Kill a hawk! Win a $10,000+ fine!

[Moabite]

My using chicken math, 10 grand would buy a very nice, big, secure coop with covered run and still have some left over for college or at least some classes at the local community college.

 

[aliprowl]

I love hawks but do not want them snacking on my chickens! We have quite a few, and it has been an ongoing problem - especially moving into early spring because the girls want out of their run and the hawks are HUNGRY. The crow factor is real and is helpful. I put out pans of BOSS and cracked corn for the girls when they are free ranging (put them near the house or even in the bushes to encourage them to stay under cover) and then when they have had their fill and are moving on to other areas, I leave the leftovers out for the crows. I swear the crows associate these treats with my chickens and quite a few of them wait for the treats. I have then seen, on many occasions, the crows mob hawks and literally drive them away. Hugely helpful - the crows also act as an early warning alert system. The chickens see the hawk and take cover. I also have a very vigilant rooster and he gets the girls under cover when he spots a hawk. He has a very specific scream that he lets loose with when he sees a hawk, and I then come running to help (I try not to let them free range unless I'm home). The other thing I have done is buy each girl a HenSaver apron, which you can get with predator eyes sewn onto the back. The hawk looks down, sees the red/yellow eyes, and does not attack. If hawk does go for the girl, the apron often thwarts his attempt to grab her - he can't sink his talons into her back. He definitely can get her if he tries repeatedly, but many times just a bit of deterrent makes it not worth the trouble. It at least gives the chicken a shot at getting under cover, and gives the rooster a chance to come running. Despite this, I am still nervous as all get out when they are free ranging and I often go out and stand in the yard with them as a Junior Rooster, scanning the sky for predators. We have five acres of flat, open yard/field with little cover unless they are right up near the house, so it is not a great situation. I plan to find one or two old wood picnic tables and place them strategically where the girls need to walk without cover, hoping that maybe it will help if they are attacked - they can run under and possibly escape. If you can plant bushes for cover or provide anything they can run underneath, that would help them.
I have not yet seen a HenSaver apron in action - i.e., haven't seen one of my hens attacked while wearing one. But the very nice girl who makes them has tested them in Texas for quite some time, and has had excellent results in that none of her chickens has been taken while wearing the aprons with predator eyes. Definitely worth trying, but I'd keep a sharp eye out regardless and/or put a dog out with the girls. Our dog is basically unconscious most of the time (a Golden with an IQ of about twelve) and is worthless; my cat Edward is far more likely to fend off a hawk than the idiot dog.
I'm also going to try shooting any hawk that I can get close to, with a BB gun - not to kill, but to annoy and scare. If you can make it more trouble than it's worth, they will look elsewhere for their lunch.

 

[MrsJewelsRae]

Here it`s illegal to kill a snake but dh was attacked by a bull snake that struck at him repeatedly- at least a dozen times on his steel toed boot. No way are we letting that thing live when we have small children living here- they`re not poisonous but that could traumatize and injure a child. He dropped a brick on it`s head. Don`t ask, don`t tell.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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