How, exactly, do hawks hunt?

[dekel18042]

Quote: We have a large deck three feet off the ground. During a hawk attack several years ago I saw one small Easter egger pullet dive under the deck. We've never had a problem with hens laying eggs there. Only once this year while we had construction going on did we have hens laying outside their nest boxes. They made a communal nest in a planted area along the base of the house. I removed the ground cover. (and nest). The construction stopped and that seemed to put an end to that. All the eggs are appearing in the nest boxes again.

 

[Naliez]

A hawk got my small, light-colored EE. We are in an urban area with a fenced yard and a good amount of cover. Lived here for 12 years and only seen a handful of Hawks in the area, but we've been seeing and hearing them for a couple months. I think there was a nest near by. I really thought my yard was too busy. With two dogs, 3 cats and 3 little boys in and out of the back yard, there is always some kind of commotion going on, but one day I caught a pretty good-sized hawk sitting on top of my EE in the middle of the yard. No fear of me at all. He didn't fly off until I was a few feet away from him, yelling and waving my arms and even then, he flew to a near by tree and sat there, waiting for me to leave. I think he got her bc she is the smallest, always on her own and the others are BAs or SS, so they're a lot better at staying hidden than her who stood out being bright white and yellow. I made a pitiful looking "scarecrow" and hung reflective party decorations all over the yard to deter another attack. My BA pullet especially is huge (twice as big as my cat) and probably. Idk

 

[otakalhasas]

Good to know! Thanks!

 

[otakalhasas]

I LOVE the scarecrow! But how is the pullet - did she live?

 

[Naliez]

No.
That scarecrow has startled me on several occasions. Lol I can only hope the Hawks are as easily fooled.

 

[JoCoKS]

Hawks will usually look their prey from above when circling. They have amazing vision an can even spot a mouse from that high up. Once they find their prey, they will roost on a branch or a telephone pole and watch the prey. Once the hawk believes that it has a good opportunity, it swoops to the prey. In a chickens case, it will generally happen one of two ways. If the chicken is small enough, a young chick or bantam sized, it may carry the prey off. If it is larger it will land either on top of or near the chicken and start eating the chicken on the back and neck area, standing on top of it. There may be other ways this can happen, but this is a generalization of what happens in a hawk attacking a chicken. You can deter hawks only because they are federally protected. Some methods that I have heard that work are hanging CDs or anything that reflects, off of branches and tall areas. Hawks don't like the reflective surface because it obstructs their view. You also should make sure you have a top of some kind on your run (I don't know if you do or not). If you are free ranging, make sure there is plenty of ground cover. A hawk won't typically chase a chicken on the ground into thick bushes and brambles. My chickens alarm when anything flies over (helicopters included ) and will all hide in the bushes. I've noticed my rooster is very good at looking for hawks. If you don't mind crows, you can find a way to bring them into your property. Hawks and crows do not like each other and crows will run hawks off occasionally. I have not lost to a hawk yet, using a mixture of these methods.

I did both and lost two of my hens on a day it snowed.

 

[cmom]

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/red-tailed-hawk
These pictures are a bit blurry because I tried to enlarge the original photos.

A Red-tailed hawk eating a snake.

 

[cmom]

One day my hubby was out cutting some wood on his table saw which was next to some chicks in a small pen. A hawked swooped down and grabbed a chick. It happened so fast there wasn't time to react. Now when I put them out I cover the pen.

 

[JoCoKS]

One day my hubby was out cutting some wood on his table saw which was next to some chicks in a small pen. A hawked swooped down and grabbed a chick. It happened so fast there wasn't time to react. Now when I put them out I cover the pen.View attachment 1964158

What did you use to cover your chickens?

 

[cmom]

Netting over the little pen and chicken wire or some welded wire over the melon boxes.