Hawks

[RobC123]

I want to let my chickens free range all day but I have a lot of hawks that fly above . Is there any way I can let them out all day without me being outside with them ? I heard about a fake owl but i don’t know if it actually works . Please let me know!

 

[cmom]

Fake owls don't work. If you free range your birds you will eventually loose some birds once they are discovered. It's a risk you take free ranging. Predators lurk and look for opportunities. I have lost birds from several different predators in the past. Now I have nice large pens for my birds. @aart has a picture in her BYC album of a hawk on top of an owl statue.

 

[RobC123]

Fake owls don't work. If you free range your birds you will eventually loose some birds once they are discovered. It's a risk you take free ranging. Predators lurk and look for opportunities. I have lost birds from several different predators in the past. Now I have nice large pens for my birds. @aart has a picture in her BYC album of a hawk on top of an owl statue.

If I were to only put out the fake owl when I let them out for a couple hours do you think it would work ?

 

[cmom]

No. If they want a bird they will take it. Not long ago I had a hawk get into a pen and killed several birds. I have my netting that covers the pens up in sections I zip tied together. Some of the ties deteriorated and came off and left a gap that apparently the hawk found. These are a few of the birds the hawk killed, mostly pullets that weren't far from starting to lay. I have since put hog rings holding the sections together.

 

[centrarchid]

I want to let my chickens free range all day but I have a lot of hawks that fly above . Is there any way I can let them out all day without me being outside with them ? I heard about a fake owl but i don’t know if it actually works . Please let me know!

For short term I would restrict free-range time to later in the day to reduce time chickens vulnerable to daytime raptors as well as reduce distance they move from safety of coop.

With adult chickens I have very little trouble with hawks. Part of that involves cover patches the chickens can retreat to when threatened. The approaches do not stop all losses, rather they keep losses at acceptable levels. Losses do effectively increase your feed bill so enter that into your calculations.

Could you show pictures of your place where chickens will be foraging?

 

[gtaus]

I live on a lake and always have eagles and hawks overhead. I cannot free range my chickens without the expectation of loss. So I built a nice sized chicken run with bird netting on the top. So far, that has kept the eagles and hawks from attacking my birds.

Instead of free ranging my hens and exposing them to certain danger, I keep them in their bird netting covered run and dump grass clippings from mowing the lawn. So I essentially bring the range to them.

I once saw a YouTube video where some lady was supervising free ranging her chickens. A hawk came out of nowhere, only about 5 feet away from her, and attacked her chickens. I guess a hungry hawk is not too afraid of people and will attack if given an opening. I don't have much faith in fake owls on poles either.

I would love to free range my chickens, but I don't feel guilty at all for keeping them enclosed in a chicken run with bird netting overhead to protect them. Where I live, people who free range their chickens are called former chicken owners.

 

[Folly's place]

Free ranging chickens includes loosing one, or more, at times. Hawks can be the least of it! A raptor may take one bird, and return in a couple of days for another. Foxes, dogs, and coyotes, for example, can wipe out the whole flock in an hour out there!
Having a safe coop and run is necessary, even if you do free range sometimes, for all the times when a predator has visited, and the survivors must be locked in, sometimes for weeks.
Generally the birds killed will be your favorites too.
If losses aren't something you want to consider, free ranging will be a bad idea for your flock.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Almost all our losses to hawks have been either younger smaller birds, or bantams, not mature standard sized chickens. We have lots of cover for the flock when they are outside, which helps. Once we had a larger hen injured, not killed outright, who had severe lacerations and couldn't survive.
Our major hawk visitations have been from Cooper's hawks, and once a red tailed hawk. There are bald eagles and peregrins here, but not many, and no issues from them.
Mary

 

[Guernsy]

Free ranging chickens includes loosing one, or more, at times. Hawks can be the least of it! A raptor may take one bird, and return in a couple of days for another. Foxes, dogs, and coyotes, for example, can wipe out the whole flock in an hour out there!
Having a safe coop and run is necessary, even if you do free range sometimes, for all the times when a predator has visited, and the survivors must be locked in, sometimes for weeks.
Generally the birds killed will be your favorites too.
If losses aren't something you want to consider, free ranging will be a bad idea for your flock.
Mary

I am about 5 months into my first year of chickens. I have 4 ducks and 10 chickens. They have a coop with run, but they are happier outside. Today, I let the ducks out first (because they are so loud in the am). When I came back to let the chickens out, there was a hawk sitting on the powerline watching down on my ducks. The ducks were hiding under the trampoline. I have a lot of sun umbrellas and a large trampoline out in our yard. Yet, I got scared and did not let the chickens out today. They are mad at me now. I googled and the internet did say to put up owls and shiny tape. I was just about to order owls when I read your posts. Interesting that owls are not working. So what am I supposed to do. The chickens are rather large now and I think the run is too small for 10 and 4 ducks (12x6). Is there a time in the day when the hawk sleeps and it would be safe for the chickens to come out? Since I have fat chickens, would he maybe not be able to catch them? How about the ducks? They are loud, wouldn't they scare a hawk away? Sorry, I am really frustrated about this hawk. Thanks

 

[Folly's place]

Chickens, and ducks, are on many menus out there, and predator protection is your job as the flock owner. Having enough safe space for them all is necessary!
We started with chickens decades ago, and had many losses to predators, until we got things together to protect our flock most of the time. Free ranging is great, and you will have losses, sometimes one, sometimes everyone.
Mary