How to deter hawks?

[Fancychooklady]

I've lost two one and half month old chickens to a hawk in the last two days. There is one circling again today (they are just in a puppy play pen with screens over the top today so thy should be good for now) and I was wondering if anyone knows any ways to scare them off immediately without shooting at them? Or basically do you just take preventative measures to get them to stay away? We're a big getting a dog in a few weeks If that would help (an Australian Shepard great pyranees mix)? But it will be a puppy and when we get it and will need to be bigger and be trained before it's a full time guard dog.

Sorry for your loss, it's heart breaking to lose them to predators. Once the hawk knows where to get an ' easy feed ' he will be back. My resident goss hawk lands on the cage and tries to 'flush them out '. The last baby I lost was nearly 14 weeks old and I thought she was safe. Such a waste.
Prevention is your only real option . Protecting your flock can be challenging and hopefully when your puppy is grown , he will keep the predators at bay.

 

[Lavender Wraps]

We had a new neighbor move in next door. They have been building and erecting things like crazy. One day my husband said, "know what those things are?" On each side of their property were long metal poles with a cross bar at the top. I was not happy to hear what they were, watch roost for hawks. Oh my gosh I thought, here I am trying to watch the sky and protect my chickens and a predator lover has moved in next door. I don't hate or even dislike the Red Tail Hawks but I've lost too many chickens to them AND they ARE protected here in California. So what I've been doing is tossing out bread and fruit scraps to the chickens and the crows come in and snatch some of it. They have even make nest in two of our trees. You may ask, so what? The crows will not tolerate hawks in their area, they dive bomb them until they fly off! Now we haven't lost a chicken to the hawks since!

Another thing you can do is make a short legged platform and set it in the chicken yard, they will run under it if they spot a hawk or shadow of a large bird. All it takes is for the rooster to sound out his alarm and the hens will run for cover. We don't have a rooster so one of the senior hens sound the alarm if she suspects danger.

Hope this helps!

 

[Lavender Wraps]

You can see my PRIOR post, hope it helps. I wouldn't be too sure of your dog watching out for your chickens. We had a couple Doberman pups that was raised around chickens. When they were almost grown we had a disaster. Everyone left for the day, the dogs knew we were gone and even though I put the chickens up for safety reason while we were gone, the dogs dug under the fence and plucked almost all of the hens, some died and some had to be put down. The roosters was untouched as they had flown into the hay loft of the barn. That was such a disaster and very saddening. Needless to say, I cried. We no longer have them, dogs and chickens don't miss. It is a natural for dogs to chase animals such as a chicken, sheep, calves and such.

 

[centrarchid]

You can see my PRIOR post, hope it helps.  I wouldn't be too sure of your dog watching out for your chickens.  We had a couple Doberman pups that was raised around chickens.  When they were almost grown we had a disaster.  Everyone left for the day, the dogs knew we were gone and even though I put the chickens up for safety reason while we were gone, the dogs dug under the fence and plucked almost all of the hens, some died and some had to be put down.  The roosters was untouched as they had flown into the hay loft of the barn.  That was such a disaster and very saddening.  Needless to say, I cried.  We no longer have them, dogs and chickens don't miss.  It is a natural for dogs to chase animals such as a chicken, sheep, calves and such.

More preparation in the dog side prevents what you expereinced. I keep bird dogs as poultry guardians and do not supervise while at work or at night.

 

[backwoodsgnar]

I just had a close encounter today with some birds of prey... I was standing outside watering the garden when I noticed a shadow move across the yard - when I looked up I saw three very large birds. They certainly had the call of a hawk but seemed too large - almost like a juvenile eagle. Once I'd noticed them I shooed the chickens and ducks under the hen house. Looking up again I'd seen that they had moved in a little tighter to our yard. Getting a little freaked out, I stood in the coop with a shovel (just in case) and shooed the chickens back under the hen house. This time I also stuck the baby chickens and ducks into the hen house and shut the door. They birds circled back around again and one of them even had the gizzards to come in about 30ft from the ground - right overhead - and scope out the entire coop.

My only solution was to stay outside in and then next to the coop until I couldn't see them or hear their screeching any more.
Once they were gone all of the other bird activity sparked back up and the blue jays, humming birds and finches came back.


I'm just worried about the predators coming around when no one is outside. There doesn't seem to be any sure fire method other than avian netting. Does anyone have any good recommendations? We'll need a good amount of it to cover up our coop and durability/cost is important.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I just had a close encounter today with some birds of prey... I was standing outside watering the garden when I noticed a shadow move across the yard - when I looked up I saw three very large birds.  They certainly had the call of a hawk but seemed too large - almost like a juvenile eagle.  Once I'd noticed them I shooed the chickens and ducks under the hen house.  Looking up again I'd seen that they had moved in a little tighter to our yard.  Getting a little freaked out, I stood in the coop with a shovel (just in case) and shooed the chickens back under the hen house.  This time I also stuck the baby chickens and ducks into the hen house and shut the door.  They birds circled back around again and one of them even had the gizzards to come in about 30ft from the ground - right overhead - and scope out the entire coop. 


