Hawks....

[centrarchid]

They were all killed on the ground and ripped apart, feathers everywhere. The hawk kept returning to feast on the carcass' before I got a chance to find and bury them. They were all in the woods in the underbrush and were hard to spot. The EE was the same color as the tress and the Barred Rocks were black on white. The bantam is white, she was easy to spot, and survived by scurrying under the briars making it difficult for the hawk to get in and finish her off.

Cover helps as you noted. A dog is even better but may not be applicable to your situaton. I still recommend upgrading rooster and if attack occurs again, make every effort to photograph hawk on chicken. I for one would like to see evidence of red-shouldered tackling a standard sized chicken.

 

[CityGirl35]

Oh wow, that must terrify your girls! It scared ME! So far, my fishing-line anti-raptor system (or FLARS) seems to be working. The 5 girls are out of the coop most of the day, and I have seen hawks soaring high above our yard many times, and I know they can see the chickens but I guess they see the line, too. I have to trust it because I really do want them to be free-roaming birds--for their own happiness and to cut down on feed cost.

 

[hondo58]

 

[Chickengirl47]

Here's our rooster. He may have saved some others from being attacked for all we know however we did lose one full size EE hen about a month ago which was surprising. The other hens were hiding in our barn and under deep cover. It took awhile to get them to come out. The rooster was going crazy. Two weeks prior to that attack the hawk was scared off while attacking our bantam who survived. Again the hens were hiding and the rooster was upset. Last spring we lost three full size hens (one EE and two Barred Rocks).

The active nest is in a tall pine tree up near the road in between our neighbor's house and our long driveway and about 50' from the coop which I had put up near the property line before I knew we had a rooster in the mix. (Thankfully we have WONDERFUL neighbors) I see the female in the nest while the male is out and about. There is another nest about 500' from that one out back by the border of the pond. I'll have to look and see if there is anything in it as I know it was active last year.

I think the EE hen may have been attacked in our driveway by the female as I saw her fly up into a tree and the dead hen below her.

​

Your Hen (with the Rooster) looks like one of my Chickens!

 

[hondo58]

She's a White Plymouth Rock and a prolific egg layer.

Your Hen (with the Rooster) looks like one of my Chickens!

 

[Davaroo]

He means that it's against the law.

Yeah, that's right - they are protected by the Migratory Bird Act of 1918. As I recall this was enacted to deter trade in feathers, among other things. Why it remains a 'blanket policy' today where BOP's and livestock are concerned is beyond me.

This is a sore spot with me. Before 1918, dealing with hawks was easy. You trapped them and dispatched them, or dispensed with the trap and shot them from the sky. I've seen clever trap designs in my old poultry books. It was a simpler time and there wasn't the kind of regulation this generation takes for granted.

To be fair, you can still remove BOP's as a threat today, but you must get approval from the governing agencies in your district.
YOU must prove they are a threat, first, and you must follow proscribed methods of killing them.
The burden of proof is on you, and there will be an investigation before anything happens. In other words, you become a suspect to be questioned.
That's a tough thing to beat. Shoot a hawk today without following this plan and you risk fines and perhaps jail, if caught.

It used to be different, though. People didn't look over their shoulder much; anyone who did was telling on himself as being up to no good.
A man did what was needed to protect his affairs so a hawk preying on the chickens had to go - that's all.

Now, the dang things wait on the fence rail for the chicken buffet to start each day. Meanwhile, you are made to erect 'deterrents' to thwart them.
You must employ trickery in hopes they will stay away.
If you attempt to actually take action against them - - well, you can't even disturb them. That's against the law, too.

None of this unlikely to change, either. Too bad, I think.

 

[CityGirl35]

I find this discussion very fascinating and illuminating. I don't think I have any philosophical or moral argument against killing a hawk that was trying to kill my property and food source; at the same time, it doesn't seem very practical to me but I am new at this, so could be wrong. Around here there just seem to be a lot of hawks and I couldn't be outside with a gun all day long, so I would be bound to lose some of my chickens--and I only have five, and I bought them as full-grown heritage birds, and I have actually gotten kind of fond of them and I love the fresh eggs--so a loss would be painful. So deterrence seemed my only option. I ordered the solar-powered owl thing and set that up, but still, that didn't seem enough. Then I decided to do the fishing line web across the entire backyard--not practical for everyone, but if you can do it, I think it's worth a try because it definitely seems to be working for us. Hawks continue to soar by overhead but none, as far as I can tell, has even perched nearby, and no attacks. I am getting a solid egg a day from each hen, so obviously they are not stressed. And just to be perfectly clear: I wouldn't kill a hawk because it is against the law and I am aware of the fines and possible jail time. The fishing line is designed to discourage them--they can see it and won't risk a broken wing or getting trapped in the yard. Ordinary birds continue to populate my back yard with no problem.

 

[CityGirl35]

Wow, BEAUTIFUL rooster and lovely hen! Great photo!

 

[Davaroo]

I find this discussion very fascinating and illuminating. I don't think I have any philosophical or moral argument against killing a hawk that was trying to kill my property and food source; at the same time, it doesn't seem very practical to me but I am new at this, so could be wrong. Around here there just seem to be a lot of hawks and I couldn't be outside with a gun all day long, so I would be bound to lose some of my chickens--and I only have five, and I bought them as full-grown heritage birds, and I have actually gotten kind of fond of them and I love the fresh eggs--so a loss would be painful. So deterrence seemed my only option. I ordered the solar-powered owl thing and set that up, but still, that didn't seem enough. Then I decided to do the fishing line web across the entire backyard--not practical for everyone, but if you can do it, I think it's worth a try because it definitely seems to be working for us. Hawks continue to soar by overhead but none, as far as I can tell, has even perched nearby, and no attacks. I am getting a solid egg a day from each hen, so obviously they are not stressed. And just to be perfectly clear: I wouldn't kill a hawk because it is against the law and I am aware of the fines and possible jail time. The fishing line is designed to discourage them--they can see it and won't risk a broken wing or getting trapped in the yard. Ordinary birds continue to populate my back yard with no problem.

Hey, thanks for your comments. I'm betting the reason there are a lot of hawks in your vicinity, is that the balance is shifted towards them, not us.
So I'm in a sticky spot....

I don't have morality when it comes to predators - it is not a moral matter to me.
As far as I'm concerned, they need to be where they belong. That is out beyond, in the fields, eating their natural forage.

Guns are the last resort; as you note, you cannot stand guard all the time.
Today, you must be smarter and put more into it.

Between us, I'd prefer traps and dispatch. In the words of Larry Boyd, "When you have chickens, you're gonna kill something if you want to keep them."
Moreover, I believe we should each have the option to employ those methods of our choosing without government intervention.

On the other hand, we must be realists, eh?. THAT aint gonna happen in our lifetime. I intend to employ as many deterrents as is possible.

I appreciate your sharing of your methods.* I've heard the fishing line thing works pretty good.

*You mentioned they might get hurt on your fishing line, though... which bothers me on your account. That could constitute molestation, in the eyes of the wildlife soldiers.
You put it up, after all, and they got hurt.... ergo, you're at fault. Bazzinga!

 

[BackyardCoop]

Hawks are horrid here =( My hubby and I had to keep a close eye on the coop today because they, along with a buzzard and an eagle were all trying to swoop down and some even sat in the trees. I have a feel we are in for it. The chickens are only 6 weeks old and we already have this much trouble!

When we can't be around them all of the time we purchased a net to put over the outside part of our coop to keep them from getting in.