Hawks, Netting, Miracles, and the Missing.

[CluckNDoodle]

I’m new here in NW Alabama, but it is terrible here with the black ones. When it was still chilly in the morning they would roost in the bare trees with their wings spread. It was so creepy, there was at least 30 in the trees. I don’t see as many turkey vultures this year as I did last year. Now that I know the black ones will attack I will upgrade my defenses!

That sounds so creepy!

 

[Carolina - Chickens]

Almost the same exact thing happened to my chickens. We have a Buff Orpington and a Rhode Island red. No offense to Winifred (the Buff Orpington) but she is a really big chicken for what we expected of her breed. Clementine (he Rhode island red) is surprisingly small but is incredibly smart and somehow manages to escape her run no matter what we do. Anyway, I wasn't home but my older sister was. She told me she heard squawking and ran outside. She saw winifred who looked fine but couldn't see clementine anywhere. She ran out into the yard looking for her. Unfortunately, she left winifred lone. My sister heard squawking again ran back to winifred. There was a hawk (a red-tailed one we think) sitting on top of her trying to fly away but thankfully Winifred was too big. My sister grabbed the nearest thing she could find (a really old metal yardstick) and ran at the hawk yelling. The hawk flew away. She brought winifred inside and put her in our bathroom. Then she went around our yard looking for Clementine. She was nowhere to be found. Fearing the worst she gave up and came inside to care for winifred. She had one kind o long but thankfuly not dep laceration on her back and a bucnh of her feeathers were scattered around our yard. When I came home a few hours later clementine still hadn't shown up. I looked around the yard but couldn't find her until it was dark out. I was about to go back inside when I thought I might as well check their coop. Sure enough, Clementine had run away from the hawk and hidden somewhere where we couldn't find her until she was sure it was safe. I found her sleeping in her coop as of nothing had happened. Thankfully winifred survived but about a month later I found the two of them hiding under a bush. I looked up and there was a hawk (probably the same one) in a tree. I ran inside and grabbed a lacrosse stick just in case. The hawk flew from the tree right over where the chickens were just about two feet over my head. The hawk gave up and it hasn't come back. I'm glad you found your chicken and hope nothing like that ever happens to either one of us again.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Almost the same exact thing happened to my chickens. We have a Buff Orpington and a Rhode Island red. No offense to Winifred (the Buff Orpington) but she is a really big chicken for what we expected of her breed. Clementine (he Rhode island red) is surprisingly small but is incredibly smart and somehow manages to escape her run no matter what we do. Anyway, I wasn't home but my older sister was. She told me she heard squawking and ran outside. She saw winifred who looked fine but couldn't see clementine anywhere. She ran out into the yard looking for her. Unfortunately, she left winifred lone. My sister heard squawking again ran back to winifred. There was a hawk (a red-tailed one we think) sitting on top of her trying to fly away but thankfully Winifred was too big. My sister grabbed the nearest thing she could find (a really old metal yardstick) and ran at the hawk yelling. The hawk flew away. She brought winifred inside and put her in our bathroom. Then she went around our yard looking for Clementine. She was nowhere to be found. Fearing the worst she gave up and came inside to care for winifred. She had one kind o long but thankfuly not dep laceration on her back and a bucnh of her feeathers were scattered around our yard. When I came home a few hours later clementine still hadn't shown up. I looked around the yard but couldn't find her until it was dark out. I was about to go back inside when I thought I might as well check their coop. Sure enough, Clementine had run away from the hawk and hidden somewhere where we couldn't find her until she was sure it was safe. I found her sleeping in her coop as of nothing had happened. Thankfully winifred survived but about a month later I found the two of them hiding under a bush. I looked up and there was a hawk (probably the same one) in a tree. I ran inside and grabbed a lacrosse stick just in case. The hawk flew from the tree right over where the chickens were just about two feet over my head. The hawk gave up and it hasn't come back. I'm glad you found your chicken and hope nothing like that ever happens to either one of us again.

