There’s nothing wrong with living in harmony with nature. That has different meanings to different people though. Not everyone wants to lock birds away at the slightest chance of danger and they do just fine keeping their chickens alive.I lost a rooster last year to a red-tailed hawk. I had to replenish my flock anyway, so I got some Black Australorps. I am very pleased with the fact that they do indeed look like a nice flock of big, black crows. And I have not seen or heard a hawk since they got old enough to hang out outside.
After the hawk attack in which one of my two good roos was taken, I kept my chickens confined in a small run that a hawk can't get into, for 4-5 days. Hawks are opportunistic hunters. He came back the next day, and the day after. But the groceries were not readily available, so he went hunting elsewhere, looking for easier pickings.
I also made shelters for my birds. Hidey-holes they can duck under quickly if they see danger in the skies. I haven't lost another bird since then.
I guess I am one of those bleeding-heart hippies that believes we can live in harmony with nature, it just takes some planning. Good luck!
Will keep that in mind! So far, so good, though. That's what we need, everybody sharing their experiences. For the record, I replaced my lost roo with a Black Jersey Giant. He's 10 mo old and hasn't been tested yet. I have high hopes for him though.
I agree, and coyotes do, too, IME. We no longer have or will have white or very light-colored chickens.
My fix, 120 lb GSD mix. Works great!
There is really no way to deter hawks. I have good heavy duty netting covering my nice large pens. No problem with hawks. I did have a breach when a section of my netting had a gap. I had put the sections together with zip ties which deteriorated and came off leaving a gap that a Red Tail hawk got through. It killed several birds, a killing spree. I have since replaced the zip ties with hog rings. Free ranging is fine as long as you realize it's a risk you take and you will loose birds sooner or later. I don't free range anymore due to losses in the past. I have electric wires around my coops and pens, the netting over the pens and concrete under the gates all due to losses from predators in the past. Good luck...
I lost several hens one year, even though I had a big run, but the hawk got in. Since then I've rebuilt it out of hardware cloth to deter hawks and raccoons. I will let mine out to free range once a day for a couple of hours. If there is a threat, I've seen them run like crazy under some big bushes that are very dense. So far, so good. My feeling is that is our responsibility to keep our pets safe.
