Hawks

[LizzzyJo]

Your best bet is a covering, the next is a dog. If you’ll use a decoy then be sure to move it nearly daily. Hawks are super smart.

 

[Penelope59]

There’s really nothing that can completely stop a hawk from getting chickens while free ranging. That’s why I chose not to free range. At my old place a red tailed hawk swooped to try and get a chicken with me and my bigger dog right next to them. I decided to just build my chickens a large predator proof run to keep them in as they are pets to me and I don’t want to lose any. Free ranging comes with risk and it’s just a matter of when something will happen. Many people free range and accept the loss, others only free range supervised and even then things happen.

Exactly what my husband said with free ranging. A hawk will swoop down for prey even with humans near by. Guess I will not let them free range any longer. I can’t stand the thoughts of losing any. Their run is large and protected with plenty of room to move around.
I did enjoy seeing them forage for worms, bugs, etc….and they loved it, too.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Exactly what my husband said with free ranging. A hawk will swoop down for prey even with humans near by. Guess I will not let them free range any longer. I can’t stand the thoughts of losing any. Their run is large and protected with plenty of room to move around.
I did enjoy seeing them forage for worms, bugs, etc….and they loved it, too.

I am a huge advocate for free ranging. I’d rather live a short free life than one confined. I don’t know your situation, but I would urge you to think about it. Maybe they can free range an hour before sunset? With supervision? Maybe there’s a balance?

 

[5Australorpasaures]

All my owl decoy did yrs ago was attract a murder of crows and crows too will go after chicks.

 

[centrarchid]

I free-range and seldom loose chickens to hawks. I use a combination of cover patches, standard-sized chickens and adult roosters as well as free-range dogs.

The hawks here do not pop out of nowhere as the chickens typically see the hawk more often than not even before the attack run starts. More often than not the chickens stand their ground and begin giving warning vocalization for hawk that I think is also a form of communication directed at the hawk. Sometimes the chickens will tighten up the social grouping to form a more unified front. Sometimes they will drift to cover to stand ground there.

In the relatively infrequent events where the hawk does make an attack run, the chickens have two pathways to protect themselves. The first is to run or even fly to cover. To be clear, cover is something the hawk cannot fly through while flapping wings. When the hawk is targeting a smaller chicken, which is almost always the case, then a larger chicken (mother hen or harem master rooster) will become much braver once the hawk is on the ground or not flying. More often the not, if a chicken decides to go on the attack, odds are already heavily in the chicken's favor. On more than one occasion I have actually saved Coopers Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks from a broody hen that had hawk "against the ropes" and no longer able to fight back in the face of flogging. It is also easy to find videos of same on internet although most of those appear to be staged.

Where my chickens have gotten into trouble is where chicks are not protected by hen or juveniles / hens not protected by a rooster. The hawks appear hardwired for going after the smaller chickens when a size range is available. Red-tailed Hawks have been a problem when I free-range juveniles or hen only groups. Then the chickens will often try to burrow into cover and sit there for hours before coming out to roost.

Where the dogs come in is when the chickens, especially one being mantled by a hawk, is screaming and dogs hearing that rush over to see what is going on. Owing to my past encouragement my dogs go after hawks and even low flying vultures and bald eagles in a big way. So far, the dogs have yet to capture a hawk although I think a couple of my dogs would kill one if they got close enough to bite it. My dominant female dog would almost certainly do the deed.

When doing the chicks / juveniles bit I have been limiting free-range time while I was out doing yardwork. I will not just stand and watch when hawk comes in.

 

[Shadrach]

There really isn't much you can do about hawks if the chickens free range.
What the chickens need is cover and time, maybe a couple of generations or more to learn how to evade the hawks. They do learn, but the learning can be hard on them and the keeper.

Large bushes, bamboo clumps, some fruit bushes and hedgerows if dense enough make good cover
centrachid has trained his dogs and that is a long term undertaking.
Roosters, they'll warn, but not usually fight until after the hawk has struck if at all. If that was a full on strike from a Goshawk for example then the target chicken, if not dead from the impact, is likely to have internal injuries that will kill them eventually.

If you are looking at the long term and plan to let the hens that go broody sit and hatch then the local knowledge gets taught to the next generation.
So the decision to free range should be considered with respect to the suitability of the environment the chickens range range in more than any other factor and then to your commitment to keeping chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

There really isn't much you can do about hawks if the chickens free range.
What the chickens need is cover and time, maybe a couple of generations or more to learn how to evade the hawks. They do learn, but the learning can be hard on them and the keeper.

Large bushes, bamboo clumps, some fruit bushes and hedgerows if dense enough make good cover
centrachid has trained his dogs and that is a long term undertaking.
Roosters, they'll warn, but not usually fight until after the hawk has struck if at all. If that was a full on strike from a Goshawk for example then the target chicken, if not dead from the impact, is likely to have internal injuries that will kill them eventually.

If you are looking at the long term and plan to let the hens that go broody sit and hatch then the local knowledge gets taught to the next generation.
So the decision to free range should be considered with respect to the suitability of the environment the chickens range range in more than any other factor and then to your commitment to keeping chickens.

I'm going to play hard ball because it needs to be done. The RESIDENT hawk can kill a chicken once in a while, but if it learns a given location has too much risk, then it will go after easier prey even if in the same area. Its not just about saving one chicken and most of the killing the chicken by a single blow is bunk. Sometimes, yes but very far from the rule.

The learning on the chicken side does not require generations.

 

[David61]

I scare hawks off. I have a netted run and free range if i'm out in the yard with them. I catch them eyeballing form a tree every now and then. They don't come back most of the time. If i scare the off the third time thats SSS.

 

[Krugerrand]

We had our first encounter with a hawk while our chickens were free ranging, today. Luckily, I stepped outside just in time or we would be missing one or more of our girls. I must say it was quite unnerving.
Has anyone tried using an owl decoy placed on top of the run? Or any other tips?
Until then, they will no longer free range unless I’m outside with them.

My understanding is that these are not too effective.

 

[centrarchid]

I scare hawks off. I have a netted run and free range if i'm out in the yard with them. I catch them eyeballing form a tree every now and then. They don't come back most of the time. If i scare the off the third time thats SSS.

Jail bound with a fine