How to Keep Hawks Away?

[lenadriver]

The only way to truly keep chickens safe from aerial attack is to keep them in a large covered run.
You can provide plantings and cover for them to run under but hawks are amazingly agile and maneuverable. I've read of hawks attacking chickens right under the nose of people out "keeping an eye" on their ranging chickens. Cover will certainly help but it will not prevent all hawk attacks.

This happened to me yesterday. I've got plastic 'owls' everywhere, so much tree coverage, 2 dogs and I had just gone inside. I heard the kill, it was over so quickly. I went outside but the dogs had already chased it away. It had literally taken the front half of a Hamburgh pullet in the brief moment before my dogs were there. It was only about 40 metres from the house, heavily treed with all sorts of established trees. All thick, varied heights. The remains were under a huge, draping tree between 2 sheds. It was awful. I was thinking of those kids shiny, spinning, sort of flower shaped things that spin when you blow on them. The cd/dvd idea sounds promising, too. I might make a string of them, like Christmas decorations! I had thought of tinsel, too........

 

[FlockQueen]

This happened to me yesterday. I've got plastic 'owls' everywhere, so much tree coverage, 2 dogs and I had just gone inside. I heard the kill, it was over so quickly. I went outside but the dogs had already chased it away. It had literally taken the front half of a Hamburgh pullet in the brief moment before my dogs were there. It was only about 40 metres from the house, heavily treed with all sorts of established trees. All thick, varied heights. The remains were under a huge, draping tree between 2 sheds. It was awful. I was thinking of those kids shiny, spinning, sort of flower shaped things that spin when you blow on them. The cd/dvd idea sounds promising, too. I might make a string of them, like Christmas decorations! I had thought of tinsel, too........

I ran sisal twine crossing back and forth across an eighth of an acre and draped bird netting over parts of it. It's been month and they were taking a duckling every day when i decided to do it