Hawks and fishing line - am I wasting my time?

[lynnehd]

Awww, that's too bad. And scary about how the hawk would not leave.

Was Little Buffy a bantam or a larger breed hen?

Fishing line over a big area may not be practical, I guess, unless you can line it up every 2 inches or so, nearly impossible.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hawk update:

This **** thing is watching our yard every day. I never quite see him, until I startle him out of a nearby tree, and he flaps away.
......If these Hawks are migratory, apparently 2 weeks is the magic number for them to go away. Hopefully we're starving him out.

To be clear, we have Redtails all over the place. I've watched them circle, seen them land in nearby trees, etc. we had to scare off a "window shopper" once, but never an attack until now. I am afraid he's going to keep coming around until he picks another one off - then at that point, why stop?

I've heard too many stories about people saying things like "Oh yeah, we lost 15 chickens to hawks this winter..." etc. We only have 8 (well, 7 now ) and while I understand the occasional loss is inevitable, I certainly didn't invest all this time and money into raising laying hens just so they could become a buffet for local predators.

In other words you've lost 12% of your chickens to just one hawk. Here is a link to Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania. This may help you game your hawk loses or hold them to less than 12%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawk_Mountain

Hawk-lets will be making their appearance soon and then both the papa and mama hawk will begin hunting more frequently. I doubt that hawks see mono fishing line very well because it is extensively used to capture hawks on the ground as they try to capture small live hawk bait held in a wire cage. The wires in the cage between the hawk and the bait doesn't seem to deter a hawk and neither does the tightly packed mass of mono fishing line that's purpose is to entangle a hawk's feet and talons for either banding or falconry purposes.

Hawks don't tend to drop out of the sky like meteors and snatch up your poultry. Unlike the misnamed Goshawk which is technically a falcon, real members of the hawk family are ambush hunters, who's modus operandi is to drop in from a tree top perch. That is the reason that you so often see hawks perched on road side power lines or telephone cables. See the red highlighted text above.

 

[teamjessie]

In other words you've lost 12% of your chickens to just one hawk. Here is a link to Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania. This may help you game your hawk loses or hold them to less than 12%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawk_Mountain

I do live about 90 minutes from Hawk Mtn. Forgive me for not catching on, but I don't see anything about losses or percentages on their wiki page. Are you saying you are allowed to intervene if the hawk causes substantial enough loss?

Yesterday's perpetrator was in our tree twice today...

 

[teamjessie]

Was Little Buffy a bantam or a larger breed hen?

Little Buffy was a full grown buff orpington. We called them "Little" and "Big" because one was a lot floofier than the other That also means we no longer have any laying buff orpingtons. We have one who is about 2 months old, but she's still inside. (again, this weather sucks)

 

[torilovessmiles]

I'm sorry for your loss
I, too, have a big redtail stalking my flock. They've been pinned up in the covered for a couple days because of it.
I have a couple of scarecrows I'll put up, but I feel hawks will quickly outsmart that.
A local high school put up a few plywood cutouts of dogs out of the football field to deter geese from landing there, as they often do. And it works! I wonder if that would deter a hawk, especially if I got a few and moved them around often. My chickens use to hang out around my horse, who was excellent protection for them, but we don't have him anymore. My GSD would make a great deterrent if she, herself, didn't try to kill them.
Let me know if you figure anything out, I would like to let my birds free range again. It makes them happy and really cuts down on feed costs..

 

[lynnehd]

So very sorry to hear that about Li'l Buffy!
Yikes.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

.....A local high school put up a few plywood cutouts of dogs out of the football field to deter geese from landing there, as they often do. And it works! I wonder if that would deter a hawk, especially if I got a few and moved them around often. My chickens use to hang out around my horse, who was excellent protection for them...


The dog silhouettes work for the same reason that fixed wing aircraft (geese in your example) don't attempt to land or take off on runways blocked by billboards, or covered in boulders, its dangerous to the pilot. Giant plywood cutouts of geese will also work to keep geese away for the same reason. They breakup or disturb the geese's glide path or landing pattern.

My chickens hang out with my horses for a similar reason that humans go to McDonalds, for the fast food. Meaning in the case of chickens for both the insects disturbed by the horses' hooves as well as for the semi digested warm chlorophyll.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I do live about 90 minutes from Hawk Mtn. Forgive me for not catching on, but I don't see anything about losses or percentages on their wiki page. Are you saying you are allowed to intervene if the hawk causes substantial enough loss?

Yesterday's perpetrator was in our tree twice today...

The reason I mentioned the Hawk Mountain Raptor Sanctuary is so that you can schedule your free range times to better coincide with the comings and goings (well mostly the goings) of the hawks in your neck of the woods.

 

[LipsChicks]

I've noticed a person saying you'd need to put your lines every 2 inches but that simply isn't necessary . The whole theory is for them to see the cross hatching and think they can't get out quickly.

 

[lynnehd]

I've noticed a person saying you'd need to put your lines every 2 inches but that simply isn't necessary . The whole theory is for them to see the cross hatching and think they can't get out quickly.

And that would be me!!!
However, I mentioned that it would be nearly impossible.

The OP had a Cooper's hawk penetrate her fishing line at a corner and kill an adult hen. It didn't care and was actually aggressive to them.
So cross hatching the fishing line alone was not enough.

While the it may keep out the larger raptors like Red tails or Bald eagles, the Cooper's hawks seem to be too wiley and good at slipping through small spaces and openings.

What a shame!