Hawks! How can I keep the hawks away from my chickens?

[chickypoos3]

In my experience, it would be one bird at a time.  I think eight birds at once points to some other critter(s).  The remaining birds need to be locked in their safe area until this is resolved.  There's a dog, fox, or??? at work here.  Mary

yes the more think about it I'm wondering if it's not a fox. I don't think a hawk would take eight birds at one time.

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

Get a 12 Ga. Shotgun. Start eliminating the threat. Most states have provisions for protecting your property. Even then the hawks will either stay just out of range or simply wait until you turn your back.

This will get you into federal prison, it is a federal crime to harm or capture any raptor. Hawks are raptors just like bald and golden eagles.

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

Hawks only take one at a time, it is all they can carry back to their nest. Coons, Dogs, Foxes are the most likely culprits when more than one bird is missing at a time.

 

[Sylvester017]

I use scare tape and it seems to keep away flying predators from our land area where our chickens roam.

I also use "NiteGuard" for predators. I know alot of people roll their eyes and think it is all hype and a rip off but it seems to be working for us so far. I have 2 levels of perimeter niteguard boxes on a post. It is right in front of my coop and run. We are right smack dab in the middle of forest on all sides so we have many many predators. Wolves, coyotes, skunks, porcupines, bear, deer, racoon, marten, etc. I know it has only been 5 weeks since my girls went out to the coop but so far no signs of predators trying to get in to the run/coop. My girls free range during the day but i lock em up at night. Knock on wood...but it is working so far and right now is the season all the babies have been born of the predators. I guess the theory behind the niteguard boxes is the predators think the blinking red lights are eyes so they stay away. And it can be seen a half mile away. You just have to set it up on different levels for different size predators.

I still have to figure out our snapping turtle problem though, lol.

For our yard in the evenings we have the Nite Eyes plus we keep the patio light on plus we have another motion-activated floodlight. Night predators don't seem to like lights of any kind.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Me and my husband just moved to a different part of Atlanta. At our old house out of no where we developed a serious fox problem. They got 6 of my chickens. Where we moved to, I do not think there will be any foxes and I thought there wouldn't be any predators and my chickens would be able to safely free range but I was wrong.
The other day me and my husband were outside with our 13 Cochin bantam chicks (almost full grown) letting them play in the grass. We went in to grab them a treat and when we came back around the corner the chicks had all ran under their favorite bush except for one (spicy) and she was giving her destress call. I was walking over to get her when a gigantic hawk swooped over my head and grabbed her. We were both screaming at it but it flew away with spicy and she was never to be seen again. :-( when it swooped down we were probably only 25 feet away.
I don't know what to do now. They love to come out and play, but I can only let they play right around my feet. And we are building them a larger fenced in play aria.
Is there anything I can do to keep the hawk away? Like a scar crow for hawks or something?
We still see the hawk flying around and I was curious if any of y'all have had any success with a hawk problem. Oh! And our hawk was bigger than a red tailed hawk, it had stripes and an almost 4 ft wing span! Does anyone know what kind that was?
Thanks!

I have said it before and it bares repeating, all the Migratory Bird Act has accomplished is to teach Hawks and other feathered chicken eating vermin that humans are pushovers when it comes to protecting your poultry.

 

[chickypoos3]

For our yard in the evenings we have the Nite Eyes plus we keep the patio light on plus we have another motion-activated floodlight.  Night predators don't seem to like lights of any kind.

I free range mine but now I might have to re think that. I just hate the fact of having to confine them.

 

[Sylvester017]

I free range mine but now I might have to re think that. I just hate the fact of having to confine them.

Better to confine your precious birds for a little while until you can make a larger covered pen rather than having them as free-range bait for hawks. We have a small suburban cottage backyard but still have a Cooper's Hawk issue. Most of the time the black Crows will chase off the Cooper's but it will show up sometimes for 2 or 3 days in a row in our backyard. We've free-ranged the hens in the backyard for 5 yrs and so far haven't lost a chicken to the hawk. We found out that the hens are quite smart about hiding from the hawks if we provide them plenty of doghouses and lean-to's and plants to hide/snooze under. A Cooper's can be 5-feet away from a hen but if she is in a doghouse or under a lean-to he won't go after her even if he can see her. For some reason the hawks like to swoop with talons on a running hen so we eliminated wide open areas by using lawn furniture, pop-up canopy, dog houses, lean-to's, potted plants, thorny climbing rose, and have plans for some evergreens and thorny berry bushes. There is a hiding area about every 5 feet in our yard. We and our surrounding backyard neighbors all chopped down our old tall trees to eliminate critters like raccoons, possums, feral cats, rats, mice, etc from hopping yard to yard.

