Please need advice bird of Prey what can I do

[winekntrychicks]

Here in Nor Cal. Lost a baby Silkie (12 weeks old) to some sort of bird of prey. Four of them in a tree together. Husband heard all the commotion, ran out and there she (silkie) was rolling and flapping her wings. Some how she got away but was suffering. I saw the blood coming from a puncture wound under her little wing. I had to put her down. Not sure what kind of bird of prey they are but they are huge. They are not Red Tail. I thought may Peregrine Falcon but again they are huge. This particular flock free ranges and have been been for months. All of a sudden these BOP move in. What can I do to deter them til I get an enclosure built?

 

[FarmerRob]

Birds of prey are all federally protected. If you kill one and get caught there are stiff penalties. Best thing you can do is make your coop and run into Fort Knox for poultry. Protect them against the birds and other predators as well. Chickens are prey for everything--including but not limited to coyotes, your dogs or your neighbors dogs or the dogs someone else dumped on the road near you, racoons, possums, snakes, bobcats, lynx, bears, lions, etc. etc.

I take the too much is never enough approach--I like a little overkill. It helps me get lots of sleep at night. Start with 2" x 4" woven wire from the ground up to the top of your fence posts. Small mesh netting snug across the top of the run. Hardware cloth along the inside of the posts for the bottom 3 feet. And my personal favorite a strong energizer to put some zap in the electric offset HT smooth wire that are spaced all the way from near the ground to most of the way up the fence posts. Add to that another couple of feet of 2" x 4" woven wire attached to the base of your fence and laying on the ground outside the fence (under a light covering of dirt.) This will help deter K9 types from trying to tunnel under. And no simple latches on the gate or the door or pop door to your coop. Racoons are notorious latch openers. The electric should protect the gate to the run as well.

It will cost you a bit to set everything up but it will last many years.

 

[LostMindPleaseFind]

okay, this is what i did.....i took wooden posts, dug them in the ground, in pairs about 10 feet long and laid poultry wire across them in different sections across the property. It is disruptive to the flight path and the chickens can run any which way and be protected. Mine are in an pattern like the letter H but not touching. Hope this works for you and gl

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Short term, lock them up in your coop or garage or in cages until you have a secure enclosure for them. Most raptors don't work hard at getting into an enclosure like a raccoon would, so what they need is covered space where the raptors will not see them. Wire needs to have small enough openings that the birds cannot stick out their heads.

Cage wire can easily be formed into a round pen, then covered with shade cloth or sheeting. This will work until you get a more secure run or tractors built. Just realize it won't protect against determined mammals.

 

[winekntrychicks]

Thanks for your post. Good advice. Thanks!

 

[tiki244]

Quote:
Wow how interesting! neat idea.


I do have a bbgun and IF I see one hunting I will shoot in the air (NOT at it) and yell at it. This seems to work to scare them off, but not any long term solution.