Q about hawks?

[heiditam]

Thank you everyone for the info. After I saw more flying LOW, looking, the next day, I am now working on a run that will be covered. I hate to coop them up but I am going to be more restrictive in the ranging from now on.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

We have a 30'x30' covered run. We used bird netting. It is not foolproof, but it seems to be enough to make them think twice. We have had to repair hawk holes in the top....but they never managed to get in and kill any of the chickens.
Yes, hawks do go below the tree line. It seems like they prefer it, as opposed to the vultures who just fly over all of the areas. I have watched hawks swoop down under the tree line to try to catch my neighbors free range chickens. It was quite interesting to see how her flock reacted. Their alert calls sounded like air raid sirens for 10 minutes... til they felt it was all clear.

 

[heiditam]

We have a 30'x30' covered run. We used bird netting. It is not foolproof, but it seems to be enough to make them think twice. We have had to repair hawk holes in the top....but they never managed to get in and kill any of the chickens.
Yes, hawks do go below the tree line. It seems like they prefer it, as opposed to the vultures who just fly over all of the areas. I have watched hawks swoop down under the tree line to try to catch my neighbors free range chickens. It was quite interesting to see how her flock reacted. Their alert calls sounded like air raid sirens for 10 minutes... til they felt it was all clear.

Yes! When it happened, the girls in deep deep brush were super quiet, but one girl that was more exposed(she is not the brightest and always getting left behind) was balking like crazy!!! And I was surprised by the hawk's behavior. I dumbly assumed that hawks stayed high and needed a good clearing to swoop down, catching prey in motion. We have mostly woods and brush, so I felt more protected. Nope. They fly LOW, and then perch on branches, moving tree to tree, and then they are happy to land on ground and walk to prey.