hawks are wiping us out!

[centrarchid]

Generally speaking, hawks are difficult to detour with devices. You or dog are another matter.


What kind of hawk is involved?

Do you have a stall in barn to easily confine birds into?

 

[Alexia]

Confined the little ones into a cover pen and get a rooster. I saw my rooster chase away many many hawks.

 

[chigger bait]

As mentioned earlier, temporarily confine your chickens until the hawks move on. As long as they can get a guaranteed meal, they will hang around. Then get prepared as others will also move in for an easy meal.

Good Luck!

Good luck on the hawks moving on.

We have 4 different kinds of hawks that hang around here all year round and at the moment there no free range chickens for them to feed on.

Just the normal fodder they find on out in the field.

And that doesn't count the Horned and Barred Owls.

 

[shemcguire]

We think it's a redtailed hawk, but i'm not sure. I only got a glimpse of it when I disturbed it's meal in the barn last week. But yesterday afternoon I found where it had got the small chicken right behind the house, a huge pile of feathers, but nothing else, so I assume it carried it away. As for the barn, we have the door covered with mesh and hubby is going to make door for loft so hopefully nothing else will get in. This hen surprised us with these chicks, she is the only free range hen we have left and we actually thought they might make it. I've seen people on here mention shiney CD's might scare them off, might try that. :-(

 

[shemcguire]

We have caught all but the one hen and her chicks, they have survived for a couple of months.The rest don't like to stay in pen so we have them penned up in the "nursery" I like to call it hoping they will stay in. "Nursery" is a covered, smaller pen that we made to keep mommas and babies in. but we haven't been able to catch her. My hubby even saw a crow swoop in and try to grab a baby chick earlier this year from the yard. Momma put a hurting on him and he gave up. I didn't realize we needed to worry about crows!

 

[chkn]

The young ones are particular targets because they're smaller and their a little too dumb and enthusiastic. A big hawk will kill a full grown hen but you're asking for it with the teeny boppers.

 

[mohillbilly]

I have the perfect solution for hawks here , but it probably wont work for you...I have a pet wild bobcat that prefers hawk meat over anything else and when I have baby chicks running loose she is always hiding close to them, she lays in wait for any hawk to try for the babies then just before the hawk can get one of the babies she leaps and has her hawk dinner.
I found her laying in the woods when she was small and it looked like a hawk may have had a hold of her I took her to vet and had her fixed up then took her home and tended her until she was well again...only time she isn't around is when she is in heat or when she takes her babies back to the woods.

 

[Ole rooster]

Mo,,,,,,,sounds like that bobcat has a natural dislike for hawk. But if that's the case who can blame her.


For the hawk problem, I didn't know what a blessing all the crows around here would be a few years ago. Yesterday I heard 3 hawks out screaming around my chickens, but the chickens seemed unconcerned. I guess cuz the sky was dark with crows. They give those hawks fits.

 

[flowergirl60]

The crows and bluejays take care of the hawks around here.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

My geese do a pretty good job discouraging hawks or any strange bird/animal in their "patrol" area. I always keep my little ones confined to covered pens until they are mid-sized. Then I let them range in the goat pasture, which has heavy tree cover. When they are big enough they seem to follow the bigger chickens out onto the property, but I have 14 roosters, so at least each group has an escort or two. I haven't ever had a loss to a hawk: Owls on the other hand are a different story.