Hawk stole a young chicken! How to deter them?

[Anime2lover]

We have dogs and kids that are outside almost constantly in our yard with our free range chickens. We've had hawks all the years we've lived here and never once have they bothered our flock. But lately they seemed to have lost much of their fear of that. Exp, just a few days ago I'd just culled a duck and left for a few minutes to get the next one. When I was returning to the culling area, I saw a hawk fly and land up on a branch right above my recently culled duck., only about a yard from me. Just a few hours, a hawk was perched right on the fence pole near our free ranging chickens. Which I immediately penned up and did a head count of. We are now missing one out of five half grown chicks....

 

[Anime2lover]

We have dogs and kids that are outside almost constantly in our yard with our free range chickens. We've had hawks all the years we've lived here and never once have they bothered our flock. But lately they seemed to have lost much of their fear of that. Exp, just a few days ago I'd just culled a duck and left for a few minutes to get the next one. When I was returning to the culling area, I saw a hawk fly and land up on a branch right above my recently culled duck., only about a yard from me. Just a few hours, a hawk was perched right on the fence pole near our free ranging chickens. Which I immediately penned up and did a head count of. We are now missing one out of five half grown chicks....

How can I possibly deter them? And how long do I have to keep my free ranging flock penned before the hawk gives up?

 

[Brooks_]

How can I possibly deter them? And how long do I have to keep my free ranging flock penned before the hawk gives up?

I've heard that hanging CD's can be a deterrent. It could take a couple of weeks for the hawk to move on.

 

[Anime2lover]

I've heard that hanging CD's can be a deterrent. It could take a couple of weeks for the hawk to move on.

CDs? How's it work? Does it make noise? Is it the movement? The reflection??

 

[Brooks_]

Is it the movement? The reflection??

I think that's the thought behind it.

 

[Anime2lover]

I think that's the thought behind it.

Are there other ways? Cause the places the hawk likes to sit are either to high in a tree, or don't have a place to hang a CD from

 

[Kaddi143]

How can I possibly deter them? And how long do I have to keep my free ranging flock penned before the hawk gives up?

I bought deer netting (large one 7 bucks Walmart) and made aviary over the entire back part of my yard after three attacks and one killing of mine. I also bought tons of the square on Amazon like reflecting mirrors and used string and put all over the tress and bushes and fence line with decoy owls and motion sirens with flashing lights (solar powered) on edge of roof and hen house run area and high in trees where they sit and wait to deter them! With prayers has been effective! I also put falcon decoys out! I move the decoys every few days!

 

[Punkyrooster16]

CDs? How's it work? Does it make noise? Is it the movement? The reflection??

From what’ve I read, it’s that they see the flashes of light reflecting off of the cds and aren’t sure if it’s a threat. We never tried it with hawks, but we were having issues with crows recently (they can recognize human faces pretty well and kept trying to grab our older chicks anytime I left the property).

The other day I had to leave for a few hours for a semi-emergency and knew it was probably going to be an issue so I gave my daughter about 30 old cds to scatter face-down around the places the chicks like to spend their time (in addition to a few we had previously hung in the trees to have movement). It was the first time we didn’t have any issues in a few weeks.

We also can’t get near where the crows/hawks hang out, so I tried to put them in places where they would be exposed to the sun most of the day and where I suspect their sight lines and entry points would be. I also move a few of them every couple of days so they don’t get used to them.

I’ll definitely be doing it for predatory bird issues in the future (thankfully, the hawks around here have plenty of food sources, and zero interest in a potential altercation with our loud but harmless dog). I knew there was a reason I saved all my mix cds from the early 2000s!

 

[Punkyrooster16]

I bought deer netting (large one 7 bucks Walmart) and made aviary over the entire back part of my yard after three attacks and one killing of mine. I also bought tons of the square on Amazon like reflecting mirrors and used string and put all over the tress and bushes and fence line with decoy owls and motion sirens with flashing lights (solar powered) on edge of roof and hen house run area and high in trees where they sit and wait to deter them! With prayers has been effective! I also put falcon decoys out! I move the decoys every few days!

I’d probably go more along this route if there weren’t a clear end in sight, though (in my case, the chicks will be too big to be easy targets in a few weeks, and they have also caught on that they can hang out near our dog and no one will bother them). The thing is, even if this particular hawk gives up, it will leave their territory open for other hawks to move in. I’d likely go the netting and siren decoy route if they were targeting full-grown chickens, though the cds should help until you can get all that in place. We had to take a break from free-ranging for a few years when we didn’t have a dog because the predators were such an issue - when it wasn’t the hawks, it was the foxes (who had no issues coming up to our front porch in the middle of the day to grab a hen).

 

[Kaddi143]

I’d probably go more along this route if there weren’t a clear end in sight, though (in my case, the chicks will be too big to be easy targets in a few weeks, and they have also caught on that they can hang out near our dog and no one will bother them). The thing is, even if this particular hawk gives up, it will leave their territory open for other hawks to move in. I’d likely go the netting and siren decoy route if they were targeting full-grown chickens, though the cds should help until you can get all that in place. We had to take a break from free-ranging for a few years when we didn’t have a dog because the predators were such an issue - when it wasn’t the hawks, it was the foxes (who had no issues coming up to our front porch in the middle of the day to grab a hen).

I hate to tell you but my very large RIR have been attacked by 3 red tails and a cooper's hawk they are 2 year old! Hawks will attack large hens and they will continue to seek easy prey. There's tons of oaks around me with pecan trees and squirrels they choose easy prey of large slower unsuspecting hens even small dogs! Please beware!! My RIR are not social they have ganged up and beat my miniature pincer dog fighting over fresh fruit! Do not think hawks will pass on them! Twice while I was standing in yard. Also twice this year two attempts to dive on my 7 pound miniature pincer dog!