Hawks and the damage they do.

[Patricia Jane]

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My bad. I was picturing more of an open top with hardware wire not tarped. And somehow missed the part of free ranging. Now I got it. Thanks for the explination.

 

[RHRanch]

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I too am in a rural area. The reason penning can be effective is because it forces the hawk to seek out other prey options. Furthermore, many hawks are migrating from territory to territory during various parts of the year, so pennning up the chickens is basically giving them less reason to stay around. How long you have to pen, varies. i pen when a hawk is using my property, be it roosting (hunting) and/or flying around my pens. Usually they move on within days.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

Weary is a good word for it. I have a young red- taik hawk who shows up several times a day so I can't let my girls out unless I'm right there and even then the hawk will sometimes roost on a nearby branch and ignore my flailing until I start throwing things.

I don't think they care about crows as our property is crow central and hawks abound.

Some people say dangling shiny CD's from fishing wire will intimidate them. Others make elaborate fishing wire overhangs to keep the hawks from diving at the flock. But out in the open,I dunno. A rooster would help, some say. I don't know if a guard dog would make difference.

I used to marvel at the beauty of hawks but since I got chickens, they are my un-favorite creatures.

 

[Judy]

I've read a number of times of people building small structures for cover, like the pallet on blocks someone mentioned, or two sheets of plywood in a teepee sort of setup.

We used to see a lot of hawks, then a lot of crows showed up, and now a hawk is a rare sight. We have annual weeds that grow maybe 7' tall and the chickens use them for cover.

 

[redsoxs]

It's illegal to shoot the hawks but is it illegal to shoot? Maybe the noise of a few well-timed shot gun blasts toward (not at) the hawks would give them enough encouragement to take it on down the road????

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

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Or you could shoot the hawks and keep real quiet about it

 

[spacecowgirl]

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Or you could shoot the hawks and keep real quiet about it

X2 !!!

 

[ranchhand]

The penalty of jail time and a fine that starts at $5000.00 isn't worth it. You would both be surprised at how many people USF&W catches each year. Even the SSS folks get caught often.

To the OP, I think numerous shelters in the pasture is your best bet.

 

[Ogress]

I have about 30 hens and 8 roosters that I let free-range in a fenced yard with a small orchard and some heavily wooded areas. We are in the mountains surrounded by forest. I was losing my cats and chickens to raccoons, bobcats, hawks, and other predators. last October, I built a large dog-run in the center of the yard and put 2 large dogs in it. The run is attached to the garden shed so the dogs can get out of the weather. I have not lost a chicken while the dogs are out there. If they happen to be in the shed, any squaking sends the dogs running to check out the commotion. I once brought both my dogs into the house to bathe them, and I lost a hen in the short time the dogs were not standing guard.

 

[pjknust]

I have 2 dogs that are inside most of the time. However, I have seen hawks fly over and my one dog goes NUTS when he sees the hawk. Never lost a chicken to one. Have lost close to one hundred feral cats the past year. Not sure what happened to them.
Dogs will protect your yard even when they are inside, their scent is still there. my hens free range in my fenced back yard all day long.

pam in TX