Red-tailed hawks with a taste for chicken...

[Jajika]

I'm sure the hawks are very frustrated!!! Good for you. You have a nice big yard there. Lots of room.

Here is a pic of the coop inside the yard. The trees and bushes are nice. The bush branches are like a chicken swing. It gives them lots of opportunity to jump up on and around. They have no problem with entertainment which makes me feel really good.

As for that really cute coop,. mostly they just use it to lay eggs and sleep on top of it...and poop. But, they do get it out of rain, so they ain't so dumb!

 

[minnehaha]

Jajika - nice coop!! I love that you have trees inside for the ladies!!

Sunny today, and did I get an earful from the hens wanting out! Not budging, spent the day working in the garden listening to the Coopers Hawks cruising for a meal....

Love you r coop and run!!!!

So sorry you are having trouble with hawks. I hope your hen heals up.

I really like the tree's in Jajika's coop as well....really a great set-up!

 

[minnehaha]

I have 2 roosters who have been doing a great job warning the girls to take cover, and as others stressed, cover is the key. The roosters sound the alarm, and the hens listen to those roosters and take cover. They stay quiet and still till the roosters tell them it's all clear.

I've witnessed many times where the roosters sound the alarm, they all take cover, then as I am watching the sky, a hawk will fly over. It is usually 30-45 seconds later, so the roosters must hear the hawk long before I see it and get everyone to hide.

BUT...cover for them to hide when the roosters sound the alarm is key, otherwise, the hawk would get lunch.

 

[kateseidel]

That little coop looks like a Hobbit Hole - love it! The hens use my little coop mostly for roosting also. The pictures when it was new look great. Now, after a year of pooping, not so nice.

Cover is nice, and I am sure it helps with some predators - maybe the bigger hawks, or owls. The Cooper's Hawks have no issue at all flying into or under cover and hitting a hen (then dragging it out). We have heavily wooded areas of the property, and I have found quite a few carcasses out of heavy brush. Unfortunately, after enough, you get to recognize a hawk kill vs. something else.

This last one the hawk had to actually work its way under brush to the base of a tree where Gloin was cowering. It did give her the extra time to get away from the hawk and head for another covered spot (which is where I came into the picture as the hawk was going into the run-in to finish the job).

 

[wildocean]

Wow - I love chicken Alcatraz! Half my enjoyment of having chickens though is seeing them scoot around the property. We have 10 acres of mostly oak forest, but the red tails are quite adept at hunting in the trees. We've got some good cover bushes, but maybe I'll plant a few more. I have a 10 month old so as much as I'd love a dog, that's a few years away as I don't have time to train it right now. It sounds like roosters have mixed success, but I might give them a shot...

 

[orumpoultry]

I'm just gonna leave that here....


We have quite a few hawks in our area. Nothing quite as amazing as watching them maneuver through things. I watched one go through a cattle panel, grab a rabbit, and keep flying. Poor cotton tail just screamed. Gave my goats a heart attack.

 

[kateseidel]

wildocean - I have always been of the opinion that a short life lived free is better than a long life lived caged. But my convictions waiver when I lose hens - I never expected to love them so much!! I got chickens originally for bug control in managing my manure piles (I have horses), not eggs. Like you - most of my enjoyment is having them around the house, porch and property, and they do a good job with the bugs. Locked in the run they are not controlling the bugs, and I am not with them, so I know it is only a matter of time before I relent and let them out.

I'll try and keep in mind that hawks deserve a good life too (I just wish they would go eat the neighbors' chickens for a while)

 

[wildocean]

Orumpoultry - that video is amazing. I love birds! Which makes it hard to begrudge the hawks their dinner, even when it is my friends... And I'm with you entirely kateseidel - I can't bear to keep them even in an awesome enclosed run, I just love seeing them fly across the yard the second they spot me. It sounds like I might just have to setup my lawn chair outside and never leave...

 

[gotthefever]

Oh wow Jajika!!! That is what I want my yard to look like!!! So jealous! I need to really really get on my project, you have given me ideas! Thank you!

Shame that our chickens need to be in a run, but...I think if they could, they would understand. Electric is awesome to keep anything from climbing or digging, but the hawks and owls, arghh.

Now that I have chickens, I can't stand to see the tiny "runs" they advertise with coops that will house 6 hens....I have a 10X10 run with 2 SF and 4 bantams, and it doesn't seem like enough room, and they beg to come out if they catch a glimpse of me.

 

[gotthefever]

Oh just a thought, wild animals have food...
If there is not food for wild animals, nature works it out.

Predators may not have my chickens. I also, love them too much to just set them up.

I am letting them out when I am home, all they want to do is hang out on next to the house in the gardens under cover of the giant old arborvitaes...and on the screen porch, trying to come in the house? They do not seem to want to go into open yard unless I am there, that miss Betty RUNS to see where I am going and what I am doing. Chickens are hilarious!

I have the baby monitor on, but as you said, I could arrive too late...esp for the Bantams. I am getting to work on a monster of a run I guess...