Ideas for protecting against hawks WITHOUT covering your run

[TJAnonymous]

I have trees in my pens with good heavy duty netting covering all of my pens. I have had birds get on the netting but never actually get caught in it. I think it was a freak accident. Most of the time it's the young birds. I pretty much have my netting so the birds can't get on it which is rare a bird will get out and get on the netting.
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In every single instance, mine have gotten stuck because they were free-ranging outside the run and tried to fly over the fence to get back inside. In 4 months, I've had this happen maybe 5-6 times. My netting is 2" x 2" rope netting. If the birds fly into it, they get tangled in it rather easily and can't get out without assistance. However, I've never had a bird actually DIE from being stuck in the net until this weekend. Mind you, she couldn't have been trapped there for more than 3 hours MAX. She was stuck in a way that she was laying on her back with belly in the air, but her head had fallen through the netting so she was essentially upside down with her head closer to the ground than her body. I'm guessing that she suffocated due to the gravity or she simple over-exhausted herself in 90+ degree heat trying to get out.

I put these nets up to keep my birds from jumping the fence in the early mornings and to keep them safe from hawks while in their run. The nets HAVE accomplished this goal which, I believe, has saved me many untimely deaths. However, I do let my birds out a lot to free range in the daytime because of the lack of grass in their run. I never considered that they would try to fly into the nets from the outside and be injured or killed in the process.

I'm chalking this up as a terrible accident but it certainly is something to be aware of....

 

[cmom]

I don't free range anymore due to predators. I have been seeing a fox and now her kits are starting to hunt on their own. I see them on my game cameras daily. I lost my special favorite bird to a fox awhile back. She was dust bathing in the garden and I got sidetracked. I still beat myself up for not putting her back in her pen while I was distracted.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I don't free range anymore due to predators. I have been seeing a fox and now her kits are starting to hunt on their own. I see them on my game cameras daily. I lost my special favorite bird to a fox awhile back. She was dust bathing in the garden and I got sidetracked. I still beat myself up for not putting her back in her pen while I was distracted.

I can relate. My neighbor owns the field behind me. It is not mowed and the brush has grown up to a point that the foxes have created a habitat paradise between the rabbits, rodents, birds, and...of course, my chickens. I lost my favorite Blue Andalusian just a few weeks ago to a fox under nearly the same circumstances that you mentioned. I had walked inside the house for just a few minutes and the fox took advantage of my absence to nab my girl. I was so upset with myself.... I know foxes can hunt at ANY time but ours seems to be the most active at dusk and dawn. It was already several hours after dawn so I had felt assured that the risk was low. Unfortunately I was wrong. My losses to foxes this year (with nets in place) have only been a couple....all while they were out free-ranging soon after dawn....compared to nearly 15+ birds last year (sans nets). The nets have definitely helped but I still feel heartsick about the accident that killed my young girl this week.

 

[cmom]

This was my Gladys.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

This was my Gladys.
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A beautiful girl.

 

[McChooky]

I use string for their chicken yard. The picture shows better now that it's frozen and sagging. The girls are never in their chicken yard alone, but I've not seen the hawk on the ground stalking them in their run since I put the string up.

The hawks will fly down and grab one and take off with it if it can get one small enough.They'll watch and wait a couple days and .They go for the easiest ones .They will land on the ground itself if they have to and chase them .Chickens need hiding places ON the ground itself.In regard to your hearing more than one there are some hawks that hunt in a team.One will chase and one will head them off and between them they have a better chance of catch them.They're in the southern part of the US .I'm not sure of their name sorry.

 

[DatCampG]

Windchime($), Flag Or Shiny Moving Yard Art Works For Me

 

[cmom]

I use string for their chicken yard. The picture shows better now that it's frozen and sagging. The girls are never in their chicken yard alone, but I've not seen the hawk on the ground stalking them in their run since I put the string up.

You are lucky. I used fishing line but still had some losses in the past.

 

[McChooky]

Twice in the past 2 months, I've walked outside to find a hawk scoping out my flock. The first time, the hawk was sitting on a low hanging branch between my duck and chicken pens. It did not attack, but was just sitting there watching. As soon as I came outside, it flew away. The 2nd incident was a little over a month later. In the 2nd incident, a hawk was sitting high up in a very large oak tree between my barn & coop. On that day, I had actually let the flock out to free range so I had chickens scattered around the acre in front of the barn. When I came out, the hawk started screeching. Several of my girls (not all) began running to the coop for cover. I swear it sounded like a 2nd hawk "responded" to the screeches, but I could not find where it was coming from. After a few seconds, the hawk left and did not return.

I've been nervous as I know it is only a matter of time before a hawk attempts to attack my girls. I live on the edges of a very small town. So kind of a mix of "town" and "country." I think my location has played a role in lowering the number of potential hawks who stick to more rural areas. However, clearly it is not foolproof. My chicken run is rather large....maybe 35' x 150'? I have two goats who have their own shed but share the same chicken yard. My backyard also aligns to one side of the chicken yard and my duck pen. I have a large Husky/Great Pyrenees who acts as a deterrent for hawks (and other critters) when she is outside, but that isn't all the time.

Given the size of my chicken yard, along with the fact that I have some giant oak trees that provide necessary shade to a good portion of the yard, I cannot/will not cover it from above. So I am looking for other ideas/options that can help persuade any potential hawks that my girls are not worth the effort. While it would be GREAT to hear options that will work around the entire pasture in front of my barn (approx 1 acre) where the girls free range the most, I'm mostly focused on the chicken yard itself. If I let the girls out to free range, I'm USUALLY outside with them although not always.

I've seen some people use old CDs. Does that really work? What else do you use? What have you tried that DOESN'T work?

You might want to keep a close eye out if you see your chickens eating acorns.I've read they're toxic .Maybe someone else can add their own personal experience with chickens eating acorns. I've ever had oak trees growing near my chicken lots.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You might want to keep a close eye out if you see your chickens eating acorns.I've read they're toxic .Maybe someone else can add their own personal experience with chickens eating acorns. I've ever had oak trees growing near my chicken lots.

We have oak trees. Chickens are pretty smart about what's safe to eat and what isn't. There is a whole slew of lilies growing in their run, which I've heard are toxic to chickens. They love sheltering under them for shade and scratching around them for bugs. In turn the lilies flourish from the cultivation and fertilizer, and reward me with huge, beautiful blooms. But the chickens do not eat them. If chickens ate toxic stuff in their environment they would have been extinct long ago.