Hawks :(

[Melabella]

Oh dear. That video was fake, and eagle attacks upon young humans are extremely rare. There are much worse things out there you should be worried about!
http://www.globalmontreal.com/eagle+attacks+child+in+montreal+park/6442775064/story.html

I agree about there being much worse things out there to be worried about. I'm not that CGI savy, and when I first saw it,, it startled me!

Believe me, I've lived through a few "the odds of that happening are in the millions". Why I am the lucky one, who knows...


Cheers!
MB

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Its your life in a cell. If you want to sit in prison more power to you. I happen to like my freedom. No wildlife officer can give you the ok to kill a hawk plain and simple. Check the federal laws before you make an assumption and listen to a 3rd party.

The federal protection of migratory birds has a long history in the U.S. dating back to 1916 when a treaty was signed between the United States and Great Britain, on behalf of Canada, for the protection of most migratory birds. This treaty resulted in the enactment of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act(MBTA) in 1918, which is the basic law in effect today. Although raptors such as hawks and owls were not protected by the original Act, they were later included as an amendment in 1972. The bald eagle has been protected since the enactment of the Eagle Act in 1940 and the golden eagle, also under the Eagle Act, since 1962. State laws and regulations today likewise protect all migratory birds.


Hawks

Believe it or not, hawks are sometimes a major nuisance to property owners. While the recovery of birds of prey from the brink of exstinction has been a remarkable wildlife achievement, their recovery can mean headaches for you.
Solutions for hawk problems.

First, tolerance. There will never be lots of hawks or other birds of prey. Being the top of the key chain, it is impossible for their numbers to increase beyond the carrying capacity of the land.
Second, remember that hawks and other birds of prey are a FEDERALLY PROTECTED SPECIES. You cannot kill them or harm them in any way without a federal and sometimes state depredation permit. So all solutions will have to be non-lethal.
Non-Lethal Solutions for Hawks.

Pyrotechnics: Scare them with the loud booms of screamers and projectile explosives. These are fired from a 12 gauge shotgun or special pistol. Some states consider them firearms and you will need proper permits to shoot them. Even if your state does not consider them firearms, you will still need to treat them as deadly. Get training and/or instruction before using these devices.





Would you like more quotes? I could fill page after page proving you and your little official are wrong, or i could just laugh when you get cuffed. I tried to be nice but you;ll just get childish and argue. Arguing dont change the fact they are FEDERALLY protected. Go ahead a shoot one. It will be in the wildlife officers right to put you in hand cuffs and charge you with killing a protected species.

The projectile boom is illegal in California which is to bad

 

[Hangtown Farms]

3 hawks circling this morning. Took wife and I 5 mins to make them leave. Barrage of fireworks made them think twice about being here. I missed all my shots, but the wife nailed one with a nice blue sparkle shell . Dont think ive ever seen a hawk fly that fast screeching as it went

this would be illegal in California not sure about other states.
Though I have no problem with it.

I lost another hen today to the red tail hawk. I guess he did not get the point when I was firing boom rounds lol
came back and killed my hen so back in the covered run. very tough when they are used to ranging and everyone was back in the swing of things again.

I guess my Jersey Giant rooster I got to protect the hawk did not scare him away.

My covered run has a few open areas with heavy gauge fishing line. I put reflective tape on it to keep him out but if he trys to get in the run he probably wont get out this time

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

this would be illegal in California not sure about other states.
Though I have no problem with it.

I lost another hen today to the red tail hawk. I guess he did not get the point when I was firing boom rounds lol
came back and killed my hen so back in the covered run. very tough when they are used to ranging and everyone was back in the swing of things again.

I guess my Jersey Giant rooster I got to protect the hawk did not scare him away.

My covered run has a few open areas with heavy gauge fishing line. I put reflective tape on it to keep him out but if he trys to get in the run he probably wont get out this time

The fireworks may be illegal but check into the 12 gauge harassment rounds. From the info I have read they are permitted in ca. I could be wrong tho. Im sure airports can use them whether or not the general public can legally.

If you can find it in large rolls 2" hex chicken wire works great for run protection.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

The fireworks may be illegal but check into the 12 gauge harassment rounds. From the info I have read they are permitted in ca. I could be wrong tho. Im sure airports can use them whether or not the general public can legally.

