Need Advice for Hawks?

[jhuf]

I have 5 Amberlinks (2 very protective roos and 3 hens) 8 weeks old now. I have let them free range in my fenced in yard, but only when someone is out there to watch them. But within a 1/2 hour I see Hawks, usually 2 but sometimes 3 circling our house. Is there an age when I could let them out without really worrying. I have read that the roosters are very protective of their hens. Will they deter any Hawk attacks??? Any advice please?
John

 

[dawg53]

A hawk will attack a rooster in a heartbeat. I had a large White Rock rooster 'sound the alarm' a few years back and saw all my chickens running for cover in the backyard. I was heading outside to see what was going on and just as I was walking out the back of the garage I observed a hawk fly down out of my weeping willow tree and attack my rooster. I ran out there in the nick of time and scared the hawk off. My rooster jumped up at the hawk but the hawk punctered his comb with either a claw or it's beak...it was difficult to tell which because it happened so fast. My rooster's comb was bleeding from the puncture so I caught the rooster and returned to the garage where I have my emergency 'chicken kit.' I cleansed the wound with betadine, and applied pressure to the puncture to stop the bleeding with gauze. About 10 minutes later the bleeding had stopped, I applied neosporin to it and that did the job. the wound healed nicely and they hawk never returned. I guess I scared him off convincingly. A rooster is not "chicken." Yes, they'll run for cover, but they will die to protect their hens from hawks. If I were you, I'd continue to make sure someone is outside with your chickens when they're free ranging.

 

[tammyd57]

Yep, a good roo will sacrifice himself to a hawk defending his flock. But the key word is 'sacrifice' because he really can't fight off a hawk. All he is really doing is keeping the hawk busy while the rest of the flock find cover. Pretty brave if you ask me. I would not want to put my roo in that position.

 

[Miltonchix]

You need to attract a flock of crows to hang out near your coop.
Crows can't stand a hawk anywhere near them and will harrass them til they leave.
Can be quite entertaining to watch too.

 

[wegotchickens]

Having a lot of cover for the chickens to hide in & under will help protect them from hawks. But first keep watch yourself and make sure your roosters understand about the danger. Sometimes they have to mature a little before they are good early-warning systems.

I only free-range when I'm home and nearby. I have good cover (small patch of forest, hammock) but I'd ratehr not take the chance. We have dogs & coyotes in the area, so there's more danger than jsut hawks.

 

[mdbokc]

If it is not a problem with the neighbors, hanging a few CDs puts on quite the light show. Hawks do not seem to like that at all.

 

[MissCluck]

I finally went out and bought pheasant netting and that encloses my entire chicken area - roughly 40' x 40'. It's ugly (I prop it up with clothesline poles) and it's a pain to walk under but the chickens are safe.

Several times a week a hawk will smack that netting trying to take my bantam hen or my grey Easter Egger hen. The don't get in though.

Well worth the money and ugliness of my backyard to have my flock safe from above.

 

[Happy Chooks]

At 8 weeks old, they are hawk magnets. We lost a red sex link pullet that was 23 weeks old to a hawk. It couldn't carry her off, but it killed her.

Just lost 9 8 week old chicks to something this past weekend. Not sure if it was hawks, owls or a racoon.

 

[Ady Road Chicks]

I had a problem with a hawk stalking my girls so my DH went out a bought a goat to live with the chickens. I had read somewhere that the hawk won't bother the chickens because the goat is bigger than the hawk. We haven't had a problem since Patricia (named by my boys) joined our flock. My girls have an acre or so to free range in all day long. I have heard and seen plenty of hawks around but none have come close. My girls were full grown so I'm not sure about the little ones with a goat. Good luck.

 

[JasperCountyNative]

We have about 8 or 10 pairs of Purple Martins living in gourds in the back yard.

Yesterday I saw them dive bombing a hawk that had perched in a tree in our yard.

He didn't stick around to check out our chickens.