Red Tailed Hawks

[heartsizedfarm]

I put the young chickens in the run maybe a little to early.  The run had 2x3 welded wire for the walls.  I had a hawk land next to the pen and one of the chicks put her head out of the wire to see the hawk.  The hawk grabed her, pulled her through the fence and flew off.../img/smilies/sad.png

That must have been horrible to watch!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Have you thought about getting a guardian dog? I agree a good rooster might have an impact. But not necessarily. My rooster was slightly injured trying to defend a hen from a hawk. And badly demoralized because he failed!

 

[scooter147]

I just got my first batch of chicks but have been raising ducks for ten years now. I have at least six red tailed hawks that live in my back yard in the woods. I have never lost a duck to them ever even when I was raising mallards which are smaller then my usual rouen and pekin but they leave them alone when I free range my ducks. If you know they're is enough small prey (mice, rats, small song bird, etc) in the area I wouldn't worry to much about the hawks getting at the chickens or ducks in my manner. They do sell those gaint plastic owls that you can put in your yard to scare away unwanted creatures. Never tried them but since I'm now raising chickens and i want to let them free range I might get a few to place around my yard. Still have a safe secure run for your poultry and make sure to check on them once and awhile to make sure they are staying out of trouble.

I have two pet ducks that I have had for almost 10 years now. They free range in my yard all day. As far as I know the hawks have never bothered them. If I let the chickens out I have to stand guard.
As far as the plastic owl goes, well keep in mind that an owl is a bird of prey and chickens are afraid of birds of prey.

I speak from experience here. I placed one of those in my yard then I stood in amazement trying to figure out what had my chickens all wound up. It took this dummy about 10 minutes before I realize it was the owl that showed up and was perched on the clothesline pole.

 

[LauraSac]

I love hawks and Red Tail are ubiquitous in most parts of the country. Sacramento is no exception. We have one that is often in the redwood tree next door, and I see falcons pretty regularly, too. It's the reason I'm not real gung ho about free ranging and will be building a portable tractor in addition to having a permanent run. Our run is covered with plastic corrugated panels that can be removed for a sun roof, but they're still protected by hardware cloth.

Some people feel that losing a bird or two is just the price you pay for free ranging, but with only three hens max allowed in my city, that's too big a price. When my summer veggies are spent, I think I'll put deer netting over my garden, which is fenced to keep the dogs out, and let the girls go at it.

I don't trust my big dogs with the hens, either, or else they'd be good protection. Our Pit Bull is getting better at learning "leave it" but I wouldn't want him around them without supervision. Our German Shepherd mix, however is waaay to interested. She's always had a strong prey drive, too, and is a terrific rat and squirrel hunter, so she could easily get a chicken. Our little Chiweenie, though, has been pretty good around them so far. He has a deformed jaw, too, so he couldn't hurt them if he wanted to. He's not a yapper, but he is quick to bark at critters that come in our yard, so he might a good little guard dog for the hens, with his bark if not his bite.

 

[bgsuohio]

I don't like hawks. Last summer I was cutting grass and looked over to see the hawk on top of the silkie chicken with feathers all over the yard. I was able to get there in time to save the chicken. She was missing quite a few feathers and stayed in the coop for a couple of days but has recovered.I have 8 ducks and hawks never bother them but seem to like to go after the chickens. It's impossible to keep an eye on them 24/7.

 

[Robeenop]

Well i lost my 22 month old dark brahma rooster today to a huge red tailed hawk here in AR. I have three coops. 30 hens and three roos.( til now) Each coop has enclosed run, but i fenced in a large pen to keep them safe. I had an old dog run cable that ran the 60 ft length of one side of their pen, i hung cd's, and little chime things from the dollar store on it. Well one of the posts broke last wkd, and we took down the cable. The hawk landed right in the pen, trying to grab a young americauna hen. Runt ran to the rescue, saved her, but the hawk ripped out his throat. My other two roos chased him off. I never thought the hawk paid that much attention, but apparently so. I went out there for two hours stringing fishing line, and cd's. It looks like an obstacle course. My pen is too big to cover, so i think i will get more tall posts, and run my cable again. Too bad for the hawk if i catch him in the pen again. He will be culled for killing my livestock...there are plenty of mice, rats and rabbits in the pasture, not sure why he went after the chickens. Maybe sick or something.

 

[CMV]

You can't cull hawks. They are protected under federal law. As of 2013 they are still on the list of protected species. They also can potentially have GPS trackers on them for research purposes. You kill a hawk with a tracker on it, and you are in some big trouble. BIG trouble. The fines are staggeringly large.

 

[Robeenop]

Cull was the wrong word. It is called protecting your property, pets and yourself from a vicious attack. Which has happened a lot recently. Apparently, there are issues with buzzards killing newborn calves, by poking out there eyes, and hawks dive bombing pets in there backyards around here. Part of living in the country. I don' t want to kill a hawk. Just have to report it. They won't throw you under the jail unless justified...I checked.

 

[MDfarms]

May I tntroduce you to MD Farms Rock and Roll Chickens LOl We live in Kansas close to the Nebraska line in the country. We have lost chickens to many predators in the past, and our chickens are treated like family here. Instead of running miles of electrified wire I ran miles of speaker wire. Since I have done this predators have stayed away. We free range all our chickens as well and there is nothing more enjoyable to see our chickens having fun in the barn yard. They love the Rolling Stones, Beatles Led Zepplin just to name a few and are Safe. I am sure it also has run game animals away as well and we do not hunt. Also we are not dogging fire arm rounds now as we have in the past. Well I'm off to dance with the chickens and hope this may help others