Hawk!

[Joken]

Our Chickens have the run of our property during the day. There is a lot of cover for the birds around the place as well as open pasture and areas around fruit trees, grapes, and the vegetable gardens. The Chickens spend most of their time under trees or other areas where they can't be seen from the air. I turned into our driveway today and the Chickens were right there having fun under a row of grapes. They like grapes. I herded them back to up to the garden near their coop and gave them a small treat. Shortly there after my wife cam out and asked where the Chickens were. We walked down to the grapes and they were there again. We were walking them back to the coop when a large Redtailed Hawk swooped down about 25 yards ahead of us and came about a foot from getting a big fat hen. I guess they will have to be out only when supervised now. Their run is 8x18 and secure but I hate to keep them in there all the time because they really like being out. Every morning when I go to let them out, they are all piled up by the gate anxious to get out. I'll have to find out if I can legally kill the Hawk as much as I hate to.

 

[Samblast]

I only really have my hens out when supervised because the hawks are so bad where I live currently. Haven’t lost any but my neighbors have. Getting out of normal enclosures does make chickens happy.

 

[Battles house]

 

[Battles house]

Sorry about your hawk. That is what I worry most about where I live too.

 

[Weeg]

Wow! That is a brave hawk! You can try these from Amazon! Is your coop and run covered? Make sure there living quarters is secure, so nothing can get in, because as soon as they get in, it is much harder of chickens to escape.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

im in a suburban subdivision with tons of houses and activity, and i don't let my small dogs out because of the hawks. I've had them land in my backyard to grab small wild birds from the feeders! So just sympathizing... they're everywhere.

 

[Weeg]

For the last link, I have never used myself. It id all manually, and I don't really know how it works but have heard great reviews on a product similar to this. Good luck getting rid of him, Avery