Huge hawk has been hanging in my yard for 3 days

[loanwizard]

Your Animal Control Officer is right AND wrong. They said you have the right to kill a wild animal if it is killing your livestock. However, it is a FEDERAL law that ALL hawks are protected.

That leaves you with a choice. You can shoot it, but run the risk of someone seeing you and turning you in, so for goodness sake, don't tell anyone and don't keep the feathers as a memento. Or, you can make the biggest run you can afford and cover it. Or, you can build a big open pen or let them free range and run the risk of losing them.

As an aside, hawks are not your only worry. You also have to be on high lookout for racoons, possum, fox and weasels as well as snakes and rats. Get a dog.

 

[flowergirl60]

Quote:
x2

 

[yinzerchick]

I had a hawk hanging around...I put up the fishing line with some cd's hanging from it from the coop to the run fence, and put a few more "panic rooms" out in the pasture. I also parked our truck out in the pasture. (yes, I let them free range all day, and put them in at night.) So far, since I've done that, I haven't seen it around. I also have a radio playing out in the run all day. I've heard that having crows and ravens around keeps the hawks away, which makes sence to me since they seem to annoy and fly around them all the time. I might even put out more feed corn for them if they keep the hawks away.

 

[SilkieBantams]

Quote:
The federal law is prohibited to kill any bird of prey since they are protected.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Okay folks - let's keep in mind that ALL birds of prey are protected by Federal law. It doesn't matter whether it attacks livestock or not.

To the OP: yes, hawks will target chickens (and so will owls, possum, raccoon, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, etc). Especially a silkie because they don't see well with all the poof on their heads. Just about everything eats chicken. I have lost a fully grown red sex link to a hawk. It couldn't carry her off, but it did kill her. If your run is very large, covering it may not be an option. There are other ways to protect your flock - either with fishing line zig zagged around your run, metallic objects like CD's hanging around your area or other ideas to keep hawks out.

Here is something that we did that has worked well for us. Our original run is our orchard, so covering it was not an option for us. So my DH and I came up with this. It's not pretty, but it works and we haven't had any further issues with hawks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5249927#p5249927

 

[meusoc]

Quote:
It's not crime if there attacking you or your pets!

 

[mstricer]

Quote:
I want to thank you and Happy Chooks for the CD idea, instead of making me feel irresponsible as some did in another thread not one gave any suggestions other then putting up a roof,(which I did on my bantam run which is small) my layer run is over 500 sq ft and all most in possible to cover. I will try this now. I appreciate the idea. I understand that they are protected by the federal law. (I think they have way bigger problems then a nuisance hawk in my yard that I would like to blast, but won't) I will let everyone know how this works.
Michele

 

[Tilly's Nest]

Much to my dismay and yours, do not harm the hawk. They are federally protected. Harming or killing them comes with steep fines and jail time. Try hanging some CDs around your coop and run. Hawks are fearful of their shine and will leave after a day or so. They are migrating right now and you should see many this time of year.

 

[Chemguy]

Hello, all-

It is frustrating when a predator attacks, and even more frustrating to find that some predators cannot be killed legally.

There are a few laws regarding the protection of migratory birds. The most wide-reaching (Federal) is the Migratory Bird Act. Information on this act, as well as a list of protected species can be found at http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/CurrentBirdIssues/Management/BirdManagement.html . One of the links on the page brings you to a list of protected species. All of the hawks, falcons and eagles found in the US are listed there.

For those who imagine that trapping and releasing a migratory bird or other predator might be a better solution, you should know it is illegal under the Lacey Act (http://www.fws.gov/le/pdffiles/Lacey.pdf) to do this without a permit or if doing so is covered under one of several exceptions.

Those who talk about how it is illegal to kill a hawk are in fact correct. It is illegal everywhere in the US.

Edit to add: A hunting license is considered a legal permit, issued by a state under federal oversight. So, some of the birds protected under the migratory bird act can in fact be hunted under certain conditions. But not hawks.

 

[Marcymom3]

There is a hawk who circles my yard pretty regularly. He makes my dog crazy! To be honest, I think that hawk is more interested in the small birds at my feeders than the chickens who may be on bug patrol. It is interesting to me, though, that the little birds are busier at the feeders when the chickens are in their pen. I am sure there is some logical explanation for this. Anybody have any feedback?