No, you may not kill them if they are attacking your livestock. Fines are enormous. If they are attacking your poultry, pen your poultry up in safe housing or accept your losses.
Hawks....
- Thread starter Chickengirl47
- Start date
- Aug 25, 2011
- 99
- 2
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I've been told in the state of TX it is allowed, never tested it and don't plan to though.
They are FEDERALLY protected. Meaning the state of Texas cannot give the OK to kill them.
All birds of prey have been protected since 1918. Stiff fines and jail. However, I think you should be able to defend livestock from any predator.
Fear is a great control factor. Some of you are amazing with you thoughts. I do mean amazing. Fear will allow you just sit while you lose your entire flock. Just amazing.
I had a bad hawk attack back in November. They killed 9 of my chickens in 2 days. I ended up putting the chickens on lock down until the Hawks lost interest. I have had groups of 10 and 22 hawks circling over our property all at once. I have not had any hawk attacks since, however i am much more aware of the problem now and i am constantly watching the Sky's. Seems like the chickens have learned a tough lesson as well. Anytime they see or hear a hawk they sound the alarm and run under/in the coop. I love to let my chickens free range so I build Little A frame shelters in various places around the yard to provide extra protection if they wander to far from the coop they can just hide under the A frames. Other than locking the chickens in a closed run I have not found a way to deter the Hawks. I have used everything from loud music to Cd's in the tree and Multiple Plastic Owl Decoys. I have lots of crows in the area but it doesn't seems to matter.
It is not fear. It is the fact I don't feel like gunning down every single organism that so much as breathes in my flock's general direction. My chickens free range, but have a coop and run that are covered with netting. At night they get closed up in the coop. During the day, I've had bald eagles, red tailed hawks, cooper hawks, rough legged hawks, and some I could not identify roosting in my trees. They roost for a short while, then move on. No losses. And since I free range, I accept I will lose a few.
If I was as kill happy as a majority of the population here, those birds would have been shot for no reason. No reason because they brought no harm to my fowl. Seriously, everything isn't out to get you in this world. Use a bit of common sense and learn to live with rather than against. People shooting everything they see left and right is the reason we have federal laws protecting animals, why we have endangered animals, because people proved they could not self regulate.
I'm not for killing a hawk just because it's a chicken killer. You pretty much know when the hawk is after your livestock. The laws need to be amended for people protecting their livestock. They put laws in place but never go back & amend the laws. Example, here in Texas when the Red Fish population was going south they put limits on the reds. Well, now there's plenty of reds, but they never changed the laws I'm not saying they should let people keep as many fish as they catch just amend the laws .
I spend alot of money building coops, feed is out of sight, my time & more variables to care for my livestock & by law I can't protect my animals. No way this is right.
I spend alot of money building coops, feed is out of sight, my time & more variables to care for my livestock & by law I can't protect my animals. No way this is right.
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