Keeping Away Hawks?

[pfields]

The hardest part was running the wire from the patio to the trees in the far backyard, my husband did that. The netting isn't heavy and easy to deal with, all you need is a ladder and some pull ties and you're good to go. One thing we learned is to bunch up some of the netting and then attach and pull the tie. That makes it stronger and it doesn't move around.

 

[pfields]

lol

I cannot do such because leaves and freezing rain. Lets see how time test the netting approach.

We were just talking about the leaves this morning. We'll have to see how that goes, too.

We rarely get freezing rain or snow here on the Texas coast. It did snow (about 13 inches) Christmas Day 2004. That's only the 4th time in my life that's it's snowed here and I'm 63 years old.

 

[Frindizzle]

Unfortunately, the netting protecting them wont work, since 4 acres will be pretty hard to net!

 

[chickmomma03]

I have to worry about hawks here too. Mine aren't free range, it isn't safe for them. They have a large run attached to the coop, and I ran wire across the top so there are smaller gaps the hawks can't get through. I need to eventually do something that doesn't look like crud, but it's working.

 

[Frindizzle]

The roosters have always worked until now. 2 roosters, one always looking at the sky. They would sound the alarm call and all of them would run for cover, including the waterfowl. We also have a lot of trees in our yard, so I'm really surprised that they got Carmel. I have had chickens for 3 years, and I have only lost ducks to hawks, and they were always away from the chickens.

 

[Texnnj]

The last time I lost a chicken to a hawk was when my Australian Cattle Dog was six months old and almost got the hawk. He also keeps away the coyotes, bobcats, skunks and possums. We have had coyotes and bobcats during the day.

They like to chase and nip, so you have to remind them to leave the chickens alone. In 6 years, he only killed one chicken by accident, which was much better than our predator losses without him. We recently got baby ducks and he stays out all night watching them

 

[Dustystrail]

I have most of my pens covered with 2" chicken wire ever since I found a hawk inside my coop with a pile of dead Silkies a couple years ago. I do have a few free rangers and plenty of natural cover for them. I try to only put the biggest birds in the uncovered pens and those birds will consolidate into the other pens in a few weeks as the leaves fall and the natural cover thins.

 

[tmorgan46]

We lost a young pullet to a hawk a month or so ago. Hawk was efficient, left a few feathers and one foot. I just hope it was as quick as it was thorough. So I built an enclosed run covered by chicken wire and as extra protection we picked up a plastic but very convincing owl. It's mounted on top of the run. Our 2 geese and six Muscovy's are still free range and haven't been bothered by any predator.

 

[Lavender Wraps]

I found a fun way to keep away hawks from my chickens. Feed the crows! Most people don't like crows but I found they are the only birds that chase hawks from their territory. I found that feeding the crows day old bread that they keep coming back for more, then they start nesting near by making our farm their territory! Fun watching a crow pick up one piece of bread then another and another only to drop some when it's beak it too full. It will then carry it to another area to eat it.

We've had two close calls from hawks but the crows came to the rescue! They crows would see a hawk diving toward one of our chickens and two or three of them would bombard the hawk, they take off immediately. When our crows are in the trees on our farm no hawk will come near. It's kind of like the crows patrol our the sky over our farm.

Hope this helps and is successful for you!

Sue
PS: you can also feed the crows table scraps as long as it's away from the chicken feeding areas. Some things are not good for chickens, especially don't want your chickens eating egg or meat scrapes.

 

[fadedracer]

I agree the crows are the best defense there is., I never lose a chicken or pigeon when the crows are here. But when they leave, I loose more birds than I choose to remember. I think we should be able to take our dead chickens, and pigeons, that the hawks and owls eat, and have the Government pay for them. Since we can not shoot the hawks and owls!!!!! We in Kansas can not even scare them away while they are killing our poultry!!!! Ridiculous isn`t it.