Preventing Hawks...Is It Possible?

[shy519]

Hello all! Recently the red-tailed hawks here have been pretty brave. When one glides on by, Chicken (pretty creative name right?) will do his warning call and he'll follow everyone into the coop or under the nearest object. I've waited with rifle in hand waiting for them to begin their dive down for a chicken. I've lost about 8-10 chickens to hawks. My chickens are free range, so maybe I should set up little hideout stations in their most frequented areas of the forest? Any advice?

 

[lazy gardener]

Get a dog, and let dog free range with the birds. Put plenty of clutter around the yard to limit free dives from the hawks. (fence posts, lawn furniture, wheel barrows, etc... etc...) Hang CD's, and run fish line across open areas of the yard, bird netting over your run. Avoid letting your birds out during cloudy, rainy or windy days. Be aware of favorite kill times. In my area 4 pm (during the summer) and morning seem to be the primary hunting times.

 

[rjohns39]

My birds live in a pasture with electric fencing and no cover. I have shelters scattered about for them to duck into. And I have a good rooster who always keeps an eye on the sky. Lately its been crazy as the redtails are migrating and show up in huge numbers all thinking a chicken lunch would be a great idea. My turkeys and chickens live together and that helps. A 3 pound red tail, doesn't stand much of a chance against a 20 pound Tom. My friend keeps a (as in 1) goose with his layers for hawk defense. Apparently if more than one, they get pre-occupied chatting with one another. A single goose in the chicken flock will take up protective duties. And, finally, crows are your friends. They tend to drive hawks off.

 

[centrarchid]

I have very heavy hawk pressure seasonally with most prey hawks taking are songbirds and rodents. I see them frequently in very close proximity to the chickens and not all hawks are a threat. Some like Red-shouldered Hawks appear to be good all around. With Coopers Hawks, some appear to have no interest in chickens, while at least a couple kept coming back getting a with one getting into a physical altercation with a broody hen that almost ended hawk.

Methods I have found effective tend to require at least a year to ratchet up to being effective but is okay as employing permiculture approach. My free-range poultry areas have patches of very heavy vegetation hawks can not fly through. Some hawks will still pursue chickens through such patches if they think they can get away with it. My patches are dominated by brambles although sumac and some native shrubs also have value for this. Such plantings usually take a couple years to establish. Next step is to have fully adult roosters of standard size in the mix. American Games are very effective in repelling hawks that come into the patches. My Missouri Dominiques appears to show similar aptitude while the American Dominiques are not useless. I have also found the electrified poultry netting set up along a patch makes both much more effective against the hawks. The big guns I have are dogs but they take the most time and expense to get into chicken protecting mode.

Chickens, especially younger ones can get away from protected areas which can be reduced somewhat by deployment of feeding stations.

I like all the critters which motivates me to achieve a balance. Flock being sustained while closed is a testament to approach working.

 

[song of joy]

Other than confining the flock in a covered run, I can't recommend anything to completely avoid losses due to hawk predation. Once they've taken a few chickens in one location, they will tend to stay there to continue to prey upon the flock. I've only been able to break this by confining the flock for a few weeks. I free-range my flock year-round (unless there's snow cover), but as soon as the first chicken of the season is taken by a hawk, I confine them for a few weeks. (All of my losses due to hawks have occurred from November through February.)

To minimize losses due to hawk predation, I've found the following helps: multiple roosters (not cockerels) and lots of thick, woody, vegetative cover (shrubs, loose brush piles, etc.).

 

[mortorffsquail]

The Great Pyrenees is a great breed to use for protecting livestock. They will sleep, eat, drink, and live beside your animals. They will give their lives to protect their herd or flock of animals. I do recommend creating structures for them to hide around when they are outside.