Hawk question

[spunkychickenmomma]

I have what might be a silly question but I have lost several chickens to hawks the past few months. This morning I walked around the corner to see a hawk eating a newly killed chicken. The hawk flew off and I grabbed the chicken. Should I have just left the chicken and let the hawk eat it so it wouldn't attack any more of my chickens at least for the next few days?

 

[mstricer]

No. I t will be back. This is a very touchy subject on here also. I sure someone will be on here to tell you not to kill it because it is against the law they will even tell you to not pick up any feathers, funny huh. I had the same problem and we got some netting and covered our run some what, I haven't seen the hawk in days but it's been cold and rainy. Today it is sunny. I had the most problems when I left my chooks locked in their run. When they free range, if the rooster is doing his job, they have places to hide. My rooster is a Ducccle and doesn't pay much attention. I can't wait for my Marans to grow up they are good watch birds. Good luck.
Michele

 

[ChickiKat]

We had a hawk dive bomb the run once. We put up deer netting and have not seen any hawk attacks since.

 

[mstricer]

That's what we used, but its only temporary. We get ice and snow and it won't hold it. We have heavy duty netting coming in a few weeks

 

[SilkieBantams]

Lockup the chickens in the coop for awhile until the hawk leaves elsewhere to find food.

 

[mstricer]

That's no fun for them with winter coming. Just put some deer netting up. Or you can hang up some cd's they don't like shiny stuff.

 

[Atomic Ranch]

I had a family of hawks and one falcon in particular that liked to check out the coop and run. We framed in the whole top (about 12 x 32') with 2 x 4s and stapled chicken wire over it. They gave up. I wish they'd eat more rats... they help out in that regard.

 

[CheekyChicky44]

Quote:
I agree I had looked into this before and read that hawks sometimes change their ranging territories if they are unable to get food at a particular sight for a week or so. I would try keeping them in for about that amount of time and hope the thing changes its route.

Also, this may sound weird to some people, especially if they live in rural areas and battle with crows in order to save their crops, but crows are excellent hawk deterrents. They dive bomb them in flight and call for back up from other crows in other territories when need be. Also, they will let you know when one is around, I have been cued into a hawk or two (and put my girls in) when I heard them cawing. I learned this about three years ago when a neighbor cut down a tree with a crow’s nest in it, and the crows relocated- it was a breeding pair of American Crows who stood out from the large population of Northwest Crows around here. I didn't see them for two years but I saw more hawks and falcons than I ever had before. I started throwing some scraps out for the crows that wondered into this old crow territory and they came back to the area and I see few prey birds around here. Also, recent research shows that crows actually remember particular human faces as belonging to a friend or foe! So once you make an impression on them, expect it to stick.