Squirrels....Hawks...?????

[chickon baby]

2 questions concerning the safety of my girls.. first so you know;the run area has 8ft privacy fence all around and there is heavy guage wire connected and all across the top as well as under the ground,they can go in and out of the secured coop via a trap door.So.. #1 This am before I let them out there were squirrels running across the wire fencing on top on the run...Can squirrels hurt chickens? What can I do to keep them away? #2. We have had 2 or 3 red tailed and 2or 3 regular hawks flying around all day for the last 2-3 days.What other precautions should I take?? I believe the wire is 2inch squares..Ive not seen them swoop down,but they do get pretty close and just having them ard makes me nervous.There are 2 big plastic owls 1 abt 50 ft to the left n 1 abt 50ft to the right.(My neighbors have them in theyre yard) I appreciate any suggestions..The only one Ive read is abt the foil or Cd's hung above the fencing.We are trying to figure a way to do that as there are huge evergreens behind the fence and it is abt a 40x40 run..Thanks so much

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Squirrels wont bother grown chickens, and short of killing them, there's no way to "keep them away"

With your run being fully enclosed, the hawks wont be a problem unless your birds are outside the run.
Again, there's really not much you can do to keep them away either

My birds free range all day and I've never lost one to a hawk,even though I see hawks all the time

 

[Imp]

I feel sorry for the squirrel that the chickens catch.

Imp

 

[S&SPoultryExchange]

I had a squirrel chew threw chicken wire on one of my pens. The hole it made was just big enough to get through. When I found it, it was clinging to the highest part of the chicken wire as if it was scared of what it got itself into. It took a while to get it out of there also.