Hawks

[Big Doggie]

We have the same problem. Yesterday I put my 7 week old chicks out in a temporary covered run (We only have them out for part of the day as the new coop hasn’t arrived yet). Two hawks worked in pairs. One scaring the chicks to the other side of the run and the other killing them when they got close enough. We lost 3 birds and have one injured. I chased the hawks off and brought the remaining chicks in. However, they keep coming back. My wife approached the hawks clapping her hands but they just sat there and stared at her. She took the photo then got within 6 feet before I joined in and chased them off. New coop and run arrives today. I’ll assess it when I put it together but considering adding electrification deterrent around the outside.View attachment 2242865View attachment 2242866

I noticed you have chicken fencing around your run. That stuff is virtually useless against raccoons. They rip it right down. Use 1/2” hardware cloth that is SECURELY fastened to the run frame. I use 3/4” lathe screws and I challenge any full grown man or raccoon to rip it off.

 

[David32]

We have the same problem. Yesterday I put my 7 week old chicks out in a temporary covered run (We only have them out for part of the day as the new coop hasn’t arrived yet). Two hawks worked in pairs. One scaring the chicks to the other side of the run and the other killing them when they got close enough. We lost 3 birds and have one injured. I chased the hawks off and brought the remaining chicks in. However, they keep coming back. My wife approached the hawks clapping her hands but they just sat there and stared at her. She took the photo then got within 6 feet before I joined in and chased them off. New coop and run arrives today. I’ll assess it when I put it together but considering adding electrification deterrent around the outside.View attachment 2242865View attachment 2242866

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that Euan.... I know they are very intelligent birds and working in tandem in quite impressive. Just an idea give the chicks some type of shelter inside of that small run so the hawks cant reach through the wire and get them. Heck, even if it's just a cardboard box with a hole in it for temporary shelter.

 

[centrarchid]

We have the same problem. Yesterday I put my 7 week old chicks out in a temporary covered run (We only have them out for part of the day as the new coop hasn’t arrived yet). Two hawks worked in pairs. One scaring the chicks to the other side of the run and the other killing them when they got close enough. We lost 3 birds and have one injured. I chased the hawks off and brought the remaining chicks in. However, they keep coming back. My wife approached the hawks clapping her hands but they just sat there and stared at her. She took the photo then got within 6 feet before I joined in and chased them off. New coop and run arrives today. I’ll assess it when I put it together but considering adding electrification deterrent around the outside.View attachment 2242865View attachment 2242866

That problem easy to prevent using a couple boards to block line of site for chickens and hawks. I would make so to adjacent sides are partially cover with boards so chicks can retreat to that corner to be away from where hawks can see them. Better yet the chicks be supplied with a box on it's side so they can go in there and not see hawks.

The immature Red-tailed Hawks as shown will put more effort into catching chicks.

 

[Euan]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that Euan.... I know they are very intelligent birds and working in tandem in quite impressive. Just an idea give the chicks some type of shelter inside of that small run so the hawks cant reach through the wire and get them. Heck, even if it's just a cardboard box with a hole in it for temporary shelter.

I’ll add a hideout for them today (and keep a closer eye out). Hard not to admire the intelligence of the hawks and it’s nice to know they’re keeping the snakes and chipmunks in check.

 

[centrarchid]

I’ll add a hideout for them today (and keep a closer eye out). Hard not to admire the intelligence of the hawks and it’s nice to know they’re keeping the snakes and chipmunks in check.

If the hawks were adult, then attribute what you saw to intelligence. Since immature, they just bumbled their way into a method that worked.

