Hawks

[dutchbunny83]

I see where you're coming from.
I love all animals.
But I am a cat person for many reasons (mainly being my cat is awesome!)
I know some people will probably have some negative thoughts about me from this, but my son kept begging for a dog. So we went and got a black lab/ beagle mix from the shelter that was about to be put down and gave it to my son for Christmas. The dog jumped & nipped at him and his friends, he chewed all his toys, he started destroying our house, and soon my son wanted nothing to do iwth him. My husband who was going to train him left in January for Afghanistan leaving me with 2 young kids, all these animals, a house & yard to care for, and I had NO time or patience to try and train this dog. While I did love him, it was appearing I was the only one. One day he decided to randomly kill my best laying Ameraucana and he had to go. That day. I found someone on the other side of town with some land and no chickens looking for a lab. Gave him to her for free with all of his stuff. I really hope he has a good life now, and I do still feel some guilt from it, but hopefully wherever he is, it's better than being euthanized in a shelter.
I will never get another dog.
Our neighbors have some ridiculous black lab golden retriever type mix that they got as a free puppy and never trained. This dog jumps their fence all the time and tries to come in our yard. He ALMOST killed my chickens, but my husband was outside, tackled the dog, and carried him down the street to his owners practically dragging the dog by it's choke collar with me screaming down the street at him not to hurt the dog!
So I see where you're coming from. You can't have dogs killing your animals. But I personally could never kill a dog.
Now if it were legal, I would shoot the **** out of a hawk (haha if I had better aim....)

 

[carrieb62]

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.

Hey I own a dog too! Pembroke Welsh Corgi! And you're right, it's not the dogs fault - its the owners! I could blame the type breed of the dogs that broke into my pen, 2 Pit Bulls, but I just don't see it that way. And to answer your question "Are there no dog containment laws in your area?" - no there is not in my county - Calhoun County FL, no animal control, nothing! I've been down that road before - you call the Sheriff's Dept here and they will tell you, believe it or not, "shoot it". And let me ask, (as based from my personal experience) what would you do when you are face to face with a growling vicious animal with blood & feathers dripping from their lips and your child is standing next to you? Is there time to make a phone call and wait 30 minutes (happens a lot when you live in a rural area) for a Sheriff's Deputy arrive?

 

[dutchbunny83]

My next door neighbors have 13 dogs (that I've seen!) We're both on 1/3 acre lots in town and have fully enclosed yards.
The way the houses are set up, ours are 20 feet apart on one side, then on the other side we both have a lot more room between the next house, they're not centered on the property.
We have an unspoken agreement that I will ignore his obnoxcious dogs howling half the night as long as they don't come in my yard and he pretends that he doesn't see we have 40some birds instead of the regulated 10 within town limits.
(...though in my defense, chicken math clearly states meat birds, chicks, and birds you plan to sell don't count towards your number, so I really only have 9....

)

 

[chickengeorgeto]

.... down here if they CALL for snow (which usually never materializes) they CLOSE the schools!

Closing the schools at the first mention of snow is like hanging up CDs to keep hawks away from your chickens, only in this case the hawks are legal eagle lawyers. By closing the schools at the first hint of a run on toilet paper and milk, the School Board is in effect protecting itself from legal action if a school bus say couldn't get up a slick hill and Little Johnny was forced to set on one of those uncomfortable school bus seats for 45 minutes longer than necessary. This would cause great inconvenience to mama and papa by forcing them to miss Dancing With Stars while waiting in the ER to have Little Johnny's back side examined for blisters due to him sitting too long without an X-Box break.

Early school closings due to a run on the grocery store for toilet paper and milk are prophylactic doses of legal antibiotics taken mostly to keep the lawyers and process servers at bay.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Closing the schools at the first mention of snow is like hanging up CDs to keep hawks away from your chickens, only in this case the hawks are legal eagle lawyers. By closing the schools at the first hint of a run on toilet paper and milk, the School Board is in effect protecting itself from legal action if a school bus say couldn't get up a slick hill and Little Johnny was forced to set on one of those uncomfortable school bus seats for 45 minutes longer than necessary. This would cause great inconvenience to mama and papa by forcing them to miss Dancing With Stars while waiting in the ER to have Little Johnny's back side examined for blisters due to him sitting too long without an X-Box break.

