HOW TO GET RID OF HAWKS/OWLS

[ChickiKat]

Sunday morning was eventful for us. I was out in the yard and heard such a commotion. Looked to the run and saw something fly out. I thought it was a big young girl, so I went down to get her. Didnt find a loose chicken but looked up to see a small/medium hawk on one of the fence posts of the run... Tore into the house to yell at DH, get the shotgun we got a hawk. He gets the shotgun, comes out as the hawk is flying away, and he shoots into the air... he tells me he cant kill a hawk because it is protected.. hummmmm who protects my chickens... Now the run is covered in deer fencing and I hope that is the last we have to deal with the hawkers!!

 

[the1honeycomb]

put up some Martin nests they will help keep the hawks away!! and good for the insects also!!

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

Quote:
This thread is over 2 years old, was just revived today. The questions are now in response to the post by nelsontheresa2@tractor.

Tennessee has them as well

 

[Davaroo]

I dont know how to get rid of hawks. In fact, I'm not sure anything will be completely effective except for Those Methods Which Must Not Be Mentioned. I had an affirmation of this today.

I was out riding my bicycle this afternoon, which I do for exercise. I usually get pretty far out in the country and manage about an hour and a half in the saddle. During that time I see all kinds of things.

As I came around a desolate bend in the road, I saw a large bird swoop around a tree - and dive right into it! It was a huge bird, about 40 yards ahead. But it was obscured by the leaves and I could not tell just what sort of bird it was. One thing was clear, though; it deliberately banked wide around the treetop so it could pivot straight into the branches. The commotion was quite loud and the whole "landing" looked rather clumsy.

There was an immediate shaking among the branches... and the bird came flopping back out of the tree.
It dropped a few feet as it's wings clutched at the air, taking it away from the tree's canopy. The distance between us closed fast, and it came right at me, not 10 feet above.
I could almost hear its flight muscles groaning as it scooped air and grabbed for altitude.

And then I saw it - the bird had a squirrel in its claws! I could see the hapless rodent's face... the poor wretch was still twitching it's tail as the bird went past.

By then I knew it was a large - and I mean big - red hawk. That clever beast had attacked a squirrel right in among those tree branches. It had literally ripped the tree rat right off its perch.
The woods went back to their silence and only a few falling leaves remained, marking the spot where the squirrel once sat.

Riding past, I shook my head and thought to myself... "and people are supposed to defend their chickens against that sort of thing?!"

 

[WildBillHicks]

Hawks are beautiful and magnificent birds. The thought of killing one makes me sick. I have red tails all around my house but I would never shoot one lawfully or unlawfully. A fox got in my pen today but I found the hole, patched it and put out a have a heart trap so I can catch it and release it elsewhere.

 

[happyhensny]

Quote:
Please do not release it at my house. I don't want it either.

 

[sourland]

I don't want it in my backyard either.

 

[dainerra]

That's one of the main problems with catch and release. First, no one else wants your pests either. Second, it's illegal.

Then the small problem that you probably sentenced the "saved" animal to a slow death by starvation since any area that a fox could live will already have foxes in it.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Beautiful magnificent birds? Well, sure, I guess so.
But I'm guessing you've never had them wipe out your chickens? I've seen them do it. They are remorseless and implacable.
I gave up the whole majestic notion when it comes to animals. They are animals, and they do what animals do. Nothing at all romantic about them.

As for catch and release, well... that isn't such a hot idea, either.
Move an animal elsewhere, and the critter will do the things you hated - there. Or it will die under claws of it's new animal "friends," starve from competition or be killed by someone else.
Here's a little tidbit on the matter from our good friend Bob Plamondon, www.plamondon.com:

(speaking about his predatory crow problems)...
"How about shooting them? What worked was shooting them. After shooting two crows on my main pasture, they've kept away. The back pasture has fewer crows but is still something of a problem, since it's much harder for me to sneak up on them over there...

Predators are smart and observant. I rarely hear people mention this, but predators are smarter and more observant than people give them credit for. Now that I've killed two crows, at least a hundred are avoiding my farm. I've seen the same effect with four-footed predators: when the farmers and the local trapper are on their toes about dispatching livestock-eaters, the predators not only get the message, they pass it on to their young, and a balance is struck.

The predators eat wildlife rather than livestock, and this means that both predators and livestock get to have a normal span. But if you don't kill any predators, their caution fades. After a couple of generations, the mothers stop teaching farm-avoidance to their young, and then the clueless young predators kill a lot of livestock before inevitably being killed themselves.
Which is a bad deal all around. To misquote the song, 'Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be chicken eaters!'"

 

[Aves]

I just had an issue with a Juvie red-tailed hawk that found an easy meal while learning to hunt. It killed two of my hens within 1 week. So after a little reserach I ended up stringing 1100 feet of vinyl coated clothesline in a spiderweb formation and then I tied hundreds of colored flagging (orange, pink & yellow since hawks see color) onto the clothesline. It looks like a 3-ring circus in the run (it has no top). I also purchased a 3-d almost life-like coyote decoy that I move around 1 - 2x daily. There is constant movement and activity in the run now that the flagging is blowing, the clotheline is strung within 4 -5 of each other and Bolt the coyote is on duty. No deaths for several weeks now...

Aves