tell you how many times my head was filled with pictures of hawks flying away with one of my birds! Many of us are becoming angry and frustrated, AND even though it's against the law to shoot a hawk, some of us talk about getting out the old shotgun.

Well guess what! I plan to do just that!
Now, I say I say.. don't get all upset until you read my story son.

Did you know that…..
All hawks and owls are protected by federal and state laws?
There are cases, however, in which they can create public health and safety hazards or seriously affect a persons livelihood. Contact your local USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services office first if you are interested in obtaining a shooting permit.

​

We live in the Blue Mountains a few miles from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary which is the world's first refuge for birds of prey and an international center for raptor conservation. FOR YEARS, our local schools have sent our children to the conservation center and on the trails to learn all about the Sanctuary and instilling a greater appreciation for the natural world and understanding why we need to conserve birds of prey.

I have read, read and read some more!
I ran across a ton of ideas for controlling predators, HOWEVER for some reason I see no facts. I have a great need to understand WHY! I always need to research and dive deep to find reasoning behind suggestions. If its one thing I have learned is that I should never believe everything I am told unless there are facts to support it, but when it comes to my girls, I will try anything to prevent causualties!

​

A few Ideas and suggestions:

Hang shiny or glittering things in the trees, CD’s & pie pans to reflect the sun and scare them away!
Mylar baloons, left tied out at various heights above the run.
Disco Balls on rope so it spins and moves.
Car Lot Sale Tassel Banners.
Mylar emergency blankets cut.
A feisty 5'2" crazy chicken lady that packs heat. (me)

Adult Roosters will attack to save its hens.
Best breed Roo would be a game rooster.
A good dog who is "worth it's salt"
Driveway Alert System $20+
Crows attack hawks but not sure I would raise them

Create a “Spider-Web” run cover w/ monofilament fishing line!
Hang Scare-Crows or Fake Owls/crows!
Half-full plastic bottles or CDs hung up in trees.
Keep feeders under overhang.
Play a local talk show on the Radio and broadcast it from the coop! Or a CROW soundtrack!
Hang Fluorescent vests, or put on scare crow.
Add pallets or other items to add more shelter.
BTW If you watched that video above, the last will make you chuckle.
Cunning Farmers in Tanzania are outwitting hawks by dying their chickens PINK & PURPLE! No really they are!! https://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/Research-and-evidence/case-studies/research-case-studies/2011/Farmers-in-Tanzania-paint-chickens-/



NOT one method will work, use several methods but keep rotating things and using different props!

Informative Link...
Hawk and Owl Damage Management
Damage Prevention and Control Methods
http://www.extension.org/pages/11018/hawk-and-owl-damage-management
At this link you will find some GREAT ideas, some practicle and some are not.

Pyrotechnics
a variety of exploding or noise-making devices.
Break out the 12 gauge shotgun because here come the"shell crackers"!
" http://www.westernwildlifecontrol.com/12-gauge--shell-cracke12.html
Trapping and Relocating
A landowner must obtain a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and usually the local state wildlife to trap any hawk or owl that is causing damage. Trapping is usually permitted only after other nonlethal techniques have failed.



SUMMARY..........
I know that the right thing to do is to cover my run
with poultry netting or wire so that I know my birds are 100% safe from predators. However, I choose to create huge runs in the woods for my poultry so they can experience the fun of scratching, dust bathing, digging in roots and so on. So I have to be WELL prepared for the occasional flying predator and know that sooner or later I will loose some of my prize flock. But at least I have a "game plan"!



I say I say son..... I have a game plan and that ain't no joke!


HAWK MIGRATION CHART.... I am pretty sure this site has timeline information
http://www.hawkmountain.org/raptorpedia/migration-path/page.aspx?id=352



Hawk Mountain and raptor science.​

Why do migrating raptors concentrate at Hawk Mountain?​

Hawk Moutain straddles the Kittatinny Ridge or Blue Mountain, a 300-mile-long, prominent ridge that extends from 60 miles north of New York City to 20 miles west of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
http://www.hawkmountain.org/raptorpedia/raptorpedia/page.aspx?id=649

​

Adding information as we go!​

I ran into this.....

Assistance From Other Animalshttp://voices.yahoo.com/keeping-hawks-away-chickens-7003038.html?cat=7
Guinea hens may be noisy, but they are an excellent alarm system. Any predator that makes an appearance in your yard will be cause for a great deal of squawking. The guineas themselves are generally too large a target for most hawks, and so are not often taken.
Dogs can't be everywhere at once, but they can help. Some say pot bellied pigs make decent deterrents as well.
Keep in mind that domestic animals used in keeping hawks away have their own needs that must be met. However, purple martins do not require our help and can be encouraged to stay in an area with gourd nests. These birds sometimes chase off hawks en masse in order to protect their young and have the added feature of eating mosquitoes.

