Spotted a hawk in my backyard

[citychicks99]

My chickens like to free range and the other morning I heard them freak out, so I check on them through the window and saw one of my hens in defense mode, similar to when a rooster has the back of their feathers spiked up and in alert mode. I then saw the hawk and it looked right at me and flew away. I've been keeping my chickens locked up in the run except for the afternoon and evening when I'm in the backyard more.

I haven't let my smallest chicken out at all since then since she weighs less than 3 pounds and have a gait she was born with, so she's a bit slower. She actually had an injury once with the entire underside of her skin peeling off. It looked like she was attacked but I had no idea what happened. Luckily, she healed up fine. I thought it was from my rooster's spurs but I'm wondering if he had saved her. Sadly, he has passed now and I don't think the other hens would bother to help her.

I don't know much about hawks but since it saw me, is it less likely to come back? We've cleared up a lot of brush in our backyard so there's less hiding spots, which means less rats but possibly more hawks. Any ideas on how we can safely let the chickens out to free range now? We're looking into building a channel using PVC pipes and bird netting.

 

[Debbie292d]

We're pretty protected from the area hawks and eagles due to a 125' tower with guy wires that come down over an acre of our yard. Those guy wires scare them so they stay far above that side.

For the other end, we have giant wind spinners. These are metal and stand about 8' tall with fans on them that spin in the wind. We move those around every few weeks. I also buy the short cheapy colorful plastic ones and put those around the yard.

We have a huge picnic table on that side too, and the camper is parked there as well. When the chickens fear anything, they go under one of those.

I've also read some have strung heavy fishing line above human height where they could, like from tree to tree. That line works like our guy wires, in that it confuses them and they won't come down.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Any ideas on how we can safely let the chickens out to free range now?

I'm not sure there's such a thing as "safe" free ranging (aside from standing out amongst your flock while they are doing so). You won't be able to totally eliminate the risk hawks present unless you have an enclosure covered with hawk netting. There are ways to deter them, but they're also VERY aggressive this time of year.

For some people the ability to free range outweighs the risk of losing chickens to predators. That's a personal choice you'll have to make. I lost 1 hen to a hawk two years ago and that was enough for me to build a large (60'x40') chicken yard covered with hawk netting. My birds do not leave that chicken yard unless I am standing outside in the same place they are (and even then, I use a moveable fence so they can't wander too far away from me).

since it saw me, is it less likely to come back?

Unfortunately, they don't care. They're relentless.

 

[citychicks99]

We're pretty protected from the area hawks and eagles due to a 125' tower with guy wires that come down over an acre of our yard. Those guy wires scare them so they stay far above that side.

For the other end, we have giant wind spinners. These are metal and stand about 8' tall with fans on them that spin in the wind. We move those around every few weeks. I also buy the short cheapy colorful plastic ones and put those around the yard.

We have a huge picnic table on that side too, and the camper is parked there as well. When the chickens fear anything, they go under one of those.

I've also read some have strung heavy fishing line above human height where they could, like from tree to tree. That line works like our guy wires, in that it confuses them and they won't come down.

Thanks for your suggestions! I'll look into using fishing line and wind spinners. I got an owl decoy I thought about using for wild birds but I'm not sure if that would work on hawks.

 

[citychicks99]

I'm not sure there's such a thing as "safe" free ranging (aside from standing out amongst your flock while they are doing so). You won't be able to totally eliminate the risk hawks present unless you have an enclosure covered with hawk netting. There are ways to deter them, but they're also VERY aggressive this time of year.

For some people the ability to free range outweighs the risk of losing chickens to predators. That's a personal choice you'll have to make. I lost 1 hen to a hawk two years ago and that was enough for me to build a large (60'x40') chicken yard covered with hawk netting. My birds do not leave that chicken yard unless I am standing outside in the same place they are (and even then, I use a moveable fence so they can't wander too far away from me).


Unfortunately, they don't care. They're relentless.

Wow, 60'x40' is huge to me. That's bigger than my entire yard!

I didn't know that hawks tend to be more aggressive this time of year. I have seen them around my house before but they haven't been an issue but I have had a rooster all this time until last month. They don't like being cooped up unfortunately. One slipped past me when I went into the run today. I'm thinking of just throwing a giant bird netting above my yard.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I'm thinking of just throwing a giant bird netting above my yard.

That's what we did before building the larger chicken yard. We used 8ft T-posts and attached the hawk netting to them. It worked fine, and was definitely cheaper than the chicken palace we ended up building last year :