Hawks

[dutchbunny83]

Tulsa-- It's crazy hot here too! I've never seen a hawk carry off a chicken they usually hang out and eat them up. With my turkey poults there were feathers, the spine from 2 (all that was left), and 1 with its guts hanging out still alive when we got the hawk away that we had to cull.

Ms Momma-- Unfortunately if you have a good amount of land and a lot of birds to free range, hawks are one of the nasty side effects. You inevitably will have to sacrifice some of your girls so they can have a better life being outside. I really hope you can scare him off! Right now we are in the city, dreaming of getting some land and a little farm, but with that comes the extra pedators

Hoss- LOL! (though you can usually get a big pack of blank cd's pretty cheap)


Hey everyone, just so you know, hawks are protected and you can't kill them even if you're protecting animals on your land. If you get caught there are big fines. There are ways in some states to get a permit to hunt hawks, but from what I hear it's really hard to do and you have to somehow prove extended damage/harrassment from that bird over a period of time (not sure how you'd do that?)

 

[carrieb62]

Well it looks like I'm screwed... We can't afford to build a covered run big enough for my 23 chickens, and I can't keep them closed inside forever. The hawk seems to like to come at my girls in the morning, so I am going to sit in the un-mowed grass right next to my barn with two trash can lids. If the hawk comes I'll start banging them together and yell like crazy in hopes that it scares it off for good. If that doesn't work I don't know what I'm going to do...

Hi there! I know it's hard and scary to deal with but try not to feel screwed or discouraged in any way! I had to build a run for my lil' bantams on a really tight budget and felt really overwhelmed when I first started. Keep your eye out for decent scrap material in your area. And if you or someone you know has a table saw you can make the $'s stretch buy ripping 2x4's into 2x2's. I built my pen/run out of mostly scrap materials, with the exception of wire which can be difficult to come by. I had a Goshawk try to break through the pen twice before finally leaving it alone. And then about a year later I had two dogs break into the pen and I almost gave up then - I thought "how am I going to be able to afford to keep the neighbors dogs out?" "Heavier duty fencing is really expensive!" And then one day a few weeks later I met someone who owns a fencing installation business - they had tons, and I mean tons, of 6ft tall used but still very usable wood privacy fence along with 4x4 posts in their backyard they were going to burn. I got a huge trailer load of it, for free, and fenced off my entire backyard where my pen/run/coops are at. Here is a pic of my backyard just to give you some idea, it's not fancy but it is functional... and always, a work in progress!

 

[WYNot]

...And then about a year later I had two dogs break into the pen and I almost gave up then - I thought "how am I going to be able to afford to keep the neighbors dogs out?"...

Neighbor dogs are easy to resolve.

For the not so squeamish and outside city limits; shoot them and send the owner a bill for damages and ammo. If they are harassing livestock, they are fair game.

For the squeamish or inside city limits; catch them and take them to an animal shelter. Preferably in the next county over. Eventually they will get tired of buying new dogs only to have them mysteriously vanish.

People can call me heartless all they want but I will protect my livestock (whether chicken or cow). AND, if the neighbors actually cared about their dogs they would keep them under control.

 

[carrieb62]

Neighbor dogs are easy to resolve.

For the not so squeamish and outside city limits; shoot them and send the owner a bill for damages and ammo. If they are harassing livestock, they are fair game.

For the squeamish or inside city limits; catch them and take them to an animal shelter. Preferably in the next county over. Eventually they will get tired of buying new dogs only to have them mysteriously vanish.

People can call me heartless all they want but I will protect my livestock (whether chicken or cow). AND, if the neighbors actually cared about their dogs they would keep them under control.

Oh I know, I'm one of those "heartless" people too!
I found out the hard way people assume there is animal control in every county across the great USA - Calhoun County FL has none! Here you have to live by FL Chapter 767 all the way, and I did then. The really horrible thing about it, was the owners took to finally looking for their dogs 2 & 1/2 weeks later! Turns out they only live 2 blocks away from me - when I found out I tried to have the Sheriff's notify them to let them know what happened since they were "looking for their lost dogs", the deputy left them messages and they never returned his call!

Before I forget, another frugal tip when it comes to gathering coop/run building materials - find a local hardware store, not a major retail one, that sells nails & screws by the pound! I've found here there is a huge savings of almost $2 a pound when you purchase them this way.

 

[dutchbunny83]

carrie-- nice set up!

 

[scooter147]

I grew up about 60 miles from St Louis in the late 60's and 70's and we had more snow then than we do know. I went to college in Cape Girardeau Missouri which is 120 miles south of St Louis. It's amazing that distance in the amount of snow. While in college we had very few snows but when we did EVERTHING came to a complete halt. They had no snow plows or salt trucks. They would plow the main streets with a grader and basically all that did was turn the snow into a sheet of ice.

 

[carrieb62]

carrie-- nice set up!

Thank You!!!

 

[hen madame]

I grew up about 60 miles from St Louis in the late 60's and 70's and we had more snow then than we do know. I went to college in Cape Girardeau Missouri which is 120 miles south of St Louis. It's amazing that distance in the amount of snow. While in college we had very few snows but when we did EVERTHING came to a complete halt. They had no snow plows or salt trucks. They would plow the main streets with a grader and basically all that did was turn the snow into a sheet of ice.

Yeah, I do remind myself that a number of states further south don't have proper equipment for snow removal. Up here, if they know a big snow is coming the plow trucks are dispatched before the snowfall so they can hopefully stay ahead of the accumulation. Sometimes that works great...sometimes it's futile, and even in the Great White North, everything closes down...though that is rare.

For all my complaining there is nothing more beautiful then a fresh snowfall, especially when you are inside next to a roaring fire with a cup of hot chocolate (or a snort of brandy).

Of course this is after I shovel out a path to the chicken coop...ugh!

 

[dutchbunny83]

It's funny down here if they CALL for snow (which usually never materializes) they CLOSE the schools!
And come the next morning there's nothing there.
Growing up there had to be a lot on the ground then at like 6am you get the 1 hr late, then they change it to 2 hours late.
Haha we were never so lucky to just get off school at the chance.
But the positive side they can take them down here and not have to owe days at the end-- northern winters sometimes they add a good 10 days at the end of the year to make up for snow

 

[hen madame]

Well, OK then. As a chicken owner and a dog owner I do think this is a little harsh. As we know, it's not the dog's fault, they are just doing what comes naturally to them. I'm not trying to start a fight, it's just that I wish people would talk with each other before taking this kind of drastic step. I know some people are very irresponsible with their dogs. Are there no dog containment laws in your area? I guess I would be satisfied if the owners were fined and paid restitution. Besides, perhaps they do contain their dogs...s**t happens...maybe the dog dug under the fence, or a kid left a gate open. No reason to punish the dog.

The responsibility goes both ways. If you free range your chickens or don't have them in a well built covered run, one could expect to lose some of them to a dog, cat, owl, or hawk etc. My birds have a covered run, but I also let them out in to a "chicken yard" that is not presently covered. I'm trying to rectify that situation now, though cost is a factor with me as well. If I lose some of my birds before I come up with a solution, its my own **** fault.