How to deter a hawk from my ducklings?

[TSOWOATNKC]

We have field mice and bunnies aplenty here. If raptors weren’t circling I’d assume a storm was about to arrive.

 

[2 many chickens]

The hawk will come back. Another duck will be eaten. He knows there's a buffet down there, he isn't leaving anytime soon. You need to up your protection somehow or another will be grabbed.
I have thick netting over my ducks pen, no hawk has ever broken through. It's strong, strong enough to swing it 100 feet back in the air if he hits it. Not saying netting is bulletproof but no attacks with netting for mine.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

We have field mice and bunnies aplenty here. If raptors weren’t circling I’d assume a storm was about to arrive.

The same here, but I never saw hawks swoop by my house and survey until I got chickens.
I wouldn't have been as concerned about the circling except it was low and I was out there. I don't believe hawks are afraid of people.
All you have to do is read through the predator forum to see how many times a full sized bird has been taken down by a hawk - they will eat on site too they don't always take their prey. And even if they didn't take it - they definitely can kill on site.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Here is the thread where the hawk came right up to the byc member.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hawk-attack.1209806/

 

[TSOWOATNKC]

The same here, but I never saw hawks swoop by my house and survey until I got chickens.
I wouldn't have been as concerned about the circling except it was low and I was out there. I don't believe hawks are afraid of people.
All you have to do is read through the predator forum to see how many times a full sized bird has been taken down by a hawk - they will eat on site too they don't always take their prey. And even if they didnt take it - they definitely can kill on site.

I know they eat on site. I’ve heard cats die that way around here. If a human is very nearby they aren’t going to eat on site unless something is wrong with them.

It isn’t about being fearful; the natural instinct of wild animals is to avoid humans. If they aren’t avoiding humans they are abnormal, not normal.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I know they eat on site. I’ve heard cats die that way around here. If a human is very nearby they aren’t going to eat on site unless something is wrong with them.

It isn’t about being fearful; the natural instinct of wild animals is to avoid humans. If they aren’t avoiding humans they are abnormal, not normal.

I misread what you said.
There are other type of hawks other than red tailed hawks. I don't know what the largest animal a red tailed hawk (or any hawk for that matter) can carry off, but you hear of dogs being snatched by hawks as well.
I know at my house no person or dog can be out there all of the time. I don't free range either. I was addressing misconceptions. Hawks can attack or attempt to attack regardless if a person is there or not. I have read it on byc and have seen videos of it happening.

 

[TSOWOATNKC]

I think I recall someone in Seattle was once attacked in broad daylight by a bird. They did a necropsy and found it was sick, starving and basically delusional.

The fences do make a big difference in some cases because raptors almost always attack, then eat off to the side or something. In our case it’d have to eat while surrounded by 20 ducks and 7 geese. I don’t think that would go well. Falcons kill basically on impact. Different raptors kill in different manners. So it’s always best to figure out what is in your area and customize your approach that way. We have owls, hawks, falcon, and eagles here. But the greatest threat for us is probably the raccoon and other mammalian predators. Eagles/owl generally prefer small mammals over birds. Red tail would go after the other smaller birds around here first because there are more of them, so it’ll be easier to catch.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Hawks do what hawks do. One ate my duck on the front porch. Small Red Tail.

 

[Lil Drake40]

Yep they do but I didn’t get my birds to feed the hawks etc.

 

[Skye'sDucks]

Thank you all for the replies...

And I also understand that sometimes, losses happen. I can't control nature.

I know we have a fenced, smaller yard that we could let them range in during the day, I'm just unsure how well it could work. Yes, there's more bushes and better hiding places, but they don't have a lot of room to run away...So I don't know if the hawk could get through the bushes. They're thick enough, but I have no idea.

The only thing is, I don't know if the fence is high enough for the hawk to not be able to carry one of them off. We also have trees in the yard with good branches for it to also fly up there, as a possibility. But again, they're higher than the fence, so I don't know if it could carry one of them up there or not.

Someone mentioned feeding the wild birds around, and we actually have a lot of crows that like to pick at the duck food. (They came on their own accord) My mom was thinking that perhaps they were deterring hawks for a while, since we have had them occasionally before having ducks.
But I am aware that hawks will kill wild birds--I've seen it happen once. So they probably really are not doing anything at this point now that the hawk has come and found them.

And I also thank you for warning me about hawks attacking adult birds...I think we have red tails here, but I'm not 100% certain.

Thanks for the warning about humans, too. I was thinking of going out there with them as a possibility but at this point I won't.

I'll be discussing this with my mom to see if we need to put them in the smaller fenced yard or not. I mean, I have no idea how much help it could be. But I know there are a lot more denser bushes they could hide in.

I'll also see what we can do about putting up better defenses, or maybe even keeping them in a run for a while.