If you can find it in large rolls 2" hex chicken wire works great for run protection.

I used galvanized stucco wire. works great. I have a covered 20x40 run.
I thought he was gone though and started to let them in the big chicken yard once I got my Jersey Giant Rooster, I guess I was hoping he would scare the hawk away
if he came back.
Guess not.
I generally fire my hand gun off and that scares him but that is only on the weekends when I am here. ohwell

 

[kernalsanders]

Hey ande well first thing first build a good free range area and fence it in with the standard chicken wire. Then the post that u use to hold the fence up with, take yarn and zigzag it from post to post from one side to another across from one and back. This will stop the flying pretitors from getting in and your chickens from flying out.

 

[Masonicflock]

USWS--- US Wildlife Services can be called and obtain a WS-37 (kill Permit) to deal with nuisance such as hawks, owls, coyotes, etc,. The permit is an exception to Federal and State Laws. of course us ole country folk don't give two sh*ts so its the Ole 3 S rule (shoot, shovel, shut up). State LE's will tell you the Feds are out of touch with today's common folk so generally as long as they don't know they don't care what you do.
Now I know some of you on here will get your knickers in a bunch because of my comment but understand this folks, I have a BS in Wildlife Biology and I can argue and debate all day long on this topic. Simple truth is People will do what they need to do to protect their livestock. So just accept the fact and remember to support the ones who have lost their flock because we all put hard work into it and it bites when one is lost.

Edited by Staff

 

[chickortreat]

 

[babsbag]

USWS--- US Wildlife Services can be called and obtain a WS-37 (kill Permit) to deal with nuisance such as hawks, owls, coyotes, etc,. The permit is an exception to Federal and State Laws. of course us ole country folk don't give two sh*ts so its the Ole 3 S rule (shoot, shovel, shut up). State LE's will tell you the Feds are out of touch with today's common folk so generally as long as they don't know they don't care what you do.
Now I know some of you on here will get your knickers in a bunch because of my comment but understand this folks, I have a BS in Wildlife Biology and I can argue and debate all day long on this topic. Simple truth is People will do what they need to do to protect their livestock. So just accept the fact and remember to support the ones who have lost their flock because we all put hard work into it and it bites when one is lost.

Wow, I missed a bunch on this thread. I just casually mentioned that I "thought" hawks were protected and it seems that I opened a whole can of worms. I never meant to start a war. I am sorry that the OP got mad a left, that was never my intention.

I doubt that most of us are against protecting our livestock. We all hate to lose our animals to anything, especailly to predators. We just believe in being "legal" . Discretion is the better part of valor. Sometimes we have to be smarter than our foes...all of them

Edited by Staff

 

[ande]

Yikes! I missed a lot too and I don't think anyone needs to get ugly about it. I hope that's the last of the name calling

I REALLY REALLY appreciate all the helpful posts. Thank you so much!! I've used a combination of different people's suggestions so that I can continue to free range most of the time and it seems to be working so far! I'm sure I'll always be a little nervous though.

1) If I see a hawk on the back fence or dead tree (his favorite hang out area), my dog and I chase after him each time he lands until he flies off the property. Sometimes I don't see him for a week but eventually he comes back. I also take my dog on "hawk patrol" every morning around the area he frequents, hoping to make him a little nervous to come around.
2) If i see a hawk, I don't let the chickens free range for a couple of hours until the coast has been clear.
3) I made a scarecrow (hay stuffed in my old clothes with an old jolly ball for a head and a baseball cap It sits in a lawn chair and I move it to a new spot every morning.
4) I hung a bunch of old CDs from the aviary netting that runs between the two barns and from trees around the chicken's area.
5) The chickens still have access to two small barns and a lot of shrubbery (although they had that when Lucille got taken)
6) I always leave my bright orange jacket out on a chair during the day so it looks like I'm out there by the barn.
7) And the most inconvenient part: I lock the chickens up when nobody is home and when someone is home, they free range but someone walks out to the barns/chicken area to check on them every hour- just to keep the hawk on his toes. I guess on the bright side- we get a lot of exercise with all those trips to the barn