Hawks

[cori1023]

I know nothing about hawks and other birds of pray.. Where I live I don't think we have many but my neighbor had a very small dog and aside she has seen hawks in the trees eating other birds eggs.. How do I recognize them ?
And how can I deter them from my yard ?

 

[centrarchid]

Start with a field guide on birds for your region. Good to know what is around anyway. Not all hawks are a threat to all chickens under all situations but eventually the more problematic species will visit. Most methods for keeping hawks away are either impractical, ineffective, expensive of some combination of those. You can make hawk's job more difficult by having cover available, having larger chicken breeds, adult chickens and even roosters can help. Dogs can be handy although can be problematic in their own right. You can also restrict free-ranging to periods when you are outside. The effective measures do not work 100% of the time but they can come close and can be more cost effective than some enclosure options that simply keep chickens and raptors apart at the expense of free-range keeping.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I know nothing about hawks and other birds of pray.. Where I live I don't think we have many but my neighbor had a very small dog and aside she has seen hawks in the trees eating other birds eggs.. How do I recognize them ?
And how can I deter them from my yard ?

This is not intended as a joke, but your neighbors very small dog may keep hawks out of your yard for as long as the dog meat holds out.

 

[VAsweetchicks]

Living on a large lake, we have serious issues with hawks and bald eagles. Our chooks are never out unattended...and I mean we actually are within 10 feet of them at all times! Otherwise, they are in their enclosed run or in the 'tractor' on the grass. The red-tailed will just sit in the trees above the coop and wait for a chance to swoop down! They're usually shy of people, but at one point my husband was approx 30' from the girls,and a young eagle bounced down from a nearby tree and grabbed on of my speckles! Luckily, he & the dog noticed the commotion and scared the raptor enuf to drop her! I had some repair work to do on her underside, but she survived. Being outside with them (close) is a deterrent...otherwise,make sure they're under cover of wire or nets. Our bird was actually pulled out from under a bush...so that's not foolproof,either. Just make sure they have somewhere to 'hide' when they see a threat from above.