Hawks

[7L Farm]

My thoughts are & will remain Protect my livestock.

 

[Oregon Blues]

[[[.....My thoughts are & will remain Protect my livestock....]]]]

Yeah. Mine too. I brought my poultry here and it is my job to protect them. That is why I have excellent fences and covered runs for night time so that the assorted predators can't get at my birds.

My birds are happy and safe and I don't have to worry about coyotes, raccoons, or owls while I am not there to stand guard over my birds.

That's how you protect your birds: you provide adequate safe housing.

 

[Nambroth]

[[[.....My thoughts are & will remain Protect my livestock....]]]]

Yeah. Mine too. I brought my poultry here and it is my job to protect them. That is why I have excellent fences and covered runs for night time so that the assorted predators can't get at my birds.

My birds are happy and safe and I don't have to worry about coyotes, raccoons, or owls while I am not there to stand guard over my birds.

That's how you protect your birds: you provide adequate safe housing.

 

[chickengoe]

I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where 1 afternoon I hear my free range flock going nuts! I ran to the back door to see this huge, and I do mean HUGE bald eagle in the field with one of my hens. My rooster was trying his best, but he quickly realized he would be next on the menu. I pulled out my rifle, put the eagle in my scope and just wanted to sooo bad, but it had the potential to cost me waaay more than the hen, jail or hen..hmmm, so I just fired into the air. The eagle was a magnificent creature and it was my pleasure to get such a close view, but it was messing with my flock, which means war! I tried adding more roosters, which all the fighting was very traumatic for me, tried adding the fishing line across the yard (it does work, but can be a hassle), finally I had to get rid of my very territorial rooster for a few roosters I raised together just for this purpose. No more attacks!! It did get the hen, but it just did something that I couldn't do myself, kill an unproductive 6 year old hen. I should probably put him/her on the payroll! Sometimes I do think about the one that got away!!

 

[FireRooster]

I agree with 7L Farm's quote a 100%! I also agree with everyone on having great safe coops/runs, with plenty of room and wire roofs. I have to coops/runs ( nice big runs ) with frames and wire all around. The other thing I say on this issue is my chickens go nuts when you let them out. They love it more than anything. In return I love to let them out when I'm home. That doesn't mean I can always protect them, but I can't just leave them locked up all the time either. That is why in the end I say protect them if you can/ when you can, cause were I live my neighbors would agree 100% too. I once had a dog getting into my neighbors chickens ( years before I had any ), she told me the next time he came around she would shoot him. I tried keeping him up and away from her house, and did good for awhile. Then one day the back yard had feathers everywhere, needless to say I didn't have the dog very much longer. Point being a dog, Hawk, or any other predator will return once they know where those chickens/free meals are. Now that I have chickens I agree with my neighbor 100%. She is about 80 now, and just awhile back she was out in the yard with her chickens and her gun. Said she had a hawk been getting her chickens, I told her to be careful. LOL

 

[gestapolita]

I just set up our awesome new coop and run yesterday. I went into the house to get the girls their food and water & in the five minutes I was gone a hawk dove into the run and pinned my orp. I scared him off and no one was hurt. This is the third time he has attacked my girls & I have had the fortune of being able to rescue them each time. Only the second attack resulted in serious injuries that healed. He lives in the woods across the street. I am now stringing fishing line back and forth over the top and tying orange plastic tape to it. I have read over and over that this works, but I am terrified to let them out of their coop. Does this really work? My hens are full-grown & I live in the city, so I only have two. Two walls of the run are our yard's chain-link fence and two are green plastic fencing stapled to thin wooden posts. Plenty secure to keep the hens in, not sturdy enough for actual fencing across the top. The run also contains the bare trunks of our three pine trees.

Someone on the forum said a hawk dove through their netting across the top of their run! How on earth is some flimsy fishing line going to protect our sweet chickens???

