I have many hawks around my property. The first day I moved my chickens to their first outside run I was adjusting the birds netting over the run when suddenly a hawk swooped down at my chickens just feet from me and then got caught in the nets for a few secounds and flew away. Then I got thicker bolder looking plastic chicken netting instead so no hawks would get caught in it. Then squirrels kept knawing their way in so I got metal chicken wire but that didn't stop them. After my neighbors dog or a fox dug it's way in and killed the whole flock we started on a new set up on a different part of the property.
Closer to the house my husband built a shed-like coop and we attached a chainlink dog run to it. We put metal chicken wire on top too. There are 1 foot square cement slabs around the base of the run so no one can dig in or out. In our new flock of chickens we were sure to get a Jersey Giant rooster in hopes he might help protect the chickens or at least make enough noise so we'd know there was trouble and to go help the flock. Oh he lets us know alright.. he lets us know when anything goes near the coop. He crows when he sees people, birds, butterflies, bats, rain or wind!
Squirrels are in and out of the thing daily and the stupid rooster who occasionally attacks me for whatever reason
seems to fear them which has resulted is us having a group of about 8 morbidly obese squirrels and higher chicken feed costs. I tried squirrls repellant sprays and such but they did nothing. I've given up trying to keep them out of my coop. Maybe they will get so fat they won't be able to fit through the chain link one day.
Hawks circle the hen house and run from time to time but were never an issue untill recently when I let the chickens out to free range (They get 1-3 hours a day.) Less than 1 minutes after I opened the gate and walked into the house to wash my hands I looked out the window and saw a hawk fly by with my Barred Rock chicken in her clutches. I ran outside and all the chickens were hysterical. I shooed them into the coop and shut the gate and door so it was quiet and looked all over the woods in the direction I saw the hawk fly as I listened for my chicken. I was in tears on my cell telling my husband what hapened when suddenly I found my chicken coming from the woods of my nextdoor neighbors property. Her chicken saddle/apron was unsnapped on one side and falling off the other but other then that she was reasonably okay. We figure the hawk grabbed her by the back and when the buckel came undone the hawk accidently dropped her. (She was also probably a bit too big a load for the chicken hawk to carry too.) I guess she must have fallen. Pretty cool huh!
I also have trouble with my neighbors darn cats. She keeps adobting "barn cats" from some cat horrder. Then she lets them loose in her yard thinking they will keeps pests out of her horse barn but the only result has been in that at least 6 of them live in my barn and garage and they are getting pregnant and having kittens like crazy. I am always finding the cats near the coop. I once caught a cat about 1 sec. from pouncing on one of my hens when I had the free ranging. I tried to scare it off but I ended up scaring teh chicken more and then the cat ignored me and went after the chicken who ran to safety just in time.
Now I never let the chickens out unless I'm nearby outside to supervise.
Oh and recently I got a zillion voles (they are like mice and moles) who keep burrowing around the coop. Taking the food away at night didn't help because there are always corm crumbs and such. I worry if I poison them they may die in the coop and then kill my chickens who might nibble on their bodies. I stamps on their tunnels everyday and sometimes I blast the them with the hose. It really doesn't help though.
I have no ideas left to use against the preditors. I feel like I have tried everything. I'm thinking I need to cave and just go ahead and get some electric netting and zap the heck out of these critters for a while. It'd be such a pain in the butt and wallet to go that route so I'm open to any sudjestions.
Closer to the house my husband built a shed-like coop and we attached a chainlink dog run to it. We put metal chicken wire on top too. There are 1 foot square cement slabs around the base of the run so no one can dig in or out. In our new flock of chickens we were sure to get a Jersey Giant rooster in hopes he might help protect the chickens or at least make enough noise so we'd know there was trouble and to go help the flock. Oh he lets us know alright.. he lets us know when anything goes near the coop. He crows when he sees people, birds, butterflies, bats, rain or wind!
Squirrels are in and out of the thing daily and the stupid rooster who occasionally attacks me for whatever reason
seems to fear them which has resulted is us having a group of about 8 morbidly obese squirrels and higher chicken feed costs. I tried squirrls repellant sprays and such but they did nothing. I've given up trying to keep them out of my coop. Maybe they will get so fat they won't be able to fit through the chain link one day.
Hawks circle the hen house and run from time to time but were never an issue untill recently when I let the chickens out to free range (They get 1-3 hours a day.) Less than 1 minutes after I opened the gate and walked into the house to wash my hands I looked out the window and saw a hawk fly by with my Barred Rock chicken in her clutches. I ran outside and all the chickens were hysterical. I shooed them into the coop and shut the gate and door so it was quiet and looked all over the woods in the direction I saw the hawk fly as I listened for my chicken. I was in tears on my cell telling my husband what hapened when suddenly I found my chicken coming from the woods of my nextdoor neighbors property. Her chicken saddle/apron was unsnapped on one side and falling off the other but other then that she was reasonably okay. We figure the hawk grabbed her by the back and when the buckel came undone the hawk accidently dropped her. (She was also probably a bit too big a load for the chicken hawk to carry too.) I guess she must have fallen. Pretty cool huh!
I also have trouble with my neighbors darn cats. She keeps adobting "barn cats" from some cat horrder. Then she lets them loose in her yard thinking they will keeps pests out of her horse barn but the only result has been in that at least 6 of them live in my barn and garage and they are getting pregnant and having kittens like crazy. I am always finding the cats near the coop. I once caught a cat about 1 sec. from pouncing on one of my hens when I had the free ranging. I tried to scare it off but I ended up scaring teh chicken more and then the cat ignored me and went after the chicken who ran to safety just in time.
Now I never let the chickens out unless I'm nearby outside to supervise.
Oh and recently I got a zillion voles (they are like mice and moles) who keep burrowing around the coop. Taking the food away at night didn't help because there are always corm crumbs and such. I worry if I poison them they may die in the coop and then kill my chickens who might nibble on their bodies. I stamps on their tunnels everyday and sometimes I blast the them with the hose. It really doesn't help though.
I have no ideas left to use against the preditors. I feel like I have tried everything. I'm thinking I need to cave and just go ahead and get some electric netting and zap the heck out of these critters for a while. It'd be such a pain in the butt and wallet to go that route so I'm open to any sudjestions.
The other benefit is that they look quite silly and you get to deal with neighbors who think you are some crazy woman 
