Houston, We Have a Hawk Problem

[Fishychix]

I was also going to recommend bird netting, but then if it gets stuck you’d have to free it. Doesn’t sound like a great idea. Not to mention you’d be in trouble if it gets hurt. What about throwing something like a tomato or a tennis ball at it? It’s hard enough to hurt a but and hopefully scare it, but wouldn’t injure it. Of course you could do firecrackers, but it’d terrify your chicks and the horses(?) in the background.

 

[CapricornFarm]

@RedHead Rae, you might want to beef up security . That chicken wire is not going to keep predators out. Maybe put welded wire over it.

 

[centrarchid]

My in-laws (who live in a house behind ours) looked out their back window onto our shared backyard and saw something next to one of our brooder pens. It wasn’t one of our adult guineas. It was the wrong color.
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They get a little closer and see it is a hawk trying to get at my replacement guineas and Heritage Cornish babies.
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My FIL gets closer and the Hawk won’t budge.
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Even closer, still won’t budge
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Closer
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Within 6 ft of the bird and it didn’t fly off until my FIL flapped his arms at it.
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It flies off to a satellite dish 20 ft away from the pen and perches there until my FIL walks towards it
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My FIL had to chase it 3 more times before it left the area. After chasing it off it came back again and was being more aggressive trying to get in.

For now, this is our solution. Orange snow fencing about a foot away from the pen. No wonder why all my birds have been hiding.
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Double boiler approach. Good job! Ca also lean piece of plywood up against side of coop to block site between hawk and poultry.

 

[AidKD]

Illegal, unless you mean shooting in its general direction to scare it off. No we haven’t tried shooting it or shooting to scare it.

Unless you tell know one will know...

 

[Redhead Rae]

Unless you tell know one will know...

Too close to neighbors.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Well, the Hawk has returned this morning. He was perched on top of the smaller pen trying to figure out how to get between the pen and the orange netting when my FIL scared him off.

We’re going to do some reconfiguring after my mom takes the boys for a few hours.

 

[Parront]

Some around here use fishing line to deter the falcons. They have very good vision, but the do not see it at first, and collide with something scary when flying down to the prey. You do not have to string it so close together that they get tangled in it.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Well the hawk found its way down between the snow fence and the pen and got trapped for bit. While we were trying to figure out what to do it, managed to hop up on the frame and flew away. This is our latest innovation. We had some netting I had leftover when I ordered the wrong thing. We used that and paracord to suspend it over the pen. We’ll have to readjust in a few days but it should be good for now. The bird is showing no interest in my older chicks, only the younger ones and the keets. Of course most of the older birds are between 1/3rd and 2/3rds the size of the hawk so it probably wants to be able to fly away with the food.

 

[centrarchid]

Deer netting over top. Possibly stretch it over a wooden frame. Hawk may get entangled and need removal. Have scissors ready. If it gets tangled up, that may be what it takes to get it to leave penned birds alone.

 

[AidKD]

Or, if you can catch it, put it in a box and drive for a little while then let it go.