How to get hawk away from backyard?!?

[centrarchid]

What is the aversion to knowing the species of hawk? Species is very important.

 

[Folly's place]

I always want to know, and get out the bird books if necessary. Everyone doesn't care, though. Mary

 

[centrarchid]

Hawk species makes a huge difference. Otherwise, why even care it is a hawk. You could simply call it a predator and kill it because nobody cares.

Dealing with Coopers Hawks differs markedly from how you deal with a Red-tailed Hawk and actually have success.

 

[twisted-acres-farm]

Hawks are protected, you kill one- HUGE fines and maybe more. it's not worth it.
I don't know where op lives but here in Michigan that is a $1500 fine, per bird. nope..I'm good...I'll just keep my chickens in a tractor.

In ND you are allow to protect your livestock AND there is always the 3 S's --shoot , shovel, shut up

 

[centrarchid]

In ND you are allow to protect your livestock AND there is always the 3 S's --shoot , shovel, shut up

You just screamed to the world in violation of the third S.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... there is always the 3 S's --shoot , shovel, shut up

Since we are dealing with a Federal Case here there are certain things that you should never ever do.

Under no circumstances should you confine a young pullet or perhaps a white pigeon to a wire cage with food, shelter, and water, and then wire and set 3 or 4 small steel traps on top of and around said cage. And what ever you do, don't do this in public view. This is against the law so just don't do it, you may illegally restrain or harass a lovely, freeflying, beautiful, chicken hawk and make him or her late or even actually miss an important appointment.

 

[twisted-acres-farm]

You just screamed to the world in violation of the third S.

ah BUT I didn't actually admit to have done such. At least not with birds so far

 

[mechanic57]

I was in my kitchen and I was looking out the window and I saw a hawk. The hawk was flying over one of my hens. But my hen was hiding under a bush. But my rooster started flapping his wings and screeching and all sorts of things to get rid of the hawk. But the hawk only moved from my backyard to the fence. So I had to go out there and scare it off. How do I get rid of it. It only happen one time that I know of. But i don't want it to ever happen again.

The only way to protect them from hawks is a covered run. By FDA definition, a free range chicken is one that is allowed access to the outside. Thats it. The definition does not include an amount of time they are allowed outside, or how much of the outside they have access to, or whether the outside is fenced in from other parts of the outside.

So just because we are recommending a covered run, doesn't mean it has to be small and cramped, but without a covered run, the hawk(s) will come almost daily for an easy meal until all your chickens are dead. I have a covered run. Its not small, but it does not encompass my all my acres, so I do let them out of the run nearly every day after 3:00. Why 3:00? Because that is when I get home from work and my kids get home from school and statistically I've lost no chickens to hawks after 3:00. The hawks seem to come by throughout the morning until 1:00, but that's just my observation over the years of having chickens here. Every time the chickens come out, however, there is a risk of loss and I accept that risk based on my risk analysis.

Many people have an emotional attachment to their chickens and want to treat them like pets instead of livestock. That's fine, I understand that. Chickens are great entertainment and even therapeutic to care for and raise. They are easy and educational for kids to help raise. The reality is chickens are livestock and are nowhere near the top of the food chain. Many other animals will kill them if given the chance. So unlike a dog or cat that has no natural predators, part of caring for them is protecting them from the dangers that they cannot protect themselves from. Some people feel their chickens should roam "au naturale" and it is some sort of cruel, inhuman act to keep them fenced it, but then they don't want to accept the other side of the coin, the fact that "au naturale" chickens have a higher potential to become piles of bloody feathers and guts strewn across the yard. I feel that keeping them in a fenced run is for their protection. I would feel irresponsible to have all the capabilities and power of reason that I have, and do nothing to protect the flock I have decided to take care of.

Someone asked why hawks are protected by law. A number of different species are endangered due to deforestation for the development of urban, suburban and even farmland areas. I live in southern NJ and I was shocked to see photos and maps of the area from the early 1900s and see that a lot of the farm land of the Garden State used to be forested land. This displaces many animals, both predators and prey, so numbers decline. The law here states that birds of prey are not to be killed, trapped, etc for seeking out their natural prey. One state wildlife site give an example of people setting up bird feeders in their yards and hawks preying on the birds at the feeders. It says "You did not cause a bird to be killed by the hawk. You only caused it to be killed where you could see it. If you don't like seeing birds killed by hawks, don't do things that gather the birds in your yard." The law is basically set up to let the natural order of things occur without any more active human interference. Whether it is successful is an entirely different debate that I will not get into.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Since we are dealing with a Federal Case here there are certain things that you should never ever do.

Under no circumstances should you confine a young pullet or perhaps a white pigeon to a wire cage with food, shelter, and water, and then wire and set 3 or 4 small steel traps on top of and around said cage. And what ever you do, don't do this in public view. This is against the law so just don't do it, you may illegally restrain or harass a lovely, freeflying, beautiful, chicken hawk and make him or her late or even actually miss an important appointment.

Also never set your steel traps on a tall fence post. You would be more likely to catch a raptor instead of fox or coon and get yourself in trouble.
Google "pole traps" to see what to not do.

 

[QIA]

I've heard that stringing twine or bailing wire zig zaggy all over the yard works, I don't know, Im a new chicken mama starting Saturday. So I can't verify this.