Hawks $%^% &^%%!!!!

[feather and mountain man]

So Saturday we were out on the deck, grilling and having a wonderful time. Then all of the sudden we hear a big crash and cackeling like crazy! Look over and there is a hawk laying on the ground next to the chicken pen. It hops up and looks around. I yelled out get out of here. It flew off. It scare me to death. It flew into the chicken wire and fell down. It dented my wire hense and broke one fastener. We use black coated wire and I guess he couldn't see it. It was kinda funny but I hope it doesn't come back. the chickens are very goosie today.

 

[CMV]

I'm glad to hear you didn't lose any. Bad time of year for hawks. I have had one trolling my birds for a while, but my birds are wise to hawks so I don't worry too much about them. They are sly, crafty, big and bold, and they have great guardians. Hawks don't bother them generally. My neighbors just lost a young pullet, though.

 

[TurtleFeathers]

Oh, he'll be back. I'd bet money on it.

Thursday evening when I locked up at sundown, I found two dead hens in one pen. Friday night I found another dead hen in another pen. Had NO CLUE what I was dealing with - that is, until this afternoon, when I went out to collect eggs and caught a Coopers Hawk red handed, having yet another one of my hens for lunch in still another pen.

That's four dead hens in three different pens in the last four days. So you see, once they figure out where food is plentiful, they'll return - so be prepared! I know I am, now that I've figured out who the culprit is.

Good luck!

 

[feather and mountain man]

Well he knocked the snot out of himself so I hope it was enough to keep him from trying again. He hit really hard. I am going to be working on the pen this week. I also saw a bald eagle scoping things out today. So I have got to get busy. My hens don't get out of the run in the winter since we have alot of cyotes around and in the winter they will actually come in the yard.

It was facinating to see the redtail hawk bouncing off the pen and landing on its back. I love wildlife but I don't want to share my chickens.

 

[feather and mountain man]

Well the hawk had not come back. Thank goodness!

 

[Pinky]

That's good, but what about the eagle you seen?

 

[mrs_woodguy]

So is there anything that can be a permanent fixture out there that will ward off hawks and eagles? My girls are safe in their very secure coop. But once the weather warms up I would like them to free range again. I'd like to ward off preditors while not scaring my girls.

 

[guineahen14]

I HATE hawks, they never give up it is a constant battle, and the only way you win is by keeping your chickens in a covered run.

 

[Kelsey2017]

Has anyone ever tried those predator red light things? I realize they only work at night, so not applicable to this situation but I wonder if they work. When I first moved here there was a bald eagle flying around low in my yard and I kept yelling, throwing rocks at it and it finally went away but my poor chickies were afraid of airplanes for the whole rest of the summer. We live near a small airport and the little planes practice tricks and fly really low it was hilarious to see them all scream and run for cover, I thought of it as air raid drills!

 

[feather and mountain man]

Well I have not seen the eagle again but last night I lost my cuckoo maran Jake to a different brown hawk. It was devistating. I called Indiana DNR and I have a ranger coming over today to assist me with predator proffing my pen. I don't know that they do this for everyone but my brother asked his coworker to do this for me. I found out I can kill them with the permit being mail to me now. I don't know that I will but it is an option now. Jakey was my favorite chicken she was a sweet pet and loved attention not to mention that I loved her dark brown speckled eggs. She will be missed. So we have already run bail twine across the top of the pen to deture the hawks at the advice of my brother and the DNR person is going to be here at 9am so hopefully we will fix any problems that I didn't think of. We do have a problem with eagles around here since we live so close to the river and even if we could kill them I would never. We will not give up without a fight. I will not let Jakes death be in vein. I love all my chickens and am ready to battle for their lives.