HOW TO GET RID OF HAWKS/OWLS

[bigtooks]

this is just a story pertaining to the subject that i thought you might like to hear...

a man shot and killed a bald eagle that kept killing his free ranging chickens...he evidently buried it behind his barn...when the ODNR guy came to his house and asked.."have you seen an eagle around here"...the man replies..well no i havent..the ODNR(ohio dept. of natural resources) guy pulls out a gps thingy from his pocket and it was beeping...the closer he got to the back of the barn the louder the beep gets...needless to say...the man was busted...
wouldnt want to be him...not sure exactly what they did to him...but i'm sure it wasnt pretty

 

[Hillbilly Rooster]

Yes Hawks and Owls are protected. I know back it the day if you had a certain kind of owl that the DNR( Dept. of Natural Resources, Fish and wildlife officers) would help take care of the problem.

I free range and dont have a problem the problem now is the coon's.

 

[black404]

Also throw a few cds on the roof of your house or barn... that should fix things.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
I suspected that would be your next comment. Sorry that wont do, either.
You can get yourself in hot water simply for molesting them. There is another entire body of regulations for re-habiting them on your own. If you are not,
A. A sanctioned biologist
B. A Government appointed regulator
C. Able to prove livestock deprivation and financial loss or loss of livelihood

... then it is essentially hands off.



There are two ways to go here: Deterrence and Natural Selection.

BUT FIRST: wrap your mind around the notion of 'ranging' - but drop the image of FREE from the picture.

In Deterrence, you put up shiny things to dangle in the wind, toss C/D's on the roof, erect owl balloons, string entrapment wires, cut down nearby trees and perching sites, play AC/DC music loudly... do all the sundry things that entail "deterrence."
It gets quite complex and can have some effect, although it seems generally to be only a partial solution.

In the Natural Selection mode, you take advantage of the chicken itself. They don't like to go far from a ready food source, so you feed and water them on a range site of YOUR choosing. Then you install range shelters within this range area. These can be elaborate structures or just tepees of brush and branches.

When the hawk looms overhead, the chickens run and scatter into the nearest shelter. Hawks won't normaly go sauntering into an enclosed shelter looking for the chicken... they attack on the fly. If they do try to enter the shelters, the chicken squirts out the back and heads for the next one or the bushes. With the hawk on the ground, all it's speed and weight advantage is lost.

These things simulate the jungle environment that chickens are eveloved from and most comfortable in. Sticking chickens out in uncontrolled, wide open spaces is just asking for trouble.

-----------------------------------------------------------

My sister did both. She used some deterrents and the range shelter method as I have suggested. She claimed it really cut down on BOP deprivation.

We call it the Natural Selection method because those chickens too stupid to take shelter or which are too slow, well.... they get selected by Nature to be the BOP's prey! Eventually, in creating this little microcosm, a balance is truck between the smart, fast chickens and the BOP.

The chickens learn to stick closer to home and can relax a little, knowing there is a safe haven nearby. The hawk learns the chickens are too hard to catch and goes back to it's normal prey of mice and rabbits. It then re-establishes it's terriitory where it belongs.
Predators are generally smart enough to recognize a losing proposition when they see one.

(And when all this fails - SSS, but you didn't hear that from me.)

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Electric fencing...

 

[irf1983]

I already have a covered run. My coop and run are pest-proof. I'd just like to let them out some. The owl is my main concern just because I know it has a nest in the yard. Anyways, hopefully if i let them out during the day i'll be ok. They've got 5 acres of woods to roam in, I'm sure they can find some cover there. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
If you're happy with it, then that makes two of us.
Best of luck...let us know how it works out.

 

[Jonathanq1]

BB Gun or all of your chickens will soon dissapear one by one. It's happened to me. I no longer let them free range.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
That was kinda my point when I suggested dropping "FREE" from the free ranging concept. Freedom tends to do more harm than good to the domestic chicken.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
They can fly faster than you can drive, and in a straight line, they would beat you home.