Hawk nest in the backyard

[Toi-toi]

I'm in Central MA.
Here is my backyard pics.





Not much trees around to hide....
I'm planing to put coop near the oak tree.

 

[Mattemma]

I am a chicken herder,but that doesn't mean the hawks won't still try. Lol, I had a hawk dive bomb me the other day-just me.Guess it was letting me know who the REAL boss of the land was.

I am thinking of explanding the chicken run and either running wires and/or deer netting over the top.This will just slow a hawk down hopefully long enough for me to help the hens.Anything will be a little better than just letting the hens out to roam and not being by them,but nothing is 100% protection other than a well built run.I wish I had one!

I have been planting shurbs and trees all over.I have the only yard where everything was removed,and the hawks seem to love circling over my open lot.

 

[Coralietg]

We have a hawks nest in a pine tree about 12 feet away from the chicken coop. I've been letting my chicks free-range for the last 2 weeks and so far no problems. However, we do have a bunch of mockingbirds that harass the heck out of the hawk to keep it away from it's nest and the garden.
Our chicks have plenty of places to hide, and we leave the run door open. Just hoping nothing tries to grab them.

Good luck.

 

[silkydragon]

i have a ton of redhawks anyday ill see 3 or 4 between my house and my neighbors i free range bantys ducks and standard chickens and chicks and havent lost any to hawks yet but we are also crawling with rabbits my field looks like it has a million little mazes through the tall grass before we brushhog from the rabbits

 

[colby318]

I throw some extra corn outside for the neighborhood crows. This is their territory now...no hawks allowed!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I have redtails and they never bother my chickens. They use the 80+ foot cedars on my property as a lookout area.

 

[Toi-toi]

So I guess I don't have to freak out so much then...
Thanks!

 

[embkm]

Redtail Hawks will take chickens, babies or adults. If they are hungry enough, they won't care if you are there. A friend of mine was in the backyard with her toy poodle when a hawk swooped down and got him. The dog was only 5 feet away from her.

 

[Oven Ready]

Most raptors will go for easy prey, chicks with a mother are not particularly easy prey as there is a high risk of damage to the raptor should the mother hen make contact (you've seen the damage roosters do to each other - hens are equally well equipped and with chicks often much nastier).
It's a different story when the raptors are feeding young though - then they will take much bigger risks.

We only lose chicks to hawks when they themselves have chicks to feed - the rest of the time they seem happy to eat smaller birds that don't involve screeching mother hens !

As someone has already pointed out, crows and smaller birds can make life intolerable for the raptors by constantly mobbing them and alerting every other bird/squirrel/rat to their presence, so encourage them to your area. You could also try feeding wild birds as far away from your coop as possible, making sure that any self respecting raptor would opt for the smorgasbord rather than ordering 'a la carte'.

In desperation, and it doesn't sound like you are there yet, short of netting over you run you could try a plastic owl on top of your coop, but I don't think most raptors are so stupid not to notice that it never moves. Likewise a plastic snake might deter the less persistent.

Even if you do lose a few chicks, you can be sure the raptors and their relatives are helping keep down the rodents which can only be a good thing.

 

[teach1rusl]

Another thing you can do is place little shelters out and about your open areas. It can be as simple as a whiskey barrel turned on it's side (I have one raised up on blocks....I need to plant flowers around it and it'd actually look pretty). My hens are very good about getting in close to the house, a parked car, under the cedars...when they see hawks circling. I do only let mine out when I'm home though, in and out of the house, so (as others have said "knock on wood") I've never had problems. We have lots of rabbits, mice, etc in the fields and woods around our property, so the hawks should be pretty well fed here.