Repeated hawk attacks - can't cover yard....distractions?

[centrarchid]

Quote:
That is something I am going to try. More mobile than my netting method.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Wish I had some words of encouragement, but unfortunately I don't. I tried cd's and a plastic owl on a pole. It worked for a while until they got smart and ignored them. The hawks (coopers and red tails) managed to kill almost all of my chickens even though I had an enclosed pen and a garage for them to escape to. The rooster was no help either; he ran away without issuing any warning at all.

My problem was not having any trees in my yard. Hawks swoop so the clothesline or any other kind of string/rope in open areas to deter their swoop would help.

Good luck; it's a tough battle.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
There may be an optimal distance between points of cover. If chickens can not get to cover before hawk is on their back, then chicken is lost. More cover sites properly located in yard better than too few but extremely hawk proof sites chickens can not reach in time. Remember the chickens will come out for food and water. They seem to have short memory concerning risk hawks pose. The rooster benefits I have seen works when rooster can operate under the protected area with hawk on ground. If engagement in open, then rooster is going to loose.

Something my relatively exposed chickens have that may benefit them is that their cover is in open feild. Chickens can see incoming hawk from a couple hundred yards away and have adequate time to respond. If a sneaky raptor like a Coopers hawk is involved, it will often approach using a tree or shrub line as cover so chickens can not see it until too late. My field offers such a sneaky approach from only one direction and hawks do not seem to have figured it out yet.

 

[SilkiePuff]

sorry to say the only way to protect against hawks is to keep them locked up.. I had a Rhode Island Red rooster, get snagged from no more then 2 ft away from a brown hawk.. during the day.. and since there was a nest of them a male and a female and 5 baby hawks learning to hunt.. I lost my whole flock within 3 days.. after the first one came down.. they even took my juvi Goose..

So now I keep my 2 silkies that survived in the coop all day every day.. but since now the hawks are getting ready to migrate I can let them out.. but even still I rather have them locked up for safe keeping..

my blue silkie was lucky when he got struck and carried away that it was a younger hawk which dropped him a few 100ft off the ground afterwards, braking his hip in the fall, but at least he is still alive to tell his tail..

but yeah keep them locked up until the hawks move on..

 

[WillieBoy]

I agree with Debbi...its a good thing to attract crows. I also have a feeding platform,don't feed corn but food scrapes.
The crows are usually around to check out any new goodies i may have put out.This is my 4th yr with hens, no hawk losses yet. I have resident redtails and have seen other hawks around.My girls range on my 1 1/2 acre property, which provides a milion hiding places.Over the yrs i have planted evergreens completley around my land. When i say they have a million places to hide when hawk is near, i mean it...!
Lots of cover and crows have worked for me.Chickens out in the open, no crows around and hawks= trouble ...
I would never put baby chicks out on range, so crows aren't a problem that way, an they haven't tried stealing eggs from the hen house ,nor feed...good luck....provide lots of cover...

 

[WillieBoy]

I agree with Debbi...its a good thing to attract crows. I also have a feeding platform,don't feed corn but food scrapes.
The crows are usually around to check out any new goodies i may have put out.This is my 4th yr with hens, no hawk losses yet. I have resident redtails and have seen other hawks around.My girls range on my 1 1/2 acre property, which provides a milion hiding places.Over the yrs i have planted evergreens completley around my land. When i say they have a million places to hide when hawk is near, i mean it...!
Lots of cover and crows have worked for me.Chickens out in the open, no crows around and hawks= trouble ...
I would never put baby chicks out on range, so crows aren't a problem that way, an they haven't tried stealing eggs from the hen house ,nor feed...good luck....provide lots of cover...

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
OMG, your post scares the Dickens out of me because my chickens' free-ranging area is almost identical to how you describe yours. So far I've seen hawks but had no attacks. I often wonder if I'm wrong to allow them out of their totally-safe run, and do I have to sacrifice one or two of them in order find out the answer.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
I LIKE that idea, especially since I have a stack of pallets from when I had the driveway's turnaround redone with pavers.
NOW if my wife will move them...

 

[jjthink]

Unfortunately, the only true hope of preventing further attacks is to provide a fenced, covered area for times like these. Usually the hawks will in time tire of the lack of opportunity and move on. Multiple attacks confirms the hawks have their prey's coordinates and the chickens are sitting ducks. In some ways when a pred gets a fix on our flocks it's like those reprehensible canned hunts because our little charges tend to stay in a certain area (aka home) and they're toast. Scarecrows are not going to do the trick.

In no time, we made a fast makeshift covered run - 8' metal stakes forming the perimeter, also with some in the interior for extra support and to have something to attach deer netting to as it makes its way to the other side. Fencing all around the sides and deer netting across the top. Used picture hanging wire cut into many many little twist ties used to attach sections of deer netting. It's not real pretty but it does the trick for a safe area when I need it (which turns out to be often).
JJ

p.s. Not sure how many birds you have - I know you said you have way too many to fence - but if it was for limited periods of time (i.e. now, when hawks are threatening), perhaps doable. I think the quick covered run we did is about 20'x30'? - not sure - but maybe it isn't an awful size for a bunch of birds during worrisome times (I have only 2 so I know we can't go by my situation!)

 

[NellaBean]

Well, I have approximately 100 birds.....so I would need a pretty darn big area....It's about half large fowl, half bantam......i have an 8x8 covered pen which is currently left "open" so the birds can go in and out as needed. There is plenty of cover in my yard as well.......the hawk has been picking off young birds who are not smart enough to realize they should not wander out into an open area all alone without a rooster to watch out for them. My older girls seem to be a bit more "hawk smart"......doesn't hurt that they have quite a few roosters as escorts. The older birds tend to hang out in teh upper portion of the yard.....the younger birds tend to stay in the lower portion. All succesful attacks have been in the lower portion....which is now where the "scarehawks" are.

There is a sale this weekend I had planned on attending anyways...I am going to "sacrifice" some of my extra girls I had planned on keeping....to sell my extra roosters in pairs. Once I get them cleared out of my big rooster pen (16x24), I think I may move all of the bantam girls into there, and put deer netting over the top. I have a small covered tractor with young babies in it now. They will move to my covered 8x8 pen along with my very small bantam quartet (young cochins and d'ucccles). The small tractor will house either an extra couple bantam roosters or a trio of bantams. I have a 4x4 coop halfway done....If I can finish it, I will add a small covered pen and use it for another group of bantams.

My large fowl are going to stay out in the uncovered yard....but I have plenty of hiding space, plenty of large fowl roosters to "guide them" and the hawk that is targeting my flock is small and young.

Hoping this will be a bit of a help for now.........