Hawk stole a young chicken! How to deter them?

[krissyweso]

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

I wish that helped. This past February, I had a hawk nearly fly off with one of my little silkie hens, but I caught it with my girl in its talons before it could fly off. After that incident, I got those mirrors you hang around because the movement and light is supposed to help. It hasn't. Hawks are bold. It kept coming around and trying to get my silkies. The only thing that has helped is, in the late spring / summer, the mockingbirds that nest and lay eggs around here and attack everything (crows, vultures, buzzards, great blue herons, hawks, bluebirds, cats!!... everything) that enters the airspace or comes around their nests.

So, long story short, if mockingbirds are native to your area, do something to incentivize mockingbirds to move in, and they'll scare of your hawks.

 

[Anime2lover]

I wish that helped. This past February, I had a hawk nearly fly off with one of my little silkie hens, but I caught it with my girl in its talons before it could fly off. After that incident, I got those mirrors you hang around because the movement and light is supposed to help. It hasn't. Hawks are bold. It kept coming around and trying to get my silkies. The only thing that has helped is, in the late spring / summer, the mockingbirds that nest and lay eggs around here and attack everything (crows, vultures, buzzards, great blue herons, hawks, bluebirds, cats!!... everything) that enters the airspace or comes around their nests.

So, long story short, if mockingbirds are native to your area, do something to incentivize mockingbirds to move in, and they'll scare of your hawks.

Not in our area though. But I did see something hilarious. A large hark being chased by a flock of tiny brown birds!

 

[Brooks_]

the mockingbirds that nest and lay eggs around here and attack everything (crows, vultures, buzzards, great blue herons, hawks, bluebirds, cats!!... everything) that enters the airspace or comes around their nests.

True.

I've seen then dive bomb a collie/St. Bernard mix.

 

[Buffy Brahma Mama]

Build several lean-tos throughout the yard and one big one placed about 3 to 4 feet from your coop. They have to be about 3.5/4 feet high. Too short and they won't use them as much. Build them any way you want, but its a good idea to have screen on the top and part of the way down on the two sides, and place branches over the top for cover.

Get yourself a good warning rooster and when the hawk comes, he will send the alarm and they will all make their way to the main lean to by the coop. He will guide the ones there that don't get the message. Lakenvelder's are great at this, but they tend to attack humans, so be cautious of that if you get one, and wear thick/tall boots lol. There are other breeds that will work as well.

You can also incorporate very large shrubs with a ton of cover, and the hens will seek shelter under that as well. You might lose some that are trying to run back and are too far out, but the lean to is critical.

You can also try the shiny objects and the fake owl, but you have to move them a lot.

Lastly, crows will chase away the hawks. Get a compost bin with foods crows like and they will be around a lot.

Good luck!

 

[discerning]

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....

Our rooster “Rudy” will try and protect the hens.

 

[Anime2lover]

Build several lean-tos throughout the yard and one big one placed about 3 to 4 feet from your coop. They have to be about 3.5/4 feet high. Too short and they won't use them as much. Build them any way you want, but its a good idea to have screen on the top and part of the way down on the two sides, and place branches over the top for cover.

Get yourself a good warning rooster and when the hawk comes, he will send the alarm and they will all make their way to the main lean to by the coop. He will guide the ones there that don't get the message. Lakenvelder's are great at this, but they tend to attack humans, so be cautious of that if you get one, and wear thick/tall boots lol. There are other breeds that will work as well.

You can also incorporate very large shrubs with a ton of cover, and the hens will seek shelter under that as well. You might lose some that are trying to run back and are too far out, but the lean to is critical.

You can also try the shiny objects and the fake owl, but you have to move them a lot.

Lastly, crows will chase away the hawks. Get a compost bin with foods crows like and they will be around a lot.

Good luck!

We have crows and ravens already. And a compost area XD. Unfortunately that has attracted coons.

 

[Brooks_]

We have crows and ravens already. And a compost area XD. Unfortunately that has attracted coons.

The coons I have get distracted by the low hanging fruit (trash can behind house). Messy at times, but they pretty much ignore the chickens.

 

[Bell Street]

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....

I had ravens gabbing younger chicks, and had to put up netting over the area outside there coop and shinny reflector tape used to keep birds off blueberry fields in open areas strung from trees. It worked great. Once their big you won't have to worry so much as the ravens and hawks seem to only go after the younger chicks. Good luck.

 

[McChooky]

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....

I live in West Virginia where everything eats chickens and because I have a creek that runs nearby you can bet I have weasels .They're the water-loving serial killers but aerial predators such as hawks are different.They rarely kill more than one and if they're successful they'll be back for more.If your chickens have plenty of places to hide they have a good chance of escaping. Picnic tables,decks,bushes,tall flower plantings, lawn chairs,barbecue pits,etc. all provide coverage as well as bird netting, chicken wire,nylon fishing string,etc. All these thing work together to protect them and discourages Hawks .Most Hawks will typically avoid swooping down into narrow passageways or anything that could get them tangled up which is how string deters them.

 

[gtaus]

I live on a lake. There are Bald Eagles and hawks overhead all the time. I never considered free ranging as a viable option for my small backyard flock of 10 hens. My chicken run is made up of 6 foot high 2X4 welded wire fencing zip tied to t-posts. I have bird/deer netting topping of the chicken run to protect the girls from aerial attack. After two years, zero attacks, zero losses.

The chickens are allowed to "free range" in the chicken run all day long. When I mow the lawn, I throw the grass clippings in the run for them. They can eat what they want and the remainder will just compost in place. I also throw in all my leaves into the run. When I clean out the coop, the wood chips from the deep litter bedding gets thrown into the run. My chickens are outside all day scratching and pecking for food in the compost in the chicken run. I don't know what they find to eat in that compost, but my commercial feed usage drops about half. Point is, they seem to be doing fine with the chicken run compost and they don't have to be exposed to all the hazards of aerial predators that allowing them to free range in the yard would expose them to.