Help!! Predator Birds!!

[mules-n-donkeys]

Does anybody have any ideas of how to keep my chickens safe from predator birds?
I've always let my chickens have free range of the one acre pasture because I have donkeys that protect them from any ground predators, but now the birds are getting them. It started last month with two bald eagles taking my light brahma hen(my favorite hen, of course). So I locked all of the chickens up for a couple weeks. They were very unhappy in their coops, and I hadn't seen the eagles for a while, so I let them out. Then the buff Orpington went missing. Then yesterday I saw a massive hawk or something come take a little orange pullet!! So now I'm outside waving my hands and yelling to keep the hawks from getting my chickens and my neighbors think I'm definitely crazy. Does anybody have any ideas on how to keep these bad birds away from my chickens?? I don't want to have to keep them cooped up all the time

 

[redsoxs]

Tough situation for sure. They may not like it but perhaps enlarging their run, covering it, and and confining them might be the only way to make 100% safe & sure. Mine free range and I (fingers crossed) have never lost one to a flying predator...although it's been close. I have lots of shrubbery, trees, and low bushes, though, and my birds dash for them at the first sign of trouble. When a hawk or falcon perches in nearby trees, a shotgun blast toward it (not at it...hey, they're only trying to make a living) usually sends that particular bird on its way. Good luck to you.

 

[Kelsie2290]

A run with a cover (netting) is the safest most certain option.
Slow down losses...
Provide a lot of cover, places for the chickens to hide...
Put out strange objects, balloons, streamers, shiny things etc and move them often.
Don't laugh, but if you only have a few chickens, put weird, shiny or reflective aprons on your chickens (like for rooster damage) so they don't look like chickens.
We have dogs so don't have much of a hawk problem (no eagles here), a good dog will scare off predatory birds, but could still have chickens taken since the dog can be everywhere at once.

 

[britsbantams]

I lost a few chickens to hawks when I first got my flock, and also struggled with keeping them in a coop vs free ranging. I put up 2 large hawk decoys that i got at tsc and move them to a new spot every other week or so. The fake predatory birds keep others from coming into the area. Its not 100%, but has worked so far for me and i havent lost any hens since. Good luck!

 

[Ckicken;[boy]

Does anybody have any ideas of how to keep my chickens safe from predator birds?
I've always let my chickens have free range of the one acre pasture because I have donkeys that protect them from any ground predators, but now the birds are getting them. It started last month with two bald eagles taking my light brahma hen(my favorite hen, of course). So I locked all of the chickens up for a couple weeks. They were very unhappy in their coops, and I hadn't seen the eagles for a while, so I let them out. Then the buff Orpington went missing. Then yesterday I saw a massive hawk or something come take a little orange pullet!! So now I'm outside waving my hands and yelling to keep the hawks from getting my chickens and my neighbors think I'm definitely crazy. Does anybody have any ideas on how to keep these bad birds away from my chickens?? I don't want to have to keep them cooped up all the time

Just had a buff go missing. Im sure a Hawk or Eagle got it.

 

[Folly's place]

When I have a bird (generally a young bantam) taken by a hawk, my flock is on lockdown for ten days or longer, until that bird gives up and moves on. This year I lost one bird to a raptor, last year the same. It's tough, but the survivors learn a hard lesson, I do have lots of cover for them, and compared to many other predator situations, it's few losses.
If I had four birds rather than 45+, it would be a lot harder to deal with!
Only a covered run will completely protect your birds from raptors, so that's the other option.
Mary

 

[Ckicken;[boy]

Thanks