Free Lunch Chickens! Hawk Attack!

[gtaus]

I just got a call from a friend who knows I have chickens. He said his daughter has free range chickens, but she just lost 7 chickens to a hawk attack. So, now she is buying more chicks to replace the chickens killed in the attack. I mentioned that if she built a nice chicken run with bird netting on top, she would not have hawks or eagles attacking her flock. That's what I do. I have not had an attack from above in the 5+ years I have had my chickens. Unfortunately, his daughter refuses to pen in her "free range" chickens and protect them with bird netting. To her, they would no longer be free range chickens.

I just said, well right now she has free lunch chickens but I'm not going to tell anybody how to keep their flock. I doubt if the hawk(s) are going to go away as long as they know free lunch chickens are on the menu.

It comes naturally to me to protect my chickens at the expense of letting them free range in my yard. I have hawks and Bald Eagles overhead all the time and my flock would not make it through the summer if I did not keep them in a chicken run with bird netting on top. I have a nice, big 13X30 foot chicken run. But certainly not as big as my entire 3-acre yard. I have a hard time understanding why a person would rather let their chickens free range in the yard, knowing they are exposed to hawk attack, and decide that is a better way than confining them to a chicken run with bird netting to protect them.

If anyone here has the opinion that it's free range or bust with their flock, let me know why that is so important to you. Or, if you once felt that way but changed your mind after an attack, maybe there is something I could pass on to my friend to help his daughter change her mind.

Frankly, I'm not so much into telling anybody how to raise their flock, but if anyone has some friendly words of advice that I could pass on to my friend for his daughter, maybe they could take it or leave it. I know my friend's daughter, and she does not welcome suggestions very easily. Nice girl, but usually hard to suggest other options if her mind is set on something else. I would only pass on any suggestions to my friend. He can choose to bring up the options with his daughter after that. I'm not going to talk to her directly. It's that kind of situation.

 

[Knobby]

I have several friends tell me that I have the acreage to allow my chickens roam abouts, but I'm with you..I'd rather keep my chickens cooped up and protected, than to allow for them to free range and become an all-you-can-eat buffet meals for the hawks, eagles, falcons, coyotes, foxes, et al.

 

[gtaus]

I have several friends tell me that I have the acreage to allow my chickens roam abouts, but I'm with you..I'd rather keep my chickens cooped up and protected, than to allow for them to free range and become an all-you-can-eat buffet meals for the hawks, eagles, falcons, coyotes, foxes, et al.

I just think of all the time, money, and effort that goes into raising chicks to the age where they can actually start laying eggs. With that investment, I don't want to offer them up as free lunch for predators.

I know there are people who think differently. I'd like to understand their thinking, even if we disagree. Again, I am not trying to tell anyone how to raise their flock. Just trying to help a friend who reached out to me.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We free range here in SE Missouri -during the day. Everybody gets locked up tight from dusk to broad daylight. But we have three dogs pretty much guarding the perimeter during the day, and have not had an aerial attack in years. The last time we lost a cockerel to a hawk, we kept everyone locked up for almost two weeks afterward, until the predator flew off to find easier pickings. Mostly we only have hawks nesting and migrating in the spring. So it's a calculated risk, letting them free range. I got chicks in July this year and didn't lose a single one. Were I in your circumstances, I would do as you're doing. For sure!

 

[citychicks99]

I would personally feel guilty for setting those poor birds up to be eaten knowing it will likely happen. It's like having children but not giving them coats in the winter time and allowing them to play in the snow. Hope she changes her mind and that it won't take more witnessing of chickens getting eaten by hawks for her to finally get it.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

It's definitely a personal choice. I lost one hen to a hawk 2 years ago and it was enough for me to build a huge (60'x40') chicken fortress covered with hawk netting. I guess I felt like I had already invested quite a lot of $$ into having the chickens (coop, covered run for winter, non-covered fencing to surround the "free range" area, feeders, heated waterers, feed, etc...), and I didn't want to lose any more to something so preventable.

Furthermore, while I understand that chickens are livestock, I love mine dearly, and it truly broke my heart when that hawk got one of my girls. Not everyone feels that way about their chickens, but losing SEVEN in a single day seems like it would be devastating to any chicken keeper. Seems wasteful at the very least.

I try not to judge because everyone has a different philosophical approach to how they keep chickens (as long as they're doing so humanely), and I understand the desire to let chickens free range. However, I do believe that, at a minimum, the owner has a responsibility to ensure that the chickens have places to take cover/get to safety to at least minimize loss of life.

 

[tlcmurphy]

We have an enclosed coop and run that my chickens (only 4) are confined in until the afternoons when I’ll let them free-range our suburban yard only if 1) I’m personally home to watch out the back window for hawks and 2) I’ve listened for hawk calls first.

We’ve had 3 hawk attacks over the 4 years I’ve done this, the first scared them, the second got my Welsummer but was a young hawk and my hen was fine, the third got my Ameracauna pullet by the head and nearly killed her. I now have a chicken that’s blind on one side and a better appreciation of predators.

 

[atomic]

I let mine free range but only during the day and when I am home. Otherwise they are locked in a covered 14x16 run, I have eight chickens. I know there is a risk letting them out, but they enjoy it so much I can’t bring myself to leave them locked in constantly. They seem to be happy with the ratio and thus far haven’t had any problems.

 

[McChooky]

Every chicken eaten by a predator is one less chicken to lay eggs or hatch baby chicks. Some people can't seem to get it thru their head

 

[hammyanne]

I let my flock free range (I have about 5 acres) and accept the risks of doing so, but only really because chicken keeping is purely a hobby for me (the eggs are nice gifts for my friends and I am lucky to have disposable income for chicken keeping). That said, I have lots of tree and brush coverage, and the birds are locked up at night. Additionally, I have about 2 acres that are fenced in with deer netting/split rail fence, which I think slows down ground preadtors. I've only lost baby/juveniles to aerial predators thus far, so I haven't felt the pain of losing a laying bird.

I love watching the birds wander around my property! I think chicken-keeping would be less appealing to me if I couldn't have a small army of birds waiting behind me eagerly for worms as I do my gardening. The risk of free ranging has been worth it so far, but I know I'm only one major catastrophe away from reconsidering.