Hawks and how to stop them!

[chickengeorgeto]

Have not experienced this first-hand but the advice of our feed store is to keep guinea hens as part of your flock. I guess those big scary birds lurking around are suppose to make the hawk think twice?
I assume this was as part of a free-range flock.

The noise the guineas create in this video looks like it irritates the hawk like for maybe 10 seconds.
That is a new worlds record for a flock of guineas deterring a chicken hawk.

 

[spainterrd]

That sounds like the scenario we've had the past two mornings. Have you had a change in the past month?

 

[RedRidge]

These may not look like hawk deterrents yet, but their parents sure are...
I haven't lost any livestock since I have had maremma...

 

[centrarchid]

The noise the guineas create in this video looks like it irritates the hawk like for maybe 10 seconds.
That is a new worlds record for a flock of guineas deterring a chicken hawk.

I have not seen like shown in video with my birds for a very long time. These days now that I am getting back up and running, if a hawk had a hen down like that, a rooster would be very quick to flog the hawk which could not defend itself so long as hen was occupying talons. The flogging would be a very violent affair for the hawk. My dogs would also go after hawk with a lot of aggression in their attack. Notice how hawk is constantly looking around. It appears to be scanning for threats to itself and protecting its eyes at same time. Hawk so engaged is at great risk from ground predators like fox or coyote and aerial predators here like Great-Horned Owl. Other red-tails will sometimes also fight over catch which is kind of funny to see. They sit in their tails and grab each others feet and scream a lot. I have seen Coopers Hawks do similar fighting over a pigeon carcass where they role around on grass like a couple of tom cats.

 

[happyfrenchman]

There is no way that hawk could have loitered on the ground like that, if my old Rhode Island Red was on the scene... he would have mauled that hawk... On the ground

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The noise the guineas create in this video looks like it irritates the hawk like for maybe 10 seconds.
That is a new worlds record for a flock of guineas deterring a chicken hawk.

Ain't it the truth?

Keeping Guinea fowl was never meant to deter a chicken hawk attack, not for even a second but instead Guinea fowl are intended to be a trip wire to alert the chickens' owner who is expected to show up at the scene of the crime carrying a loaded L.C. Smith shotgun at high port arms.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

We have a family of hawks living in our pasture..... Nothing works to get rid of them.....

A family of hawks brings to mind a nest of hawks. A nest of hawks nest brings to mind a tree. I bet that if you have a nest of hawks living in a tree growing in your pasture that a chain saw will work quite nicely thank you at encouraging the hawks to move on.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Alot of hawks out there today... there were a pair of them and they were trying to get into the trees around my place. The chickens saw them and then the hawks saw me trying to get close and they flew off. But tomorrow I will be at work... it will be up to the rooster and my dogs...Part of my yard is heavily wooded and I have alot of heavy test fishing line strung between the trees at about 10 feet up as well... makes it hard to just fly in.

My hawk strategy is to try to make it unappealing... too risky for them. Encourage them to go elsewhere for an easier, safer meal. Dogs, guns, a rooster, alot of obstructed approaches... alot of shrubbery... still, if they are determined enough, I am sure they could probably score. But there is no way it could stay for long to enjoy it's meal. Which is another part of the overall strategy to make it unappealing.

 

[tlpounds]

Not that I have done it but there is a thing called the
3-S's

Shoot
Shovel
Shut up

As my hubby says "We have guns and a backhoe."

 

[MelissaTXRn]

Sometimes you have to protect your own!!!!!

 
Not that I have done it but there is a thing called the
3-S's

Shoot
Shovel
Shut up

As my hubby says "We have guns and a backhoe."