Hawk

[willowbranchfarm]

OP, if you are worried, leave the chickens in a pen with a cover any time you are not there to watch the chickens. The hawk can't kill them if he can't reach them.

The majority of breeds of hawk do not kill chickens, but unless you are sure about what is in the neighborhood, keep your chickens covered and then you won't lose any of them if you happen to have one of the large hawks that will take a chicken on. Then while the hawk is not getting your birds, he will be doing an excellent job for your benefit of eliminating mice, squirrels, and sparrows.

If your birds are loose when no one is home to watch them, you are very likely to lose them, hawk or not. There are many creatures out there that like to eat chicken and will take advantage of unprotected poultry..

Thanks for the advice. They are never loose when Im not home.

 

[Kikiriki]

He was not my dog when he did it....and the owners heard a ruckus, ran into the barn, and caught the end of the chase as he was snatching it out of the air inside their barn. If he is protecting the farm animals from predation then he is doing his job, regardless of what animal is the predator. There was no way for them to have stopped him, and he is not a bird dog trained to drop the bird he caught on command. If I came home to find a hawk carcass in my yard, I would praise him for protecting the chickens, and it would not even make a dent in the local hawk population. I will not go after a hawk, and have discouraged others from doing so, but I also will not protect a hawk stupid enough to get caught by a dog.

 

[RedneckGurl]

In many states (Alabama is one) it is completely legal to kill any predator if it is in the act of killing your livestock - be it a raptor or otherwise. HOWEVER, that is the STATE law. Federal law says it is a crime to shoot ANY raptor because, as a bird of prey, it is a protected species.

That being the case, you have a choice to make. If you know your state law says you CAN kill the predator and you live in an area where your actions are either not going to be witnessed or might be witnessed but by a person or persons who don't care to make the complaint, go with your instinct, take care of the problem either with a gun or a dog, keep your mouth shut, and bury the evidence. If you aren't comfortable with that scenario, then the suggestion is to keep your flock in protected circumstances at all times when they are unsupervised and if you want to let them free range, never leave them alone and keep your fingers crossed that you can scare away any hawk that shows too much interest.