I'm so glad everything worked out for you as well!
It's difficult when trying to weigh the importance of enrichment with big open areas for our chickens to forage against the dangers that seem unavoidable when providing it. I'll definitely be cutting down on their acre of munching space but they tend to hang around their favorite safe zones with bushes and trees anyways so I'm trying not to feel too bad about it. I would rather not have a hawk be successful. This is the 3rd attempt this year so it's getting to be too much too often and I saw a breeding pair of red tail hawks down the road the other day so I'm sure there's more on the way....
It's going to take some time to finish our chicken fort but I'll feel much better once it's done!

 

[chippysmom]

We have a pen about 36 by 20, with the Lowe's bird netting over it. It's been there for years and the only problem with it is snow building up on it in the winter. After trying every rope and twine out there, I finally bought some fishing line , a roll at Walmart is $2 and I got the highest strength. I stretched the line across the pen every 6 ft and put the bird netting over the line. It's kept out the hawks that have killed several of our chickens, although we did "catch" a black snake that got tangled in it and died.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

We have a pen about 36 by 20, with the Lowe's bird netting over it. It's been there for years and the only problem with it is snow building up on it in the winter. After trying every rope and twine out there, I finally bought some fishing line , a roll at Walmart is $2 and I got the highest strength. I stretched the line across the pen every 6 ft and put the bird netting over the line. It's kept out the hawks that have killed several of our chickens, although we did "catch" a black snake that got tangled in it and died.

The fishing line helps to support the netting? That's an awesome tip! Thank you!!

 

[Vicker]

I've used giant rolls of netting on smaller outdoor runs. Now I have a mobile coop that I move around too often to mess with the netting. My husband built a low shelter that they can run under when they spot a hawk. It's basically a piece of metal roofing on short legs. The only bird I've lost with this system was when one lingered too long outside the coop one evening and was taken by an owl.

 

[BiddyBiddy]

I free range all of my chickens but because the hawks have been so active this year I'm going to be building an extended run that isn't necessarily as predator proof as my main coop and run but something I could put a net over to prevent hawk attacks and still allow a semi-free-range scenario. Does anyone know what kind of netting would work best for this? It's still going to be a large area so something wide and inexpensive would be nice.

View attachment 1756961
So my suspense-filled story for today isn't yet a happy ending but I thought I would share why I'm in such a tizzy and why fake owl statues, shiny object, and string just aren't going to cut it! The 5 above chicks were recently integrated into the flock and the worst happened this morning...a hawk struck. I ran out to check when I heard the warning signal from a hen and I watched as a hawk flew away with my little Blue Copper Marans. It dropped the baby somewhere in the woods and I searched for a while for what I was sure would be a body and I searched even longer for the other 4 missing chicks. No luck. I've locked up all of the other hens and chicks but even after circling the yard several times I couldn't find those 5 chicks! When making another pass around the yard because I was sure that once the danger had passed I would see the other chicks emerging from hiding...well, to my surprise I saw my little Blue Marans running toward me! The sweet baby is in just as much shock as I am, he clearly used his last semblance of sanity to run to me because he hasn't moved an inch since I brought him inside. His eye is scratched and has a wound on his back, but otherwise, I believe he's just very shaken. He's in a nice cozy, low light box to recover in with some vitamin water and wet crumble. Once he's had some time to rest I'm going to treat his wounds but fortunately, I think he's very very lucky and nothing looks terrible as long as he recovers from the shock.
So now I'm sunburned and still hunting for the other 4 chicks. Wish me luck! I'm very attached to my chickens...
UPDATE: I found the other 4 peeps! They're all perfectly fine! So now I can focus my efforts on helping this poor little marans chick and building a fortress.
View attachment 1756963

I also have tons of hawks in my area. I have a 50’ x 50’ open air fenced run with aviary netting covering the top for my backyard flock of 10 hens and 3 little silkie roos. It’s thwarted 6 hawk attacks that I’ve seen myself and who knows how many others when I wasn’t around. It’s worked great for me so far. It’s a black net that I got from Amazon for around $50. It was an ordeal to put up especially since I have several large pine trees I had to attach it to and surround with it, but I did it by myself. I’m sure it would have been a piece of cake if I had help. So far it’s survived 2 winters with mild to moderate snow and ice with no problems. I feel it was DEFINITELY worth it!

 

[mesalina87]

I am so happy to hear the lost have been found and the little one recovers quickly. I bought a commercial bird netting and put over my coop and run last year. I had a Bald Eagle take my 2 golden laced wyanadottes. They are protected so you can't harm them.

