Thank you! Yes, lots of hawks here, and vultures. Some eagles. We haven't had problems, but we don't take it for granted.
I actually feel better when the trees have leaves because the yard looks safer under a canopy. Apparently some hawks do hunt from low branches
but we also have an excellent understory, so that helps. Looks scraggly but is great for pollinators, shading chickens, keeping the earth cooler.
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Spring is hawk mating season, and a pair of red-tailed hawks nests over our house every year. They're overhead all the time. What's interesting is when they're doing wild sky stunts (courtship), the chickens could care less. Otherwise, they see the hawk before I do, make that trill, and everyone zips under cover or freezes before the hawk is even visible to me over the trees.
They also don't react to vultures besides to make a quick trill to point it out, same as they do for woodpeckers and airplanes.
It doesn't show well in the earlier photo, but instead of a net, we pulled a web of strings over the yard with shiny ornaments and CDs to deter raptors. We also run out to clap and wave our arms when we hear hawks, and we often have dogs out in the yard.
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We got this mama's boy to help deter trespassers, but he also learned to bark when we say, "Go on, hawk." Hawks apparently don't like dogs.
Lastly, roosters seem to help. Not only do they watch the sky while the hens chill, one of our roosters will race out if he hears a hawk and doesn't know where all the hens are.
One of the closest calls we've had, a hawk dove down over the strings where the birds were standing. The hens instantly pancaked to the ground, but the roosters stood tall. I have to think their posture, along with the strings, helped the hawk decide to look for other food.
