Hawk attack!

[Lori J]

They don’t usually attack if you’re right there, so I’m sure you could move the girls from the coop to the tractor without too much trouble.

You may have hawks that live nearby but since this was your first attack it could have been a transient bird, or by the sounds of it a pair looking for a new territory. Like most animals there is a good chance they’ll lose interest if a food source is no longer available for a few days or a week but even so, they’ll remember and could come back now and again to check

They don’t like anything in the air with them or in the way however, so things like a flagpole with a large flag, a clothesline etc can help. There’s also hawk-shaped “kites” that you can mount on your roof or on your coop and they “soar” in the slightest bit of wind, they can deter hawks, pigeons, gulls etc.

I had a lot of luck keeping a duck with my flock, they’re hyper-alert to threats from the sky, and the chickens learned to run and hide when the duck quacked a warning about hawks.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the advice! There’s plenty of places where the hens could hide In my yard but I think the hens just panicked. As far as the chicken tractor I wasn’t worried about the hocks attacking when I was out there what I was worried about was catching my handAs far as the chicken tractor I wasn’t worried about the hawks attacking when I was out there what I was worried about was catching my hens to transfer them back-and-forth! I found it can be very difficult

 

[Lori J]

Yes they are very happy free ranging but there can be a cost as you say

 

[Building Bridges]

I went out today to find my hens hiding under bushes, feathers everywhere and a hawk in the tree above me and another hawk flying overhead. I walked out and the hawks flew off. One hen was dead. The feathers were from several of our chickens but I didn’t see any scratches on them. The one hen seemed to have been dead for several hours. I have had chickens for 4 years and this is the first hawk attack. Does that mean their days of free ranging the yard are over? Since the Hawks have made them a target now? Is there anything I can do? If I keep them locked up for a while will the hawks forget? Hawks are common in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood, unfortunately, does not allow roosters. We have an elderly terrier mix who can possibly stay outside with them for short periods. Advice please.

So very sorry about your girl. I hope the others are not injured. Poor things must have been terrified.

 

[Lori J]

So very sorry about your girl. I hope the others are not injured. Poor things must have been terrified.

There were lots of various colored feathers Around the yard but I could not spot any cuts or scratches on the hens

 

[shoregirl68]

So sorry!
When a hawk hits here, and it's been bantams, usually, I keep everyone in for two or three weeks, and the hawk moves on elsewhere. My coop/ run combination is predator proof and large enough for the birds to manage, for this reason, and incase of weather, like the snow we have right now.
Having places to hide when they are free ranging helps, SOMETIMES a big rooster helps, and some dogs will alert to raptors too.
A covered run is ideal though, and free ranging does come at a price...
Mary

Mary I'm so glad that is working for you. We've had no hawk attacks in 6 years, now it's like a drive thru, 3 chickens in the past 2 months. The first hawk was somehow injured, could not fly and we were able to catch it. Thought it was one and done. Nope, let our guard down and another hawk has not killed two more chickens. After the second chicken was killed, did the secluded thing for over 2 weeks using an area that is completely covered and very small connected to our coop, comparison to the whole run. Let the girls out and within an 30 minutes a third one was attacked. We have a very large run with lots of trees. Our girls are miserable in the safe, small area. My husband wants to play music, buy an owl or eagle decoy and put up red flags. My opinion is the only way to keep them safe is to somehow cover the entire run.

 

[Folly's place]

Mine will be going out later in the week, and we'll see. Sometimes it's just hard, and if I have another killed, mine will be in for the winter.
Mary

 

[hayley3]

I've had chickens since 1993 and only lost one to a hawk when she got out of the barn while I was gone. She was a Polish chicken and she couldn't see too well with her hat.
I think the reason I never had a hawk attack was that I had 4 goats in the pasture with the chickens. Hawks screamed all day long but they never stopped by. I have since left the forest and I can no longer have goats but I believe they are a deterrent if you have the room for a couple pygmy goats. I also feel my Toulouse goose keeps the hawk from coming by. When we arrived there were hawks in the trees, but I have not seen any since. Maybe they were transient, since I am new to the area, I am not sure.

 

[cmom]

My pens are covered with netting. I have large pens for my birds. The good netting I originally bought was a little short to completely cover all of the pens so I bought a crappy piece of netting. It wasn't what I thought it was when I ordered it. Recently a Red Tail hawk got into one of my pens through the crappy netting and killed several birds. I have since replaced the crappy netting.

This is the new netting I used to replace the crappy netting with.