My only solution was to stay outside in and then next to the coop until I couldn't see them or hear their screeching any more. 

Once they were gone all of the other bird activity sparked back up and the blue jays, humming birds and finches came back.



I'm just worried about the predators coming around when no one is outside.  There doesn't seem to be any sure fire method other than avian netting.  Does anyone have any good recommendations? We'll need a good amount of it to cover up our coop and durability/cost is important. 

Sounds like you had a close call. I have nesting sea eagles directly opposite my coops. The only thing that stops them getting to my birds is the trees. They sit right overhead but because there is not enough open ground for them to get ' lift off ' they don't come down to the ground. Hawks on the other hand are very agile and I've watched them land , hop into the coop , snatch a youngster and fly off.
Netting or enclosed coops are the only sure fire way to protect your flock.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hopefully that's true; when we found the hens they were pretty torn to shreds. Not a great thing for the kids to see.

In almost all hawk attacks on full-sized adult chickens the chicken dies from massive tissue loss as a result of the hawk eating the chicken to death. The exception is when the hawk inadvertently opens a large artery or blood vessel while feeding.

A broken neck might be the common killing method of falcons. However falcons, especially Peregrine Falcons typically strike their prey 100s of feet in the air and at speeds of 200 miles per hour or greater. That's how the Peregrine Falcon earned the name "Duck Hawk" because it kills so many wild ducks on the wing.

Hawks on the other hand usually glide in or drop from a low altitude perch (a tree limb, fence post, or power line) onto your chicken then use their talons to control their prey while feather plucking and feeding begins.

Several posters on this forum have rescued hens from hawks after feeding has begun and the hens lived to tell the tail.

 

[fishwithaface]

This is my guard dog. 2yr, husky/pit, 60lbs. I have had him for a year before we got chickens. This is my first flock at 9weeks old now. He knows and is trained that he cannot chase chickens or ducks. But he does go after quial, roadrunner, rabbits, hawks everything but my flock. I trust him to free range with my flock in an un fenced yard, no attacks yet. [Fingers crossed] we have four frequent fliers of red tail, and something else.
I'm sorry to hear about everyone's loss. Unfortunately, my loss was due to my other dog ,Jack Russel, getting my orph.

 

[Bigwig]

We had a really close encounter with a red tail hawk that much have had a 5' wingspan.

Not only did he not care that I was standing 15' from where he dive bombed the chickens, he also didn't seem to care that I took off running towards him and screaming obscenities that would make a sailor uncomfortable.

He hit the fence line and then proceeded to try to snatch a chicken....thankfully our rooster was attempted to fight him off when I reached them. The hawk took off, circled a few times and then left, probably in search of an easier target.

I know that this is all part of owning free range chickens, and for the most part, they keep a close eye on the sky but yesterday left me with a pounding heart and bile in my throat.

I want to keep them safe, so I started researching hawk behavior and ways to possibly deter them.

All I found was information on CDs, scare tape, fake owls, installing speakers to play owl noises or crows in distress, oh and to remove the food source [chickens]. I also read that the hawks are easily spooked and don't like change [though if the hawk is hungry enough, the above points are all moot]

I feel bad cooping them up, and I can't sit outside all day and watch the skies for them, though I do peek out the window religiously during the day and go outside to check on them or give them treats.

My problem is, I don't have enough tree cover; the yard is fenced in, butu completely open. This summer, I'm planning on putting some trees and grapevines in the yard to kind of make it more difficult for hawks to have a clear landing strip....but for right now I'm kind of up the creek.

This morning, I had my neighbors two miniature horses come over....I'm hoping that the two big, constantly moving objects in the back yard will be enough movement and change to keep the hawks at bay.

I've only had two instances where hawks actually landed in my yard, the first time the hawk was much smaller and he couldn't get into the chick run, so he sat on top of it calling his friends for backup, I assume. And yesterday, where the butt face actually dive bombed the flock.

Does anyone else have ideas that have worked for them in the past?

I'm going to try to put some aluminum pans out there, but mirrors are a little too expensive to just lay out in the backyard.

I have a Great Pyrenees livestock (and poultry) guard dog who will chase off any airborne object (airplanes, hawks, sparrows..) that comes over or near my yard. The only problem with this breed is that they like to roam so you would have to put up a fence to keep it in (I have a friend who let their Pyrenees roam and both dogs have been hit by cars). My pyrenees is friendly towards my chickens.

 

[NateinFL]

Someone in a previous post said a turkey would be a deterrent. I bought a young Royal Palm tom turkey this last year to have around and I've had more hawk losses this year than ever before.