Red Tail Hawk

[bigchickenman]

I just lost two of my chickens last night to a huge red tail hawk(approximately 4-5 ft wing span)

.I have a fake owl on a big post in the middle of my chicken lot I had heard that it would keep away hawks but it didn't . Does anyone know of anything I can do to keep them away from my chickens.Thanks .

 

[chickflick]

Do you have your run covered? I believe Speckledhen hangs CD's from her netting and claims to have kept the hawks away. The reflection is suppose to confuse the hawks. Your owl is useless unless it has motion. I have hung yard ornaments around, the kind with little mirrors or reflective tape around my yard. I haven't had too much trouble with the hawks. I've had fly bys. They sit behind my house in the fields on the power posts. I also have dogs that are in and out, which might help.
Sorry about your loss.

 

[mamahenny]

Adding on to the cd mirror idea i have heard about tying old cds to the back of a chicken in the fashion of those hen aprons. The hen aprons are also supposed to help. Good luck! I am sorry about your chickens!

 

[kikescove.com]

Shotguns work, but th egame department might frown on you.

Easiest way is to take away their food source (lock your birds up for a day or two) and break their food cycle. Hopefully they will move on.

 

[bigchickenman]

Thanks everyone I will try the cd thing and see if it works out.I will know fairly quickly I have seen three smaller hawks already this morning , so I put up my chickens in my barn for now.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Here's what I did...........(copy from another post)

I have lost a pullet to a hawk. It couldn't carry her away. My chickens roam our orchard (think 2 rows of trees with bare area in between the rows) that is fenced 7 ft high.

Here's what we did: We staggered T posts in the bare area, they are about 3 ft apart. I tied a 2 ft long piece of scare tape to each T post. (so it moves in the wind) We also put up a windmill ($40 at Harbor Freight). We did all this to block the flight path. (we saw it come in) Our idea is that the hawk would be able to get in (as in come straight down), but it can't go OUT straight up. It needs a glide path, especially with a kill. So if it can't get OUT, maybe it won't come in.

It's been over a month now, and we have had some low fly overs, but so far so good. We were even out of town this weekend, and I worried about the girls the whole weekend. I was so relieved to get home and see they were all fine.

Obviously if you truly free range, this isn't an option. Unless you want to look like the white trash neighbor with "yard ornaments". (No offense intended to white trash)