How to deal with hawks

[RoseHawke]

Unfortunately the best thing I can come up with is to keep bigger chickens! Around here I have Cooper's Hawks which play havoc with my bird feeders, but they're too small to take a large sized, i.e. Wyandotte, Cochin, Australorp and the like, bird. Likewise the Red Shoulder we've had move in recently. I actually like the Red Shoulder - she seems to have decimated the squirrel population.

I really need to say that I like them all. I look on Redtails as my "spirit" animal, hence my avatar.

 

[cmom]

I eventually got tired of loosing a bird to a hawk and other predators such as coyote and fox now and then when free ranging the birds. My birds all have nice large covered pens. My pens total area is 60' x 200'. When I have let them out they don't go far and don't stay out long. My property is mostly open pasture. Years ago I planted trees in all of the pens for shade. I also have rain/shade tables in the pens. Free ranging is fine but you will eventually loose a/some birds. I did have a breach a few months ago. A section of the netting had zip ties holding it together and over the years they deteriorated and a formed a gap in the netting in which a Red Tail hawk got through and into a pen and killed several birds. I did get the hawk out and fixed the breach. I had been seeing it around and one day I had a Dr. appt and some errands to do and when I got home I heard the birds really fussing much more than normal and went to investigate. That is when I found the hawk and several dead pullets that weren't far from starting to lay. I have since replaced all of the zip ties with hog rings. So far they are holding great. Good luck and have fun...

 

[Morelias]

"Our" RedTail Hawks keep the mice and rodent population in check and seem to be territorial mates. We keep our chickens in their Coop and Run most of the time and I'm building a "Chicken Courtyard" for lack of a better term to that they can have a safe place to Free Range from time to time.

Hawks and Owls keep the rodents away, and no rodents mean no snakes.

Can't have it all!

It seems our hawks around here have bigger fish to fry. The only flying predator I've seen go after rodents are peregrine falcons which are always welcomed. They're too small to bother our chickens anyways. The large hawks are always after my chickens, rabbits, squirrels or other birds. In the spring I see a rat snake, corn snake , water snake or copperhead almost daily. Never had an issue with them. We also have a decent population of prairie rats. I'd take snakes over hawks any day!!

I guess the ecosystem just depends on where you live though. Hawks are insanely prevelant here as are squirrels and rabbits. Rats are harder to find so they only feed the fast and sneaky likes of falcons and snakes. Snakes never bother the chickens because they have plenty other prey to choose from; rats, mice, fish, frogs, other reptiles, spiders, etc. My little pom-pom fluff ball chickens are an easy target and much more satisfying than a small rodent to hawks.

 

[Imse]

It must be far easier to keep your chickens in a safe, covered run. In that way they are safe from all predators. If you scared a way one hawk, the day after it will be a cat or a fox... Yes, cats can take chickens, even if you have a good rooster. Our free ranging chickens ended up in a run because of our old cat loved to chase the chickens and we saved chickens life every week...

Yes, it so nice to have free ranging chickens, but we do have a responsibility to take care of our animals. So, if you can, build a safe run.