Hawk Attack

[ChickloveCVT91]

We've been very fortunate for so long (free ranging over 7 aceres for about 8 months) and not having any chickens lost to any predators. Unfortunately that ended yesterday when one chicken (Ang) was taken by a hawk (just a pile of feathers as evidence) and another chicken (Prussia) has obvious wounds from escaping talons. She thankfully was wearing a chicken apron which I think saved her life from the talons. Do hawks tend to hunt together in pairs? The piles of feathers were about 20 yards from each other. My roo does a good job at protecting the hens but he cant be in two places at once. Im also concerned that now they know where to find the other chickens in case they want another meal. I don't like to have the chickens confined in their run. They dont like it either, especially since they are so used to being able to run around and eat all the things they do and have fun. For Prussia who escaped with her life, Ive been applying neosporin to her wounds and hoping for the best but Im not holding my breath. Any tips or advice for this issue?
RIP Ang

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Look into aviary netting. Free ranging over 7 acres is far too much of an area to cover completely. Could look at hanging old cd's from overhead strings, scarecrows, fake owls.. there's even a hawk kite. Google hawk kite bird scarer

 

[HuskerHens18]

Before summer when the hawks were active, we'd shoot at them (not kill them, it's illegal unfortunately) and the noise would shoo them away for a little bit.
What ended up chasing my hawks out was this summer, the barn swallows came in swarms to nest in my abandoned shed. They patrol for hawks and mob them in mass numbers.
Another thing is make sure you have lots of hiding spots around so if a hen sees a hawk, it's easy and fast for her to escape.
I've heard CDs on a string can deter them, but I've never tried it.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Grr, I hate hawks! I know they are important, blah blah blah, but I still don’t like them. I understand not wanting to lock your birds up. But You could still create a very large run to help protect them

 

[Celeste Cannon]

You said that the chicken with an apron survived, maybe you could make improved versions of that. This video on youtube could inspire you:

But the hawk kite idea sound very helpful!

 

[Chickensrforus1234]

Geese, dogs, larger live stock are good deterrent. Ultimately if you're going to free-range (which I do as well) you're going to need something to help be a bit of a deterrent.

I hear some people keep crows around because crows will scare away a hawks.

Might think about a mobile shade tractor that the animals could go under. Small bushes and trees are great for the Birds to hang out under, and not be seen.

Ultimately flying Predators have a strong advantage, that's why they lasted millions of years.

 

[Shepshill]

What is a chicken apron?

 

[Celeste Cannon]

Geese, dogs, larger live stock are good deterrent. Ultimately if you're going to free-range (which I do as well) you're going to need something to help be a bit of a deterrent.

I hear some people keep crows around because crows will scare away a hawks.

Might think about a mobile shade tractor that the animals could go under. Small bushes and trees are great for the Birds to hang out under, and not be seen.

Ultimately flying Predators have a strong advantage, that's why they lasted millions of years.

How do you get crows? Can you buy them? Just curious for my own chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

What you describe is not like a hawk if body of an adult standard sized chicken is missing. If lots of feathers on kill sight then be looking for fox, especially when more than one bird attacked at a time.

 

[Chickensrforus1234]

How do you get crows? Can you buy them? Just curious for my own chickens.

Bird feeders for crows. Also foods that attract them. Penuts still in there shells i hear are good. But havent done tried it myself so not sure if it actually works. I read cat food and dog food are good for the crows but I could definitely see a lot of other animals being attracted to that as wel!l so I probably stick to vegetables / fruit and nuts. Sunflower seeds are super cheap and you not have to worry about it attracting raccoons are possums

I naturally have crows in my backyard, think they eat the fruit from my trees. So i guess im kinda lucky with that. And theres definitely a lot of redtails around here, but havent posed a problem so far.