Hawk attack prevention ideas

[Icie]

I have two geese that live with my chickens and they do an excellent job at protecting from hawks. Even better than my Roos. There’s a hawk soaring in the sky? Boom, geese see it right away and alert the chickens, who all go running for cover. Not sure if you’d want to get geese, but I love my boys

Are geese difficult to raise? Can they share the same coop with 13 hens? I was debating on guinea fowl for predator alerting and have the same questions but also trying to find suitable overhead netting for protection.

 

[McChooky]

Are geese difficult to raise? Can they share the same coop with 13 hens? I was debating on guinea fowl for predator alerting and have the same questions but also trying to find suitable overhead netting for protection.

Mine were easy to raise.They had a big coop of their own they shared with my ducks.I had to sell everything when I sold my farm and I never raised anymore. When I worked security at a Hanes site in NC I used to feed the Canadian geese .They brought their chicks to the guardhouse to be fed too.

 

[cmom]

Are geese difficult to raise? Can they share the same coop with 13 hens? I was debating on guinea fowl for predator alerting and have the same questions but also trying to find suitable overhead netting for protection.

I don't free range anymore due to losses from predators. I do have large covered pens for my birds and there are ways to entertain them. This is the netting I put over my pens and it works. I have had no issues. Good luck...
https://www.amazon.com/Aviary-Netti...keywords=aviary+netting&qid=1633183991&sr=8-7

 

[cmom]

When I first put up the netting I ran short so bought some cheap netting and thought it would probably deter aerial predators and it did for awhile. I had no issues with any hawks but did have an issue with an owl. It plowed right through the crappy netting and killed some birds. I moved the birds and set up a camera and put a new piece of netting up. The owl went through it again. I then bought some more of the good netting and put it up and the owl tried to go through it but got stuck. We managed to get it into a cage and a wildlife rescue came and got it.

 

[Chickeroonie keeper]

I have never thought of geese. Wouldn’t they need to have a pond?

Nope, they don’t need a pond. Mine are happy feeding on grass all day. I sometimes fill up a little kiddy pool and let them splash around for a while, but it’s not necessary

 

[Chickeroonie keeper]

Are geese difficult to raise? Can they share the same coop with 13 hens? I was debating on guinea fowl for predator alerting and have the same questions but also trying to find suitable overhead netting for protection.

Mine share the same space as the chickens and I haven’t had any problems. Easier to raise than chicks in my opinion! You just need to make sure their waterer is large enough that they an fit their whole bill in

 

[Chickeroonie keeper]

I actually did a lot of research when selecting the breed I wanted, I found that African geese would work best for me because they are large, tend to be docile towards humans, but great protectors and aggressive towards threats like predators. Mine both ended up being male, they do have a loud honk that intimidates predators. The pic above is from when they were younger

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

I don't free range anymore due to losses from predators. I do have large covered pens for my birds and there are ways to entertain them. This is the netting I put over my pens and it works. I have had no issues. Good luck...

https://www.amazon.com/Aviary-Netti...keywords=aviary+netting&qid=1633183991&sr=8-7
View attachment 2853117View attachment 2853118

That looks like a wonderful space for them! Did you cover every bit of that?

 

[McChooky]

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I actually did a lot of research when selecting the breed I wanted, I found that African geese would work best for me because they are large, tend to be docile towards humans, but great protectors and aggressive towards threats like predators. Mine both ended up being male, they do have a loud honk that intimidates predators. The pic above is from when they were younger

I raised the same one! They were awesome!

 

[cmom]

That looks like a wonderful space for them! Did you cover every bit of that?

Yes, I completely covered all of the pens. There is another picture of a BYC members somewhere on BYC where their yard or at least a part of it covered with netting due to hawks. I had to put some of my netting in sections because of the size of the pens. 60' x 200' total. At the time I couldn't find a large enough piece and it was very expensive. I found some good netting on eBay and put in a max bid for the netting and to my surprise won the bid. It still wasn't quite large enough to completely cover the pens so I bought some cheap netting to finish covering the rest of them thinking that it would deter any aerial predators and it did for awhile, as I previously posted, https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hawk-attack-prevention-ideas.1495695/post-24962418, an owl went through it. I did purchase another piece of good netting from Amazon and replaced the crappy netting. I used cable ties to hold the sections together but they did eventually deteriorate and left a gap where a Red-Tailed hawk got through and went on a killing spree. I was away on errands and a Dr.'s appointment at the time and when I got home heard an unusual ruckus and when I went out to investigate I saw the hawk and several bodies in the pen. I did get the hawk out and retrieved the bodies. Since I have replaced all of the zip ties with hog rings. No other incidences since. I have seen other hawks and owls since but they can't get to the birds. Good luck...