Early school closings due to a run on the grocery store for toilet paper and milk are prophylactic doses of legal antibiotics taken mostly to keep the lawyers and process servers at bay.

Haha touche!
I've never hung cd's, but I've heard from fellow local BYC'ers that it really does keep them away?

 

[JacobyO]

We lost one of our white rocks to a Cooper's Hawk last Spring and we immediately ordered some heavy duty netting. We rotate our chickens to both sides of our coop so they are always on fresh grass. We use the electric netting fence to contain them and keep the coyotes and dogs out. Since adding our netting there have been many hawks checking them out but no luck.

Yesterday however, we happend to look outside and see one of our chickens fighting in the completely enlclosed run section of the coop. Then we saw her flip her opponent over and I was shocked that it was a cooper's hawk that had somehow gotten under the net and then through the coop to the other side where the hardware meshed run was.

The hawk chose to mess with the wrong chicken that day as my girl flipped it on it's back and then began to jump up and down on it and peck at it. By the time we got out there my chicken had retreated to the coop and the hawk was hanging inside the run completely freaked out. Nobody was hurt and my wife let the hawk out before I got a chance at it.

I am so proud of her for kicking that hawks butt.

 

[scooter147]

Breed that girl, hatch her eggs and then keep the ones just like her. She deserves some watermelon.

I have a flock of 30 and I tell them all the time "AS ONE YOU CAN DEFEAT THAT REDTAIL, YOU CAN DEFEAT THAT COOPER, NO GO OUT THERE AND DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness I'm glad your hen fought back and won. An honestly if the flock would turn on the hawks the hawks would high tail it they won't risk injury.

 

[WYNot]

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.

Not trying to argue either but just trying to comprehend the mindset. I grew up farming and raising beef cattle. We always had dogs and cats. They were loved and well cared for but on the list of priorities, people and livestock always took precedence over pets.

They may be doing what comes naturally and we are only talking chickens here so the financials are not as steep but the principle still applies. You have a flock of 50+ sheep run to death because someone's dog just wanted to play and they were to irresponsible to ensure their dog didn't leave their property. Or have a registered bull or cow chased through a fence. Or a horse crippled and needing to be put down because the dog wanted to play and the horse steps in a woodchuck hole breaking its leg. The time and money to replace those animals and the money/food lost while waiting for the replacements to grow is a HUGE expense. It can easily get into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. While I might have sympathy for the dog, I have NONE for the irresponsible owner. And I will not allow that sympathy to interfere with doing what is needed to protect my livestock. Whether it is chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, etc. they are a huge investment as well as a food source. That trumps someone else's pet every time.

I may expect some loss to predation but that does not mean I will stand by and let it happen. As long as those chickens are on my property, it is not my own **** fault if a neighbors comes over and kills one or more. It is the dog's owner's fault. They are fully, 100% responsible for the behavior of their pet as well as any damages done, intentionally or not. There is a huge difference between the pet of an irresponsible owner and a wild creature. Yes, I will do what I can to ensure my livestock is protected from both but I am in no way, shape, or form responsible for the actions of a neighbors pet.

As said before, you can call me heartless but I've seen the destruction that someone's playful pet can wreak on livestock. I've also seen the devastation that can be caused by a pack of wild dogs that used to be someone's pets. I have zero patience for the owners and zero tolerance for the behavior.

 

[carrieb62]

@ Jacoby - your chicken is so AWESOME!!!

 

[aggiemae]

If you kill a hawk it will be replaced by another one and I wanted to add that the advice to hang a dead hawk on a tree branch as a deterrent is an old wives tail.

Try a fishing line "roof" instead. We have one and it has kept hawks, heron and flacons out of our yard for years

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/518132/using-fishing-line-over-the-top