Keeping hawks out

[writerskramp]

Hey there all! This week we lost two chickens to a hawk, both decapitated, one in the run and one in the coop through the chickens door. We are sure it was a hawk. Part of our run is going to be able to be completely closed off, but for the rest I’m entertaining several options for the other portion of the run. I’m here to see what actually works and what isn’t worth the time or money.

Our run has 9 foot high fencing, with no roof or barrier over the top apart from the branches of a MASSIVE Douglas fir that cover the open air part of the run(roughly 25’x18’). The tree is the reason we haven’t had hawk trouble until now, I think, as a hawk isn’t able to fly and dive like it normally does. Because of the steep grade of our landscape, heavy winter snowfall, and asymmetrical layout of the run, installing actual fencing or solid roof would be incredibly complicated and cost prohibitive.

We are going to be hanging aviary netting of some sort, but I have also been reading that reflective tape products and owl decoys can have a decent effect on deterring birds of prey. Have you had luck with any of these methods, or any others?

We live in the mountains, the coop is off grid, the coop itself is extremely well built and only needs a change in location of the chicken door to become essentially bear proof. And although not ramshackle, the run is a bit more of a little rustic construct. We do free range our birds and have never had problems. I’m about as “okay” as one can be with the idea that sometimes predation is going to happen, but I’m annoyed that it happened in the run, and simply infuriated that the coop became compromised. Just trying to do my best to keep their home sacred and increase the protection in their fenced run.

Bird net like you put over fruit trees or raspberries.. Light.. nothing heavy and open spaced.. As if you suffer snow, it'll pull down your run.. as in snapped off poles.. not kidding.

 

[JBTD]

Hey there all! This week we lost two chickens to a hawk, both decapitated, one in the run and one in the coop through the chickens door. We are sure it was a hawk. Part of our run is going to be able to be completely closed off, but for the rest I’m entertaining several options for the other portion of the run. I’m here to see what actually works and what isn’t worth the time or money.

Our run has 9 foot high fencing, with no roof or barrier over the top apart from the branches of a MASSIVE Douglas fir that cover the open air part of the run(roughly 25’x18’). The tree is the reason we haven’t had hawk trouble until now, I think, as a hawk isn’t able to fly and dive like it normally does. Because of the steep grade of our landscape, heavy winter snowfall, and asymmetrical layout of the run, installing actual fencing or solid roof would be incredibly complicated and cost prohibitive.

We are going to be hanging aviary netting of some sort, but I have also been reading that reflective tape products and owl decoys can have a decent effect on deterring birds of prey. Have you had luck with any of these methods, or any others?

We live in the mountains, the coop is off grid, the coop itself is extremely well built and only needs a change in location of the chicken door to become essentially bear proof. And although not ramshackle, the run is a bit more of a little rustic construct. We do free range our birds and have never had problems. I’m about as “okay” as one can be with the idea that sometimes predation is going to happen, but I’m annoyed that it happened in the run, and simply infuriated that the coop became compromised. Just trying to do my best to keep their home sacred and increase the protection in their fenced run.

I have fenced off a yard for my chickens, using T-posts and deer netting. I know that that's more useful for keeping the chickens in than it is for keeping predators out. I have some trees in the yard so it deters the larger hawks. However, I had a Cooper's hawk that was giving me some trouble. I used Harvey Ussery's (The Small-Scale Poultry Flock) suggestion. I put a few posts inside the yard and then stretched 50-lb. test monofilament from post to post, forming sort of a web over the yard. I was skeptical but it works. I haven't had another attack for two years. Be sure to use posts sufficiently tall so you won't have trouble walking around in the yard. BTW, for a beginner, I found Ussery's book to be invaluable.

 

[bill3607]

Thank you for your experience! I think what spurred these attacks was the super heavy fog we had that day. I’ve been told by a few people that hawks will often attack chickens and just eat the heads in an effort to shut them up... apparently the noise and general commotion chickens makes interfere with the hawks hunting. Which was likely compounded in the fog. Which makes sense.

Maybe I’ll try all of it

That is so humorous to me. I mean not chickens getting killed, and I am certainly not saying it is not true. However, it is so funny to me that a hawk would kill one food source to shut it up so it can catch a different food source! I guess everything really does not taste like chicken. That hawk was really wanting him some mouse or whatever it was!!

 

[CoopDeVille1986]

Interesting thread! We're in a Midwest suburb and have had a few different hawk visits and even a bald eagle circling nearby. A hawk once buzzed my head as it bailed out of low hanging spruce branch near the run. Anyway, before we got our chickies we started noticing the different squirrel noises when a hawk was around - there's a sort of warning cry they send out. Then I noticed the bluejays have some particular behaviors as well when hawks are near. Now with chickens in the yard, every time I hear the bluejays, I go to check on the chickens. If they're not hiding, they are usually super alert, heads high, and like statues. So then I will throw shelled peanuts on the shed roof near the chicken run. The bluejays love it and hang out for a bit. I'm also hoping to attract crows. Crows and bluejays are fearless when it comes to chasing away hawks. So, either I'm building an army of hawk-chasers or the jays are playing me for free peanuts. We'll see.

