They do seem to help. They're not exactly attractive, so I tend to try and hang them where I think they'll do the most good...not always a very good guess, we have a lot of property. :| After a while, we kinda realized that with us anyway it's just part of having chickens, you have to expect losses in one way or another, and there are a lot of ways through either predators or illness or natural causes. I'm sorry about your banty too...fall is the worst time of the year, for having hawk problems, especially around Thanksgiving, it seems.