Red Tailed Hawk

Yes, I guess the price you have to pay for your chickens not being killed is to only let them out when you're home. I have to do the same thing, mine have a covered run, and eventually will free range when I'm home. Lousy, huh?

 

I was just about to post about my RT Hawk problem.

Where i keep my birds we have a RT Hawk that likes to take residence in a tree directly over the chicken coop. He sits there for several hrs a day(even if you walk up to the tree! He just starts hissing!!!!) and tries to catch some of the smaller hens. Last year before the big run was built this hawk dove into my temporary aviary and popped right through the mesh and was trapped inside and ate 4 pheasants! We sprayed him with water and i think that really made him angry. My dad foolishly tried to grab the hawk by the legs and got a nice slice taken out of his hand! I really think this guy is out for revenge now. Id like to "Take him out" but if i cant shoot him i dont know how to do it. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Yes birds of prey are Federally Protected, so your only option is to either watch then"Like A Hawk" or keep them in an enclosed run

 

Well if you can't or won't shoot there is not much you can do but keep the chickens under cover. Oh and by the way,.... having them free range while you are watching them will only make you a witness to the massacre, unless you are faster than a speeding bullet and all that! They will attack, it has been reported on this site that people have seen attacks in their yards where they were walking!

Shooooo go away mean bird of prey! Please? <----- not effective.

A grown rooster will sound a warning if it sees or hears a threat from the sky and mature hens will duck and run for cover.

A compressed air horn like you keep on a boat might scare the hell out of them, a few times.

A paintball gun might be some deterent but you have to be committed and relatively close, but if you consider the law that might not be allowed either. So .

Good luck!
Randy

 

Hawks and owls are birds of prey and are frequently referred to as raptors— a term that includes the falcons, eagles, vultures, kites, ospreys, northern harriers, and crested caracaras. Food habits vary greatly among the raptors. Hawks and owls are highly specialized predators that take their place at the top of the food chain. Some are responsible for the loss of poultry or small game. In the past, raptors were persecuted through indiscriminate shooting, poisoning, and pole trapping. The derogatory term chicken hawk was used generically to identify raptors, especially hawks, but has fallen out of usage during the past two decades. Recently, many people have developed a more enlightened attitude toward raptors and their place in the environment.

People who experience raptor damage problems should immediately seek information and/or assistance. “Frustration killings” occur far too often because landowners are unfamiliar with or unable to control damage with nonlethal control techniques. These killings result in the needless loss of raptors, and they may lead to undesirable legal actions. If trapping or shooting is necessary, permits should be requested and processed as quickly as possible. Always consider the benefits that raptors provide before removing them from an area; their ecological importance, aesthetic value, and contributions as indicators of environmental health may outweigh the economic damage they cause.

 

The ultimate solution to raptor depredation is prevention. Free-roaming farmyard chickens, ducks, and pigeons attract hawks and owls and are highly susceptible to predation. Many problems can be eliminated by simply housing poultry at night.

 

All hawks and owls are protected by federal and state laws. There are cases, however, in which they can create public health and safety hazards or seriously affect a person’s livelihood. Contact your local USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services office first if you are interested in obtaining a shooting permit. The USFWS and state wildlife agencies may issue shooting permits for problem hawks and owls if nonlethal methods of controlling damage have failed or are impractical and if it is deter-mined that killing the offending birds will alleviate the problem.

Permittees may kill hawks or owls only with a shotgun not larger than 10-gauge, fired from the shoulder and only within the area described by the permit. Permittees may not use blinds or other means of concealment, or decoys or calls that are used to lure birds within gun range. Exceptions to the above must be specifically authorized by USFWS. All hawks or owls that are killed must be turned over to USFWS personnel or their representatives for disposal.

 

I know this may sound strange does anyone ever think by killing a predator that you are just allowing the door to be opening for another. I mean if you kill the bird don't you think another will come by? This is what happens when man domesticates animals they tend to breed out their survival skills. I hope this doesn't irritate many but this is what you get when you move into the country. There is probably more birds of prey in the city than in the country. I mean as a hawk wouldn't you go after a chicken than trying to catch a skittish rabbit?

 

Cindydj- shot the hawk and throw it out in the middle of nowhere-then- put a load of buckshot in dumb husbands a$$ and tell him to grow a brain .