Some of our hiding areas for the hens:

THE HUGE TREE IN THE BACKGROUND IS FROM THE FREEWAY AND IS A PERFECT NESTING AREA FOR COOPER'S HAWKS TO EYE OUR FLOCK. WE HAVE A CLUSTER OF POTTED PLANTS IN A CORNER OF THE YARD FOR THE HENS TO HIDE. AND ON THE RIGHT IS A LARGE DOGHOUSE (SHADOWED BY OUR RAISED GARDEN BED NET IN THE FRONT).


THE LARGE DOG HOUSE IN THE BACKYARD AND A ROW OF POTTED PLANTS THE CHICKENS HAVE USED TO HIDE BETWEEN.


DOG HOUSES COME IN HANDY ON A RAINY DAY TOO.


CHICKENS HANG OUT UNDER THIS CANOPY MOST OF THE DAY AND INSIDE THe MEDIUM DOG HOUSE WHEN HIDING/SNOOZING.


THE GIRLS ARE CHECKING OUT THE POTTED CONTAINERS - CHICKENS BROWSE THE YARD EVERY DAY TO FAMILIARIZE WHERE ALL THE GOOD HIDING PLACES ARE IN CASE A HAWK SHOWS UP.


CONTRACTORS LEFT THIS SCAFFOLDING BEHIND SO WE USED IT TO BUILD A COMBINATION BENCH FOR US AND A LEAN-TO FOR THE HENS.


ANOTHER DOG HOUSE PLACED IN THE YARD. IT SURPRISED US HOW MUCH THE HENS USE THE DOG HOUSES AROUND THE YARD.


OUR BIGGEST HEN SNOOZING IN OUR SMALLEST DOG HOUSE.


3 OF OUR ORIGINAL HENS SNOOZING UNDER THE THORNY CLIMBING ROSE BUSH - ONLY THE WHITE LEGHORN IS REALLY VISIBLE BUT THERE ARE 3 HENS RESTING UNDER THAT ROSE BUSH!


LAWN FURNITURE, CANOPIES, EVEN A TARPED FENCELINE MAKE GOOD HIDING PLACES FOR THE HENS


AN OLD PLYWOOD PIECE ON BLOCKS THAT PROVIDES SHADE AND SNOOZING/HIDING AREA NEXT TO A FENCELINE - THERE ARE 4 HENS IN THIS PHOTO - CAN YOU SPOT THEM ALL?


AN OLD WHEELBARROW HAS PROVIDED HIDING/SNOOZING AREA. 3 HENS ONCE WERE UNDER THIS 'BARROW WHEN THE COOPER'S HAWK STOOD 5-FT AWAY FROM THEM AND WOULDN'T ATTACK.


THIS GREEN TRASH BIN WAS OFTEN USED TO HIDE BEHIND.


THE LOW MAKESHIFT LEAN-TO'S ARE POPULAR DURING HEATWAVES AND THE DOG HOUSES ARE POPULAR FOR DIVING INTO WHEN THE HAWK SHOWS UP.

 

[waddles99]

Better to confine your precious birds for a little while until you can make a larger covered pen rather than having them as free-range bait for hawks. We have a small suburban cottage backyard but still have a Cooper's Hawk issue. Most of the time the black Crows will chase off the Cooper's but it will show up sometimes for 2 or 3 days in a row in our backyard. We've free-ranged the hens in the backyard for 5 yrs and so far haven't lost a chicken to the hawk. We found out that the hens are quite smart about hiding from the hawks if we provide them plenty of doghouses and lean-to's and plants to hide/snooze under. A Cooper's can be 5-feet away from a hen but if she is in a doghouse or under a lean-to he won't go after her even if he can see her. For some reason the hawks like to swoop with talons on a running hen so we eliminated wide open areas by using lawn furniture, pop-up canopy, dog houses, lean-to's, potted plants, thorny climbing rose, and have plans for some evergreens and thorny berry bushes. There is a hiding area about every 5 feet in our yard. We and our surrounding backyard neighbors all chopped down our old tall trees to eliminate critters like raccoons, possums, feral cats, rats, mice, etc from hopping yard to yard.

Some of our hiding areas for the hens:

THE HUGE TREE IN THE BACKGROUND IS FROM THE FREEWAY AND IS A PERFECT NESTING AREA FOR COOPER'S HAWKS TO EYE OUR FLOCK. WE HAVE A CLUSTER OF POTTED PLANTS IN A CORNER OF THE YARD FOR THE HENS TO HIDE. AND ON THE RIGHT IS A LARGE DOGHOUSE (SHADOWED BY OUR RAISED GARDEN BED NET IN THE FRONT).