 

[kraftykrow]

Hawks are my biggest fear. It's my first time raising chickens this year and I know last year there was a pair of hawks living in the neighbor's tree. I'd found some dead bird carcasses from time to time. I went the more expensive route (lack of time to put up fencing before they outgrow the attached run to their coop) and bought a heavy duty 10x10 dog kennel and will cover the top with green vinyl wired fencing. Have some left over from surrounding the main run. Like to see them get through that!

And yes, as already stated, can't kill hawks. I never could anyway. They're wonder birbs. Just have to be one step ahead of them

 

[NapaChicknGal]

I free range all of my chickens but because the hawks have been so active this year I'm going to be building an extended run that isn't necessarily as predator proof as my main coop and run but something I could put a net over to prevent hawk attacks and still allow a semi-free-range scenario. Does anyone know what kind of netting would work best for this? It's still going to be a large area so something wide and inexpensive would be nice.

View attachment 1756961
So my suspense-filled story for today isn't yet a happy ending but I thought I would share why I'm in such a tizzy and why fake owl statues, shiny object, and string just aren't going to cut it! The 5 above chicks were recently integrated into the flock and the worst happened this morning...a hawk struck. I ran out to check when I heard the warning signal from a hen and I watched as a hawk flew away with my little Blue Copper Marans. It dropped the baby somewhere in the woods and I searched for a while for what I was sure would be a body and I searched even longer for the other 4 missing chicks. No luck. I've locked up all of the other hens and chicks but even after circling the yard several times I couldn't find those 5 chicks! When making another pass around the yard because I was sure that once the danger had passed I would see the other chicks emerging from hiding...well, to my surprise I saw my little Blue Marans running toward me! The sweet baby is in just as much shock as I am, he clearly used his last semblance of sanity to run to me because he hasn't moved an inch since I brought him inside. His eye is scratched and has a wound on his back, but otherwise, I believe he's just very shaken. He's in a nice cozy, low light box to recover in with some vitamin water and wet crumble. Once he's had some time to rest I'm going to treat his wounds but fortunately, I think he's very very lucky and nothing looks terrible as long as he recovers from the shock.
So now I'm sunburned and still hunting for the other 4 chicks. Wish me luck! I'm very attached to my chickens...
UPDATE: I found the other 4 peeps! They're all perfectly fine! So now I can focus my efforts on helping this poor little marans chick and building a fortress.
View attachment 1756963

I free range all of my chickens but because the hawks have been so active this year I'm going to be building an extended run that isn't necessarily as predator proof as my main coop and run but something I could put a net over to prevent hawk attacks and still allow a semi-free-range scenario. Does anyone know what kind of netting would work best for this? It's still going to be a large area so something wide and inexpensive would be nice.

View attachment 1756961
So my suspense-filled story for today isn't yet a happy ending but I thought I would share why I'm in such a tizzy and why fake owl statues, shiny object, and string just aren't going to cut it! The 5 above chicks were recently integrated into the flock and the worst happened this morning...a hawk struck. I ran out to check when I heard the warning signal from a hen and I watched as a hawk flew away with my little Blue Copper Marans. It dropped the baby somewhere in the woods and I searched for a while for what I was sure would be a body and I searched even longer for the other 4 missing chicks. No luck. I've locked up all of the other hens and chicks but even after circling the yard several times I couldn't find those 5 chicks! When making another pass around the yard because I was sure that once the danger had passed I would see the other chicks emerging from hiding...well, to my surprise I saw my little Blue Marans running toward me! The sweet baby is in just as much shock as I am, he clearly used his last semblance of sanity to run to me because he hasn't moved an inch since I brought him inside. His eye is scratched and has a wound on his back, but otherwise, I believe he's just very shaken. He's in a nice cozy, low light box to recover in with some vitamin water and wet crumble. Once he's had some time to rest I'm going to treat his wounds but fortunately, I think he's very very lucky and nothing looks terrible as long as he recovers from the shock.
So now I'm sunburned and still hunting for the other 4 chicks. Wish me luck! I'm very attached to my chickens...
UPDATE: I found the other 4 peeps! They're all perfectly fine! So now I can focus my efforts on helping this poor little marans chick and building a fortress.
View attachment 1756963