Ideas for protecting against hawks WITHOUT covering your run

[TJAnonymous]

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.

I've read that... I've also had friends who've stressed over my horses possibly eating acorns. While I'm ALWAYS cautious, it has been my experience that most animals inherently know what is toxic to them and don't eat it UNLESS they are starving and have a lack of alternatives. I personally haven't seen any of my animals (horses, goats, chickens, ducks) eat acorns or show any interest in them. Despite this, I still give my horses Daily Gold (Bentonite clay) in their feed 2x/day as a precaution for any toxic substances (including buttercup which grows rampant in my pasture).

I cannot control the acorns around my house. I would never cut down the trees because they provide vital purposes on my property. I *do* spray 2 4-D in the spring for the buttercup, but you can't ever assume you get all of it. My point is that I can't fully control potentially toxic plants on my property. Chickens (and all farm animals) have survived for hundreds of years in the same environment as my farm. I can only do my best to ensure there are more appetizing alternatives to anything that might be toxic.

But THANK YOU for pointing it out as a topic of awareness for anyone who might not know.

 

[Bridget B]

Right now the ducks are kept in a separate pen because I had one of them who was acting aggressively towards one particular hen. They would chase her senseless. But that was only when I had two ducks and they WEREN'T pen. Now I have 7 ducks and they are all kept together. Once the weather gets nice again, I plan to let the ducks free range during the day so they can go down to my pond.

I've been reading that most people have had problems with hawk attacks in early to mid morning. I usually put the dog outside around 7 AM until I feed at 9 AM. I really think that the dog is a good deterrent because my backyard is literally right next to both pens and so close that it would make a hawk nervous. But I could be deluding myself....who knows. Both times I saw the hawk recently it was late morning. I don't believe the dog was outside either time but I honestly can't remember for certain.

We had a hawk attack about 10:30 am one day while my German Shorthaired Pointer was outdoors watching the one chicken that was free ranging. The dog was not in the same fenced area as the chicken. I was indoors but in a room that was very close to the action. The dog started seriously barking so out the door I ran. The Redtail hawk was on the ground attempting to snag the chicken with one of its claws. It took off as soon as it saw me. I was pretty rattled as the bird had to fly very close to me to escape. It was huge! My dog was trained as a bird dog while he was a pup. He knows the difference between "our birds" and the other birds as he has matured. I think that most dogs can be taught at an early age to actually protect your chickens.

 

[TJAnonymous]

We had a hawk attack about 10:30 am one day while my German Shorthaired Pointer was outdoors watching the one chicken that was free ranging. The dog was not in the same fenced area as the chicken. I was indoors but in a room that was very close to the action. The dog started seriously barking so out the door I ran. The Redtail hawk was on the ground attempting to snag the chicken with one of its claws. It took off as soon as it saw me. I was pretty rattled as the bird had to fly very close to me to escape. It was huge! My dog was trained as a bird dog while he was a pup. He knows the difference between "our birds" and the other birds as he has matured. I think that most dogs can be taught at an early age to actually protect your chickens.

I've heard stories like that but haven't had the misfortune of experiencing it. We have a lot of giant oak, gum, and maple trees all around our house, backyard, and chicken yard. I've heard that hawks are very cautious about flying into spaces where they could feel closed in. The trees can be a double edged sword. They do help hide the chickens from flyovers and help provide that closed in feeling, but they can also provide camouflage cover for them to hide until they strike. I've had a couple of times this year that a hawk has swooped under the tree cover. Lost 2 chicks to hawks within the past 30 days, in fact... But so far the hawks have never attempted to swoop down while the dogs are in the backyard.

