Hawk Help Needed

[Ginger78]

Are you sure it's hawks on the electrical tower? The behavior you describe (several birds perched on the tower) sounds much more like buzzards than hawks. I, too, seriously doubt your bird was killed/eaten by a hawk (or a buzzard).

You are right, we discovered a bobcat in the morning stalking our coop so the problem has shifted.

 

[Ginger78]

I read that someone that had the same problem, started raising black Australorps with their other birds and the hawk attacks stopped. Apparently the hawks think the black australorps are crows, which are the natural enemy of the hawk! We free range our birds on 2.5 acres and we're going to give it a try this summer, Fingers crossed it works!!

I saw videos on You Tube about this. Our next set of chicks will for sure be black Austrolorps. We love our Buff Orpingtons so thinking it will be a nice combo.

 

[Ginger78]

Even over a 10' cement wall? It was a rainy day and we saw no signs of the mud or anything that climbed the wall. I would love to be able to let them out at least for a few hours with our dogs in the afternoon.

You were right we found our culprit, a bobcat. Thank God our birds were cooped up.

 

[centrarchid]

No we actually found our culprit, a bobcat. It has been jumping the fence and hanging around the coop in the morning.

You got too many threads going.

 

[Gallinarium]

We have a large yard in a suburban neighborhood. We’ve had chickens (5yrs) and never predator problems during the day. We have two dogs and they free range with the dogs during the day. 2 weeks ago I let them out at 6am like I always do and one was taken by a hawk. We’ve had 2 weeks to investigate and we are pretty sure. We now let them out later in the day and spend more time out back. Tonight we were out back and saw 6 hawks peering into our yard. We put our girls to bed but we also have smaller chickens that we let roam when we are out. We have 3 scare crows, 1 owl and a ton of shiny objects. Any advice? We want to go to back to normal and we are being very cautious yet the hawks seem to know about us. I’d love to get back to having my birds in the yard. The hawks perch on an electrical tower behind our property so we can’t do much about that.

The best way to deter hawks is to put them in a covered shelter. Hang CDs all around. As an extreme measure, raise goslings wil your birds so that they bond. Geese are prepared to fight off raptors.

 

[birdlady11]

When you let your chickens free range, you are basically opening up a restaurant for the local wildlife. You can't blame the predators- there is no sign that says "These are mine - you can look but not touch." They're hungry and just trying to survive and don't distinguish my birds from all the other prey in their territory. I'm probably in the minority but I've always felt it is my job to provide as predator proof an environment as I can rather than kill any predator that visits my property and helps itself to the chickens I've made available. If I do let my girls free range, my dog and I are out among the flock to help discourage predation, my run is covered so that an aerial assault by day is not possible, and I make sure my chickens are safely secured in a predator-proof coop each evening before the wildlife comes out. I've unfortunately found that free ranging neighborhood dogs pose as much danger to my girls as all the hawks, owls, eagles, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, and bears that share my world.

 

[Gallinarium]

When you let your chickens free range, you are basically opening up a restaurant for the local wildlife. You can't blame the predators- there is no sign that says "These are mine - you can look but not touch." They're hungry and just trying to survive and don't distinguish my birds from all the other prey in their territory. I'm probably in the minority but I've always felt it is my job to provide as predator proof an environment as I can rather than kill any predator that visits my property and helps itself to the chickens I've made available. If I do let my girls free range, my dog and I are out among the flock to help discourage predation, my run is covered so that an aerial assault by day is not possible, and I make sure my chickens are safely secured in a predator-proof coop each evening before the wildlife comes out. I've unfortunately found that free ranging neighborhood dogs pose as much danger to my girls as all the hawks, owls, eagles, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, and bears that share my world.

I have to agree with every word of that. But here's an idea: make a sign that says "These are mine - you can look but not touch." Who knows, it might work!