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

[phasian]

It is unfortunate that while many people can enjoy keeping birds, they can't find a way to live in harmony with nature. We are no longer of an age when these birds are our sole source of food, and the reason we have so many environmental problems has everything to do with lack of respect for non-human species...... Raptors where around long before we showed up on our respective homesteads.

Hawks do eat snakes. I rescued one that had killed a snake so large that it constricted around the hawk's talons and the red tail was unable to take off.

I have an extremely large poultry run with a grove of trees inside of it that makes closing the top impossible. Strings, CDs, and banners often break down with exposure to the elements and can become more unwelcome detritus on your farmscape or an ingestion hazard with your birds.

What I found works is having a good relationship with my neighbourhood crows. They mob the hawks and make it rather unpleasant to hang around the land where my poultry is. I also have guinea fowl which shriek so loudly, that I have seen hawks that were observing my flock take off in disgust.

 

[Frannabelle]

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[Moabite]

Loosing a chicken to a hawk is something I expect to happen eventually. I don't encourage it though. Having the neighbor's dog come over and destroy your coop, run and kill your whole flock for sport is another matter entirely. I'm good with predators and don't mind sharing, it's kinda like giving back to the community.

I don't have a rooster, but my hens let me and the dogs know when a hawk approaches. The cat is usually paying attention also. I love that my animals all speak the same language.

I had a hawk approach my run on the ground outside my yard. My SLWyandotte, Gladys, made her neck real long and let out a barrage of chicken swear words. I didn't blame the hawk, after all they taste like chicken. Evil Cat was so exited that it didn't hang around.

 

[redhen]

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All hawks are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and killing/and or wounding them can mean big fines or even jail time. Some idiot here in SE MI shot a bald eagle, it survived the shooting but can't be released back into the wild. The DNR here has a nice reward out for the person responsible.

I have a pair of Red Tails that apparently have decided to set up housekeeping in my neighbors pine trees. I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about that, so I will have to be vigilant about protecting my flock. I plan on balloons, fake owls, cd's, my dogs and whatever else I can think of. I'm sure one of them is the culprit who killed my hen last fall, and it's returned with a mate.

It's not the hawks' fault I built a buffet for them, that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

No no, what i mean is: There are PLENTY of them around here.... just dont understand why they are protected..thats all.
And yeah...i hear ya..i dont blame them either.... their just hungry and trying to eat, cant blame them for that... and my chickens are easy pickins sometimes... just the way it is.

 

[theFox]

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Only if they grant the permit. Not a sure thing at all.

 

[Luvducks]

On the shiney topic, as posted above, use scratched CD's or DVD's strung on Fishing line. I did this for my Call Ducks.

 

[woodmort]

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They probably feel the same way about all the humans. The truth is they are beneficial birds and, because they migrate, are Federally protected. What you may think are "PLENTY" may just be a collection from someplace else moving through. Actually they are rare in a lot of their former range due to DDT and habitat loss.

 

[Desert Rooster]

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agreed

 

[phasian]

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I feel the same way about hawk vs. dog losses....... one is nature; the other is from human carelessness.

 

[Junkmanme]

Hawks and Eagles aren't so bad. Humans are a lot more irritating....AND Dangerous.

I don't bother either of them...unless they bother me first.

THAT is their mistake....as I see it.

-Junkmanme-

P.S. I don't expect ANYONE to agree with this statement.....and that's fine with me.