HELP !! HAWK HAS MOVED IN !!

[peepsnbunnies]

I have had my girls for 2 years now and have never had a problem with hawks. My girls are allowed to freerange in the backyard from around Noon til dusk. Yesterday the girls seemed to be xtra loud, and cackling more than usual. I let them out at Noon and heard them cackling several times in the afternoon. Early in the evening I went to gather eggs and found a HAWK feather next to the coop. Best I can figure is he was trying to get the girls in the morning before they were out and lost a feather trying to get in the coop. I am afraid to let the girls out today for fear he is still around waiting. Does anyone have any suggestions for detering hawks?

 

[Gracefulspice]

I don't know how to deter them, but we have hawks here. I alow my girls out to free range from 3-4 till dusk. I just need to be out with them. We also have a run attached to the coop that has deer netting stretched along the top and attached to the fencing. I have hawks that fly over head and hover some. I just make my presence know to them and they fly off. I think for the most part they are looking for peeps. I have the larger chickens and the hawks around here are about the same size. Not to say one wouldn't try to take my hens if it was hungry enough. Your just going to need to be a little more cautious.

 

[Whirlwind]

Its hard to discourage Hawks. I have lost 2 hens, we have red tailed hawks here in Ok. Be sure you have lots of small shrubs or other things for them to hide under. Mine now duck and cover and are seeming to be more wary. I always keep them in the run for a few days after I lose one. They think they are being punished. Silly spoiled chickens.

 

[jessupfamily]

GUINEAS, GUINEAS, GUINEAS!!!!! We have 3 with our 30-40 chickens free ranging. They have a call they do when a hawk comes and after a couple of weeks the chickens learn what that call is and they all run for the fences or bushes or tree cover. If one lands in the trees or in the fields they will attempt to run it off! We have had no problems in the 4 years we've been here and we lots of hawks flying around. Goats help also, but aren't as easy to house as a couple of Guineas.
Amy J.

 

[peepsnbunnies]

Thanks for the replies folks. The guineas sound like a great idea and I would get a bunch in a hurry if I could. Unfortunately I live in a neighborhood and keep my girls (no boys) behind a privacy fence. (so far so good !) Anyway a guinea would be a little too noisy for the neighbors. I may have to either build them a run or a chicken tractor. They will not be happy either way...... they are very spoiled !!

 

[Standard Hen]

I had a terrible hawk problem this winter from Dec. to Jan. I lost a few and then decided to lock them in their pen until he found another restaurant to visit. They of course were not happy as they love to free range in the horse paddocks and woods. I have netting over the pen. I came home from work to hear everyone making a racket, I figured they were mad from being locked in all day. When I got out there 10 minutes later to start cleaning the hawk had managed to get through the netting and was in the pen! Four of my girls lay mauled and the others were just petrified. It was horrible. I managed to get the hawk out with a pitchfork, I thought first of throwing a tarp over him but one look at that beak and those claws changed my mind real quick. As devastated and mad as I was in the end I could not blame him/her. It was the middle of winter and it was hungry. The call of the wild.
Eventually it dissappeared for awhile and still continues to hover but now that spring is here and the trees are getting leaves the chickens are much harder to see. Next winter I think I will do what Gracefulspice does, when I get home from work I willlet them out for a couple of hours.
Now the Guinea idea is interesting as I am thinking of getting a couple of them and I had no idea they worked as protectors of the flock. NOW I will definately get a couple for sure! Thanks for that idea Jessupfamily!

 

[dangerouschicken]

Buy some cheap CDs and string them in ribbons or on string across your free ranging area (or from trees above the area). They glitter in the wind & sun, are waterproof, and really make hawks, crows, etc p*ssed off!

My birds are all enclosed, though.