Hawk deterrent

[LauraG]

Yes, I have a dog. He is an inside dog when I am not home, I would not leave him roaming free while Im not home. He is excellent with the chickens.

I have thought about getting an outdoor dog, but i could not think of a little Maremma sheepdog puppy outside by himself in the cold while Im inside infront of the woodstove.

Theres just no way my soft heart could bear it.

Maybe if I had a big barn setup or something, but dogs are my joy and part of the family so although it would be great in theory, its never gonna happen cuz I wouldnt be able to do it....

 

[centrarchid]

LauraG,

Pups of working breeds are pretty tough, at least more so than many of the short-haired and ornamental breeds. I will be keeping a single male border collie pup in a pen with some dominique cockerols. Dog house will be strawed heavily and hopefully one or more birds will go into doghouse when weather gets really cold. Chickens can make good dog warmers. Also feeding the pup larger amounts of extra high quality food helps contend with cold. Pup will do fine so long as it gets adequate excersize and nutrition. Concern I have deals with social interaction. My pup will be reared for multipurpose use so socialization will likely be more than used for most livestock guarding dogs. The pup is gonna get some love at least twice daily.

 

[Tracilynne]

Hi. Can u give me further explanation about the use of cd'/ and hawks? He took 4 yesterday. Do you hang them (CDs) where there hitting each other? Where do you hang them ? Just if u could give me some more specific info. I'm really needing a solution. They where babies it praised from the egg. And it just makes me sad. Can't believe there gone.

 

[towen91]

Yesterday I had my first scare from a hawk!! I looked up and there was a hawk flying over head!!! I know everyone says if you let your flock free range, there will be a loss here and there. But my flock only consist of 4 young birds, all under a year old!! So I can't lose any. I don't let mine free range all the time. Only for a few hours most days when I'm outside. Here recently, I have started letting my dogs out with the birds. They are doing great around them. This hopefully will get to the point that I can trust my dogs to be with the birds when I can't. Will this deter Hawks??

 

[Folly's place]

A hawk will take a bird every two to four days, preferring the smaller/ younger ones. When I have a hovering hawk, or loose a bird, the flock is locked in their covered run and coop for one to three weeks, until the hawk gives up and moves on. Usually seven to ten days will work. Then the birds are let out in late afternoon for a few more days, to be sure it's safe. We just went through this in early September, and all seems to be fine now. My dogs would love chicken dinner too, and most of us aren't set up to safely have a livestock guardian type dog out there. Mary

 

[Bridebeliever]

We have Hawks, Bald Eagles and Ravens in our area. The chickens will be in a pretty forested area but I often see these birds of prey flying around the area. If they see them they probably just start stalking them. I have seen the ravens chasing an eagle through the air though. But will ravens go after chickens? I'm so scared for my babies! They are still
Inside for now. Here's their free range area in the trees. (It won't be covered.)

 

[Folly's place]

I have trees and shrubs around the coop, and it helps. The birds get more careful after an attack; it's mostly the half-grown young idiot cockrels that get picked off first. Safe in the coop and run until the stalking raptor moves on is best. Let them eat the bunnies! Mary

 

[Cilla42]

We get hawks everyday, I house my chooks in a closed run but then they have a small door to an outside fenced run for in the day, I attached a cheap shade sale onto the side of the run over the door which flaps around - giving the chickens extra cover and hopefully making it harder for the hawks - obstacles are the best idea, hawks need a flat area for landing and taking off - I read somewhere about even having a scarecrow sat in a chair in the the chooks, so it looks like someone is sat there!

 

[towen91]

So does anyone have experience with keeping their dogs with the chickens? Do you have any hawk problems?

 

[ErikaSmit]

I have dogs outside, but lately we've had a mentally unstable hawk? It just sits in trees and shrieks for the last week. Or swoops at everything dogs present or not. What can I do with that? I really don't know how to get it to move on.