 

[SCMommaHen]

Of the hawk attacks I've witnessed they swoop under the trees and sit in them waiting for another chance. The chickens normally go for nearest cover and will sit there a good hour or more after an attempted attack. Normally they try in the morning. But today at 1:30 I had an attack right after I left the house. Cameras showed my welsummer for reasons unknown tried to make it to the deck across the open yard instead of the Cypress and Holly she was very close to which was a fatal mistake. I'm going to put up some kind of cover in the middle of the yard like a chair with board on it tomorrow.
BTW I have 2 black hens, and a black rooster. One is the size of a crow. Doesn't faze these red tail hawks at all.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Of the hawk attacks I've witnessed they swoop under the trees and sit in them waiting for another chance. The chickens normally go for nearest cover and will sit there a good hour or more after an attempted attack. Normally they try in the morning. But today at 1:30 I had an attack right after I left the house. Cameras showed my welsummer for reasons unknown tried to make it to the deck across the open yard instead of the Cypress and Holly she was very close to which was a fatal mistake. I'm going to put up some kind of cover in the middle of the yard like a chair with board on it tomorrow.
BTW I have 2 black hens, and a black rooster. One is the size of a crow. Doesn't faze these red tail hawks at all.

I'm sorry you lost your hen... I am fortunate that I work from home so I am constantly on the lookout for hawks. If I see any, I set off bottle rockets which helps scare them off. It also puts my chickens on notice. They scatter for cover... However I can't stay out there constantly nor do I want to keep them locked up all the time. I have to come to terms that letting my chickens free range is going to mean eventual losses to predators. I am constantly battling foxes, coyotes, and feral cats too in the daytime.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

… it has been my experience that most animals inherently know what is toxic to them and don't eat it UNLESS they are starving and have a lack of alternatives.

Unfortunately, that skill has been lost to me for decades…..

 

[Nyhillbillies]

I'm sorry you lost your hen... I am fortunate that I work from home so I am constantly on the lookout for hawks. If I see any, I set off bottle rockets which helps scare them off. It also puts my chickens on notice. They scatter for cover... However I can't stay out there constantly nor do I want to keep them locked up all the time. I have to come to terms that letting my chickens free range is going to mean eventual losses to predators. I am constantly battling foxes, coyotes, and feral cats too in the daytime.

We live very rurally. Our 5 hens & 1 rooster adopted us when they were about 2 yrs old They came from a neighbor farm, who has a large free-ranging mixed flock. They liked us, so decided to stay, I guess! We ended up buying them from the farmer.

The coop is protected from predators. It didn’t use to be! We were new to the chickens game, knew nada about such things. A raccoon started coming around the fenced pasture at night, very interested in the coop! We saw him on the camera, thank God for that! He climbed the wall of the coop to get inside the pasture!
Then, our inside coop camera caught him inside one night, reaching for a hen. All h*ll broke loose, they ganged up on him and chased him out. He came back the next night, and we had to kill him. We left him where other predators could see him for a day.
After that, we closed the pop doors at night.

Anyway, We have a very large fenced in pasture area for the chickens, attached to their coop, accessible from their pop doors. The fence is 5 feet tall, uncovered. A smaller separate part is actually made from an old dog kennel, so that’s 6 feet tall. They stay in the pasture if we’re not home. If we’re home, they free-range unsupervised. We were able to train them to stay within earshot of the house & outbuildings, using calls & treats. They rarely wander too far for our comfort. They come back to the coop to lay eggs and also return before dark to go to bed.

Other than the raccoon, we have had no attempts by any predators. We have coyotes, loose dogs from other farms, hawks, eagles, owls, weasels, stray cats, opposums, skunks, rats…. no eggs lost either.

Why no problems to speak of? A Blessing, yes!

We don’t cull, don’t eat meat. No cooking smells like that to attract predators. We also feed our predators with throwing a bit of grain on the lawn, and putting out a dish of cat food for whoever comes to dinner.

Now 4 more hens have wandered over & are considering our coop……

 

[DickMidnight]

No cooking smells like that to attract predators. We also feed our predators with throwing a bit of grain on the lawn

this doesn’t make sense.

you say you don’t attract predators with the smell of cooked food, but you attract them by feeding them grain and cat food.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

this doesn’t make sense.

you say you don’t attract predators with the smell of cooked food, but you attract them by feeding them grain and cat food.

I think, and it’s just a theory, that we’re not viewed as fellow predators…. No territory issues…?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

But aren"t you drawing predators in close to your chickens?

We do everything we can to keep predators away. Any food trash we may have goes into the well house, a completely-enclosed cinder-block building, until trash day. In fact it does not even go into the dumpster until trash day morning, an hour or so before trash pick-up. Nothing goes into the compost heap but chicken poop and litter. No food scraps. We REALLY don't want to attract varmints!