Hawk vs Hens?

[Neolones]

I have 3 hens that only free range in the afternoon in our suburban backyard in Houston. We have plenty of hawks, the hens have been free ranging for about 1 year. There are two hawks that show up almost daily, one of my hens will sound the alarm & the rest will hide under the bushes. Will that strategy keep working overtime or the hawks will get brave & go into the bushes? Will the hawk be able to sneak up to the chickens & not let them sound the alarm for them to hide?

What I am trying to decide is, keep letting them free range, or just lock them up in their run for good, or just chance it, hoping the girls will stay vigilant?

 

[sourland]

Hawks have to kill in order to live and are adaptable. Most hawks strike from above, but I once was visited by a juvenile Goshawk that would actually land on the ground and try to pursue the chickens hiding under shrubs. I also had a Cooper's hawk that would fly across the yard a couple of feet off the ground and attack my pigeon flocks from below. Generally when a hawk alters behavior they are not successful on their first attempt. Supervised or 'when you are at home' free ranging may be the solution for you.

 

[PrettyChickens15]

Eventually a hawk will get a hen.
We have a family of 4 hawks that live on our property.
My hens have a really big covered run that they stay in if we go out of town, leave the house or see a hawk. Other wise they just free range. I have only lost one chicken to a hawk in 6 years due to our protector dog Ruby ( A lab).
I have trained my hens to come to a call so I can get them in the run fast.

 

[keesmom]

Depends on the species of hawk. The local redtails only hunt in the open. The Cooper's prefer to hunt through the trees and will pursue prey into cover.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Depends on the species of hawk. The local redtails only hunt in the open. The Cooper's prefer to hunt through the trees and will pursue prey into cover.

I won't say that a Red Tail only hunts in the open but in my experience the big red tails are more of an open country predator. They love to sit on power lines and power poles and pickoff birds and animals that fail to check out the telephone wires and poles before landing or venturing into the open. If any of you doubt that a hawk kill doesn't involve a foot race how come so many hawk kills seem to be made up against a fence or other obstacle when the Hawk obviously pens its victim against the obstacle.