THE LARGE DOG HOUSE IN THE BACKYARD AND A ROW OF POTTED PLANTS THE CHICKENS HAVE USED TO HIDE BETWEEN.


DOG HOUSES COME IN HANDY ON A RAINY DAY TOO.


CHICKENS HANG OUT UNDER THIS CANOPY MOST OF THE DAY AND INSIDE THe MEDIUM DOG HOUSE WHEN HIDING/SNOOZING.


THE GIRLS ARE CHECKING OUT THE POTTED CONTAINERS - CHICKENS BROWSE THE YARD EVERY DAY TO FAMILIARIZE WHERE ALL THE GOOD HIDING PLACES ARE IN CASE A HAWK SHOWS UP.


CONTRACTORS LEFT THIS SCAFFOLDING BEHIND SO WE USED IT TO BUILD A COMBINATION BENCH FOR US AND A LEAN-TO FOR THE HENS.


ANOTHER DOG HOUSE PLACED IN THE YARD. IT SURPRISED US HOW MUCH THE HENS USE THE DOG HOUSES AROUND THE YARD.


OUR BIGGEST HEN SNOOZING IN OUR SMALLEST DOG HOUSE.


3 OF OUR ORIGINAL HENS SNOOZING UNDER THE THORNY CLIMBING ROSE BUSH - ONLY THE WHITE LEGHORN IS REALLY VISIBLE BUT THERE ARE 3 HENS RESTING UNDER THAT ROSE BUSH!


LAWN FURNITURE, CANOPIES, EVEN A TARPED FENCELINE MAKE GOOD HIDING PLACES FOR THE HENS


AN OLD PLYWOOD PIECE ON BLOCKS THAT PROVIDES SHADE AND SNOOZING/HIDING AREA NEXT TO A FENCELINE - THERE ARE 4 HENS IN THIS PHOTO - CAN YOU SPOT THEM ALL?


AN OLD WHEELBARROW HAS PROVIDED HIDING/SNOOZING AREA. 3 HENS ONCE WERE UNDER THIS 'BARROW WHEN THE COOPER'S HAWK STOOD 5-FT AWAY FROM THEM AND WOULDN'T ATTACK.


THIS GREEN TRASH BIN WAS OFTEN USED TO HIDE BEHIND.


THE LOW MAKESHIFT LEAN-TO'S ARE POPULAR DURING HEATWAVES AND THE DOG HOUSES ARE POPULAR FOR DIVING INTO WHEN THE HAWK SHOWS UP.

Very informative, thank you for that post. I am currently struggling to be able to free range my girls because of hawks. Had 2 birds killed this past winter. All my flock are exhibition birds, so that means not only am I losing a pet, I am losing a bird I can't easily get another one of. They are rare and expensive. So I have them confined for the time being. I would like to let them out, so I think it would help them a lot to have all this cover. When they were killed, they had no cover at all, not even a leaf.

 

[Sylvester017]

Very informative, thank you for that post. I am currently struggling to be able to free range my girls because of hawks. Had 2 birds killed this past winter. All my flock are exhibition birds, so that means not only am I losing a pet, I am losing a bird I can't easily get another one of. They are rare and expensive. So I have them confined for the time being. I would like to let them out, so I think it would help them a lot to have all this cover. When they were killed, they had no cover at all, not even a leaf.

Our contractor has left us all his leftover lumber and plywood pieces that we will use to make more low-to-the-ground lean-to's. We have a cedar Adirondack chair we've had in a box for 15 yrs so time to bring it out and assemble it for the backyard. The contractor plans to take our scaffolding "bench" away so we need to replace it. Meanwhile we picked up another "free" doghouse on trash day in our neighborhood so that makes 5 dog houses for 4 birds now! There are prettier and expensive wood-looking dog houses but the "free" regular dog houses are working just fine for us. The dog license inspector wondered why we didn't license our dog(s) when he saw all our dog houses around the yard LOL!!! After our backyard remodel there is a lot of flat empty space so the more dog houses the better for now until we can plant some foliage.


There is a little Black Silkie inside this dog house while the other 2 hens rest "outdoors."

 

[theblondeangler]

I had a hawk trying to get my silkies for days and he was actually landing and jumping at them too. It freaked me out and they have a huge fenced area so I can't cover it all. But they also have bushes and stuff to hide under BUT.... I tied rope from several trees to make a clothes line and hung CDs or DVDs from it. I also put out 2 scarecrows and I'm going to move them every week or so and for a week I have been hawk free.

This method doesn't work for some but it works for me. It's worth a try. Hang the CDs from random trees if u can. They make so much reflection it actually makes me think I saw something out of the corner of my eye lol. But I did hang a lot of them!

Have you had problems since you did this?