My Predetor Problem

[David]

I strung up cheap CD's (blank ones) around my yard and it did the trick.

 

[chicknmania]

You are never within your rights to shoot a hawk! They are federally protected! We deal with hawks by just keeping our chickens confined til they go away; they will hang around and you'll see them; after a while they'll get discouraged if they can't get your chickens, and they will leave; wait another forty eight hours or so after you don't see them hanging around anymore. Cover the top of the coop, and give your birds something to shelter under; they're good at spotting the hawks when they're out. It's one thing to shoot,trap, or relocate a possum or raccoon; but there's a reason why certain species are protected. Sorry, we love our chickens (we've been jumping through hoops for ours lately!) but my personal theory is; do everything you can that's legal to protect your birds, but you might as well resign yourself to the fact that you're probably going to lose a few to predators, and everything else under the sun. Chickens were never meant, or designed really, to last long; they were designed by nature to be food. Roosters are great for protecting your flock from a lot of predators; especially if they're free range. We've never had to destroy or relocate a predator of any kind in almost two years (fingers crossed)! There are other ways to get them to go away, most of the time.

 

[Mike_Winters]

well mallards are federaly proceted to and we can kill them

 

[chicknmania]

I don't know where you're getting your information, but we're talking about predators. I never saw a Mallard kill a chicken. Just simply telling you; there's better ways to deter predators than killing them.

 

[chicknmania]

fyi...Mallards are game birds so you can get a special permit to kill them; buy what they call a special "stamp" from the feds. Owls and hawks don't fall into that category and you can't kill them under any circumstances. You can go to prison for that; and face heavy fines. nuff said.

 

[ivan3]

Be very wary about hawks (among others). The following link has info. on federal protection, they are strict! The only safe way to retire these chicken eaters is by random chance encounters with the windshield of your car. don't pick up any feathers you can't identify, either!

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/birds/feathers.htm

 

[Mike_Winters]

i never said ducks kill chickens i said there federally protected.

why is it legal to bring in exotic species but not restore natives. that's way there's so many very European starlings and pigeons because it was perfectly legal to introduce a pest species

 

[DuckLady]

Can we get back on topic, please and thanks?

If you want to start a thread about why some things are protected and other things unrelated, please feel free.

 

[Mike_Winters]

netting on the top of a pen with chickhen wire keeps them out

 

[dwa]

I have had several close calls with red tail hawks. I completely covered the top of my run with hardware wire. I find this to be much better than "chicken" wire. It is also excellent for keeping out sparrows and other birds that eat the feed. Good luck.

--DWA