Bald Eagle Wind Spinner

We all ready have one of these balls, also has silver shiny stringers that you attach that blow in the wind.... http://www.amazon.com/Bird-X-SE-PAC-Scare-Balloon-3-Pack/dp/B000QUWTS0/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

Tangle Guard Bird Repeller Ribbon
A space age holographic ribbon that provides economical and humane spot control for nuisance birds.

http://www.nixalite.com/tangleguard.aspx




PNWHEELS!! you can even make them!

 

[tadpole98]

never admit it on here, or ANYWHERE online, through txts, phone calls, internet, just in person to whomever you may want to tell you wanna kill it. uncle sam is watching yous all. and your gonna get in BIIGGG trouble.

S.S.S.

 

[Shokokuphoenix]

Hi y'all, I'm a long-time lurker but only a recent 'joiner', but since this topic is one that I'm very familiar with and decently knowledgeable about, I just wanted to throw my two cents in on what will and will not prevent hawk and raptor predation on domestic fowls.

For some reason, there's always a lot of hocus-pocus and snake oil methods being thrown around in the bird/predator abatement fields. I laugh inside whenever I see one of those plastic bobble-headed owls or 'eye-balloons' being sold somewhere to scare off predators or starlings (I have a picture of a crow standing on one of those plastic owls, as a scathing testament to their usefulness). The truth is that not spinning pinwheels, tied up AOL CDs, fluttery strips of Mylar, fishing line, flashlights, hen jackets, funny chicken paint jobs, noisemakers, nor an entire sequined rah-rah kick line of Las Vegas can-can-dancers will prevent a determined Cooper's hawk (or Great-horned owl, or goshawk, for those who live in the deep northern woods and western mountain valleys) from dining on a loose chicken.

I am a master falconer with over 12 years of experience and I am also someone who's been raising chickens and other fowl (pheasants, peacocks, quail, parrots, ducks, chukar, geese, turkeys... ) in Florida and in Washington State since I was all of three years old, and you can take it to the bank from me that only a good, wire mesh or wood/brick/steel/concrete/etc. solid material constructed enclosure, with no external opening greater than 1 1/2 inches wide, will prevent 100% of hawk, eagle and owl attacks. Anything else is simply tying a silver ribbon to a canary's tail and letting it wander around a cat convention while hoping for the best.

A highly aggressive rooster, good dog, or other aggressive guard-type of domestic animal (llama, donkey/burro, goat, mini-horse, etc.) *might* (if it is around and is able/willing to get to and stop the attack before it is too late, and it actually fights and/or charges at the hawk to startle it) be able to fend off the attacking hawk or owl, but any chicken or fowl involved with the hawk will still run a decent chance of being severely injured, disfigured or killed in the attack. PS: Fortunately, hawk and owl talons/beaks are not overly septic and tend not to cause terrible infections like how cat and mammal bites tend to be.

A hungry Cooper's hawk (or Great-horned owls at night) will absolutely not give two rips if human beings or dogs are standing a few feet from a loose chicken or pigeon. They will come right on in and try to take it if they feel motivated enough by hunger. I myself have trapped wild Cooper's hawks before in a tree-lined field at a distance of only 8 feet away - with myself making absolutely no effort to hide - within mere seconds of me producing a baited trap. When released, many of the trapped Cooper's hawks have made no effort to leave the area in a hurry either, and simply hid in a tree above me.

Anyways, feel free to ask me any hawk or raptor related question, and I'll sure try to answer them for you (or point you to the right resource to get your answer). Happy fowl-and-chicken keeping y'all, and keep your feathery friends locked up for safety!

PS: As was stated earlier in this thread, harassing, shooting, killing, trapping-and-relocating (even if alive and unharmed, the law doesn't take that into consideration), etc. of any raptors (or any other US migratory bird for that matter, without a species appropriate permit allowing 'take') is incredibly illegal and subject to heavy duty thousand-plus dollar fines and or jail time. These fines and jail time go up exponentially if the bird in question is an eagle of either US species (the bald or the golden), and as an added a note to that, the feds love to make a big public example out of eagle crimes.

 

[Shokokuphoenix]

Reading back through some of the posts since my first one, I noticed a lot of people talking about wild hawks flying in close to you. Bold/confident birds and (especially) inexperienced juveniles who are wild and untrained will definitely just fly right over or around people when food is involved.

For one that's been trained for free-flight (PS: We never train them to hunt, they already know how to do that... we just train them to come back to us when we toss them up!

), they REALLY lose all inhibition about flying close to people, and will land on you (your head, your shoulder, your brush beating stick, your hat, your hawking bag, etc) if you are not prepared with your gloved fist out (Note: Hawks know well the difference between delivering a 'crunching' death grip grab - called a 'footing' in the falconry terminology - and a gentle landing, so while it is sharp-and-scratchy when they land uninvited on you, it is not a painful bleedy-and-puncture-y type of event.) Sometimes they will land on the ground and walk to you if they are feeling goofy, bored or just wanted to come in for a closer look at something interesting on the ground.