We have those queues, too, when a hawk may be around. Main alarm is crows...And have seen multiple times a murder of crows relentlessly chasing a hawk (or three) away.

 

[Tilhana]

I’ve been thinking about geese, but with no surface water and the closest tap at the house 300 feet away, I don’t think there’s a plausible way to give them a consistent clean water source... because I don’t feel like cleaning out a kiddie pool and carrying water up every few days... but turkeys and guineas have always been high on my dream list!

I got a few geese this year to help with predation, and honestly it hasn't helped much. I lost a ton of birds this year to predators: hawks, owls, foxes. At one point I got home later than expected - a little after dark - and found a fox in the run. It had already killed 5 chickens and 2 more later died of their injuries. To be fair, most of the chickens were huddled in a corner with the geese, and the fox may have been avoiding them and picking off the strays that were running around trying to escape. So it's possible that the geese slowed the fox down enough to keep her from killing all the chickens before I got there...

...But if the water issue is a major inconvenience, I'd say skip the geese. I have a rubber pool in the run for mine and I have to change out the water every single day, because they swim in it and turn it all muddy and knock half of it out. Not a big deal in the summer when I run a hose out there but this time of year I'm hauling buckets up the hill - no fun. I know some people say geese are great for protecting the flock, but I think the only really reliable animal deterrent is a dog, and that comes with its own set of liabilities.

 

[leighks]

We have a lot of hawks here......so I did this from the get go, it was a good call:

This is great. What is the fencing material? I have something similar with aviary netting for the top but it rips over time.

 

[leighks]

Hey there all! This week we lost two chickens to a hawk, both decapitated, one in the run and one in the coop through the chickens door. We are sure it was a hawk. Part of our run is going to be able to be completely closed off, but for the rest I’m entertaining several options for the other portion of the run. I’m here to see what actually works and what isn’t worth the time or money.

Our run has 9 foot high fencing, with no roof or barrier over the top apart from the branches of a MASSIVE Douglas fir that cover the open air part of the run(roughly 25’x18’). The tree is the reason we haven’t had hawk trouble until now, I think, as a hawk isn’t able to fly and dive like it normally does. Because of the steep grade of our landscape, heavy winter snowfall, and asymmetrical layout of the run, installing actual fencing or solid roof would be incredibly complicated and cost prohibitive.

We are going to be hanging aviary netting of some sort, but I have also been reading that reflective tape products and owl decoys can have a decent effect on deterring birds of prey. Have you had luck with any of these methods, or any others?

We live in the mountains, the coop is off grid, the coop itself is extremely well built and only needs a change in location of the chicken door to become essentially bear proof. And although not ramshackle, the run is a bit more of a little rustic construct. We do free range our birds and have never had problems. I’m about as “okay” as one can be with the idea that sometimes predation is going to happen, but I’m annoyed that it happened in the run, and simply infuriated that the coop became compromised. Just trying to do my best to keep their home sacred and increase the protection in their fenced run.

I use aviary netting over the top of their outdoor area. Our coop backs up to forest and there is a nesting pair of hawks there every year.

The pros are it is effective (none have ever gotten in or even tried that I know of) and it is cheap. The cons are it rips with all the winter snow we get so I have to replace it completely every 2-3 years and also that you have to install some sort of support posts or it sags. We just use 4’ stakes and pvc pipes for posts since it’s a cheap option.

I have seen the hawks circle over it and start to swoop toward it, but they never get too close. Any small rips can be closed with zip ties. Almost 4 years of use and great results.

 

[aart]

What is the fencing material?

14ga 2x4 welded wire.

 

[3KillerBs]

Would have to be a pretty big hawk and a pretty small bird for a hawk to be able to take off with the whole thing.

So I can attest that hawks CAN carry away a normal-sized chicken. This one was big, a body about as big as the rooster, with about a 4-foot wingspan.

So, I was about to ask if there was any truth to the theory that keeping larger chicken breeds helps reduce hawk predation and there's the answer a few posts later.

I know I have hawks on the property because we can hear them. We've seen an eagle near water about 2 miles away and have heard owls this past week.

I can't cover the top of the run I have now, though the permanent facility will have a large, covered run.

This thread has been very informative.

 

[Stephanie8806]

Get a few black australorps; hawks think they are crows and will stay away.

I have two dominant coppers in my flock. They are all black and big bodied. Didn’t seem to help