 

[bobbieschicks]

I just set up our awesome new coop and run yesterday. I went into the house to get the girls their food and water & in the five minutes I was gone a hawk dove into the run and pinned my orp. I scared him off and no one was hurt. This is the third time he has attacked my girls & I have had the fortune of being able to rescue them each time. Only the second attack resulted in serious injuries that healed. He lives in the woods across the street. I am now stringing fishing line back and forth over the top and tying orange plastic tape to it. I have read over and over that this works, but I am terrified to let them out of their coop. Does this really work? My hens are full-grown & I live in the city, so I only have two. Two walls of the run are our yard's chain-link fence and two are green plastic fencing stapled to thin wooden posts. Plenty secure to keep the hens in, not sturdy enough for actual fencing across the top. The run also contains the bare trunks of our three pine trees.

Someone on the forum said a hawk dove through their netting across the top of their run! How on earth is some flimsy fishing line going to protect our sweet chickens???

I've been researching the same thing since I just put in an extended run and am suddenly getting multiple hawks. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/622722/is-this-suddenly-hawk-season From what I read, fishing line and netting are deterrents, but the only way to completely keep hawks out is to put wire over the chicken run.

 

[sourland]

This may serve as a deterrent, but the only sure fire protection is a top on the pen - difficult to achieve with a large pen. Supervised free ranging helps, but once a hawk has located a 'food source', they become relentless.

I just set up our awesome new coop and run yesterday. I went into the house to get the girls their food and water & in the five minutes I was gone a hawk dove into the run and pinned my orp. I scared him off and no one was hurt. This is the third time he has attacked my girls & I have had the fortune of being able to rescue them each time. Only the second attack resulted in serious injuries that healed. He lives in the woods across the street. I am now stringing fishing line back and forth over the top and tying orange plastic tape to it. I have read over and over that this works, but I am terrified to let them out of their coop. Does this really work? My hens are full-grown & I live in the city, so I only have two. Two walls of the run are our yard's chain-link fence and two are green plastic fencing stapled to thin wooden posts. Plenty secure to keep the hens in, not sturdy enough for actual fencing across the top. The run also contains the bare trunks of our three pine trees.

Someone on the forum said a hawk dove through their netting across the top of their run! How on earth is some flimsy fishing line going to protect our sweet chickens???

 

[gestapolita]

Hrm. My poor hens have been cooped up these past three days. I feel bad for moving them off their beloved back porch haha. Tomorrow afternoon I will see if I can top it with the same green fencing. It's very sturdy and lighter than metal. If it stays up, it will have to do until we can build a permanent metal run. Thanks for the help!

 

[CedarCluck]

So I have read through this thread and several other threads about the topic of hawks. I lost one of my girls yesterday to a hawk while she was out free ranging in the back yard. There was nothing but feathers and entrails left, and her sister I thought was dead, but after crying while searching for her for 45 minutes I found her hiding in one of my neighbors thick bushes. My partner was wonderful enough to come home and say that if I knew someone I could get more from he would take me right then, and so we went out and picked out two more beautiful birds a RIR pullet and Orp. So excited to get to know my new girls today (and unaware that it had been a hawk)I came home and took them out of the coop to let them free range and get to know me. well the other girl who survived yesterday's attack was out too and was eating some scratch at my feet when she freaked out sqwauking like there was no tomorrow, jumped into the air and in my arms just as this huge hawk flies past my legs. If she hadn't jumped into my arms she would have been hawk lunch. I didn't know until doing some research that hawks were federally protected. I spoke with the DNR here in iowa and they helped me to identify the bird as a cooper's hawk. Apparently five years ago they were almost endangered, but now we have an overpopulation here in iowa. I am not a violent person, but when they are attacking my girls I feel like I should have the right to protect them. I am not saying I am going to shoot any large predatory bird I see in the sky, but if it makes an attempt to get my girls, I think it should be up to me what to do. My coop is fully secured, but this hawk is determined now that he has already munched on one of my girls and has tried getting in their covered run and coop twice today with me running at him with a broom like a bat out of hell! then he dove head first trying to push through the fencing over the run. Didn't make it in but isn't giving up. And all I am told is, don't touch it, don't throw things at it, don't harass it. Well my girls are like my children. Let me see how you feel if a hawk eats your baby.