I'll share a cute story with you all from several years ago; I was out with my two-year old (an adult plumaged bird, with a bright red tail) male redtail hunting rabbits in the heat of August. We weren't getting too much up other than biting gnats and yellow jackets, so we headed deeper into a cool grove of white oak trees. I heard my bird's bells (they wear bells on their legs so we can locate them in deep brush/treetops) jingle as he shifted positions in the tree, so I looked up and saw him soaring close to the treetops, but soaring away from me!

I ran out into a clearing, swinging my leather lure (which is garnished with a piece of meat) and calling him, suddenly the hawk banks and starts coming in fast. Then, about 10 feet above my head, the hawk stalled out, hovered - just then I noticed that his eyes were gold and his tail was totally milk-chocolate brown - and then he pulled into a tree about 20 feet away to stare at me and the lure. As he did, another hawk slammed into my lure just about as hard as he could... however this hawk had a red-tail, and obviously had bells on. The bird on my lure was *my bird*, and the one in the tree was a juvenile red-tail, born that year, and probably only a two or three weeks out of his parents' care.

My hawk gave the youngster the 'back off buddy, mine!' stink-eye, and poofed his wings and feathers out to cover his food posessively, but the baby thought he still might have a chance to beg a bite from the older bird, so he came on down to the ground, walking and peeping like a chick while making obvious 'submissive' postures to my hawk. At this point, the wild juvenile was only 4 feet away from me, and not looking at me nor paying me any mind whatsoever. My bird, in an attempt to say 'I'm not giving any of my food to you, little free-loader', picked up his lure and flew up to my gloved fist with it to continue eating it there, but not before giving the baby another stink-eye. The juvenile peeped a few more sad peeps, looked at me, and then flew off to watch us from a low tree branch. He followed us at close range for the rest of our hunt, and even caught some sort of small rodent that we must have accidentally scared up (I was pleased that my adult bird didn't chase him to steal his catch. Good hawk!).

 

[Shellz]

I would never suggest that someone should kill a protected species of any animal! I appreciate the beauty of nature as well as what it can provide for us. I've got Cooper's hawks, but for the most part, they're being chased in the sky by crows, ravens & other wild birds that don't want them near their nests. It remains to be seen what will happen when nesting season ends. Apparently robins will raise up to 3 clutches a season though.

 

[cactusrota]

I SAW About 100 turkey vultures , that the state brought in. Because they are endangered. Surrounding a day old calf they just killed. I ran as quick as a 59 yo can to help but it was already gone. It was gruesome !! I unloaded 10 45s into them when they flew back
To see if i had gone yet. Didn't hit 1 . The calfs owener told me it was a big fine to kill one. I told her the buzzards
Tried to eat me , so it was self defense.

Turkey vultures don't kill. Black vultures do. It was probably still born.
If this is a true story it's stupid and illegal.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Penalties for violations of the MBTA $15,000 and 6 months imprisonment for common violations. The sale or barter of migratory birds is a felony with penalties up to $500,000 and 2 years imprisonment. Some raptors, such as the bald eagle, are also protected under the Endangered Species Act, and both the bald and golden eagles are also protected under the Eagle Act.

Questions concerning the protection of raptors should be directed to a local state Conservation Officer or the nearest office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


The penalties changed my tune, I have too many responsibilities to my kiddos and nosy neighbors to commit such an unlawful crime as to shoot them as much as I would like to!

 

[CherokeeFlats]

We have a lot of redtailed hawks and eagles out here in IL. Or at least where I'm at. Thankfully, they have left my chickens alone. But I too worry that they will endanger the life of my chickens and ducks. I keep a close eye on the pens at all times.

 

[stake]

Iv;e seen 6-8 hawks in the past week of so. Today a Redtail was in a tree in my backyard. When I get the coop and run completed, it will be fenced on all sides top and bottom. I have heard that stringing fishing line above where the chicks range will discourage the hawks. I also intend to hang CDs around backyard as I've been told that discourages hawks....

If that doesn't work, who knows....

 

[buffbrahmaboy]

All threads concerning hawks and their control mention the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the maximum penalties imposed. The thing to remember is different areas of North America apply the act differently based on the perceived importance of the predator/chicken within a certain community. Some Authorities may never issue kill permits, some may readily issue them, and some (as in my case) only require notification of a kill on my property. It's important to obtain a LOCAL interpretation of need. If the hawks are not rare, if the adults don't actually seem to migrate, and if you raise chickens for income, you are more likely to be let off lightly for blowing one away. That said, it's best to first obtain a ruling based on your individual circumstances. I recently lost a chicken to a pair of resident red tail hawks, but the flock (especially a rooster) learned from the experience. The hens quickly hide, the roosters strut their stuff, and the circling hawks now move on without conflict. The fact is the hawks are important for rodent control and I'm glad to have them around, even if I lose an occasional chicken.