 

[Liesa]

Hey! We live in a very rural area area too. To prevent the hawk we stretched a net all over where the chickens are - which isn't the prettiest, yet at leas it helps a bit. We also got 2 guineas - thanks to them, I noticed a recent hawk attach where he found a small hole in the net and attacked one of our young roosters (because the guinea fowls make such noise). They where not able to keep the hawk away, though. I also heard that turkeys, once raised with the chicken, work as sort of an "alarm" so that the chickens at least have the chance to find somewhere to hide (haven't tried that though). Yet with the guineas, all the chickens hid in the barn too - unlucky that "our" strange hawk flew after them inside, which is not very typical for them.
If you don't have to opportunity to stretch nets (or at least cover some areas) I would advice you to try to give your chickens as much possibilities to hide as possible.
All the best for you

 

[cmom]

When you free range you will loose some birds sooner or later. I had a hawk come down and kill a bird that was less than 10 feet from where I was standing. It happened so fast. Another time my DH was cutting some wood on his table saw which was right next to a small temporary pen. A hawk came down and grabbed a chick and flew off with it which again happened very fast, too quick to react. Even though you may be standing right next to the birds, there is no guarantee. Now my birds all stay in their nice large safe pens which have electric wires around them as well as their coops. So far nothing has breached the electric wire. I have concrete under the pens gates and heavy duty netting over the pens. I have game cameras up so I know what is roaming. I did have an owl get through some crappy netting. When I first put the good netting up I was short so bought some online that wasn't what I thought it was and an owl went right through it and killed some birds. I moved the birds to another coop and put a camera up in that pen and the owl came back and went through a new piece of crappy netting I put up until some good netting came and I could replace it. After I replaced the netting with some good netting the owl tried again but this time got caught in the netting. DH and I did manage to get it out and into a cage and called some wildlife people who came and got it.

 

[David32]

When you free range you will loose some birds sooner or later. I had a hawk come down and kill a bird that was less than 10 feet from where I was standing. It happened so fast. Another time my DH was cutting some wood on his table saw which was right next to a small temporary pen. A hawk came down and grabbed a chick and flew off with it which again happened very fast, too quick to react. Even though you may be standing right next to the birds, there is no guarantee. Now my birds all stay in their nice large safe pens which have electric wires around them as well as their coops. So far nothing has breached the electric wire. I have concrete under the pens gates and heavy duty netting over the pens. I have game cameras up so I know what is roaming. I did have an owl get through some crappy netting. When I first put the good netting up I was short so bought some online that wasn't what I thought it was and an owl went right through it and killed some birds. I moved the birds to another coop and put a camera up in that pen and the owl came back and went through a new piece of crappy netting I put up until some good netting came and I could replace it. After I replaced the netting with some good netting the owl tried again but this time got caught in the netting. DH and I did manage to get it out and into a cage and called some wildlife people who came and got it.
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I've heard hawks can be pretty bold when it comes to humans contact and interfering with them trying to kill prey such as chickens.

 

[cmom]

I've heard hawks can be pretty bold when it comes to humans contact and interfering with them trying to kill prey such as chickens.

My pens are total area of 60ft x 200ft. I couldn't find, at the time, a large enough piece of good netting to completely cover my pens so I bought some other netting to fill in the gaps. I used zip ties to fasten the netting together. Over the years the zip ties have degraded and started to come off in places. Now I have hog rings to keep the sections of netting together. A red tail hawk found a breach and got into a pen and killed several birds mostly pullets not far from starting to lay. I had a Dr. appt. and some errands to do so I was gone for quite awhile. When I got home the birds were fussing a lot so I went out to see what was up and at first I saw the bodies of several of the birds then I saw the hawk. Apparently it found a way in but couldn't find a way out and went on a killing spree. Here are a few of the birds it killed that I managed to get out of the pen. I did manage to get the hawk out and retrieve the rest of the bodies.

 

[GonzoTheGreat]

Every case is different but I had a juvenile Cooper's hawk hanging around my yard in the spring. One day it was on the fence about 5 feet from where the hens were scratching in the landscaping, and I ran it off.

After that, we kept the ladies on lock down for a good 5-6 weeks or so. Saw that hawk a couple more times during that period, but after a while we did not see it anymore. We've started letting them free range a bit again. I've only seen a hawk twice in the past few months, circling way up high above the neighborhood. I have a lot of trees and the hens tend to scratch and dirt bathe around them, so they usually aren't out in the open. So far so good.