Hawks are a major predator of chickens, as evidenced by the many hawk posts seen here at BYC. Majestic birds of prey, they are often admired for their beauty. Too, they are protected by federal law, so there is always a mixed emotion about them. We want to like them, and the government insists we do - but they want to kill our chickens! What to do?
Some devise elaborate defenses of wire, dangling CD's and inflatable owls in hopes of deterring them. Others will follow the "Three S" method of controlling hawks... Shoot - Shovel - Shut up.
Still more will just throw up their arms and hope the hawk doesn't take too many chickens.
However, you may not want to build fancy, passive deterrents or turn your range into a shooting gallery... and maybe you don't wish to just roll over and appease the local hawk.
Is there something else? Well, maybe.
I was reading "Foxfire 3" and one of the chapters covered "Purple Martin Gourds."
If you are unfamiliar with the bird known as the purple martin, here is the basic concept: The purple martin is a type of swallow and migrates from Brazil each year. It comes north in late winter to raise it's young. It primarily visits the eastern US, with a few small enclaves in the SW deserts and the Pacific NW.
If you provide it a nesting site, it will set up a breeding nest on your property, raise its young until they can fly (usually around August) and then go back south.
"Home" to a purple martin is large round gourd, about the size of a volleyball. You can grow the gourds yourself, anywhere you can raise pumpkins or other marrows. Once they are dry and cured, you make them into a martin nest gourd and hang them from a pole about 20 feet off the ground. Martins are aerial birds and rarely land on the ground, except to gather nesting materials. In fact, it is rare to even see them in a tree.
So what does this have to do with hawk deterrence? Let me share what was written in "Foxfire 3" about martins:
"People in years back put up martin houses to entice martins to stay the summer - and chase off chicken hawks.
The primary reason people erect purple martin gourds today is to keep flying insects away from their gardens and from around the house. People who have them say they can sit outside late of a summer evening and not be bothered by mosquitoes or gnats.
Mr. L. Davis says, 'I guess they help me a lot, because they eat all the bugs and insects. Martins will cover a large area eating insects, mostly mosquitoes. You can see them dive like jet planes. People like martins especially, around ponds.'
Mr. B McClure, on the other hand, says this:
'My mother used to have purple martins long ago and they were not for catching insects, but to keep the hawks away from the chickens.
They'll fight them... they'll fight a crow, too. If a hawk comes around, the purple martins will gang up on him. They'll chase him right out of the country.' "
Through happy coincidence, martins are insectivorous and eat their own weight in insects daily. So, while they are on guard for hawks, they also devour pesky mosquitoes, gnats and other bothersome insects.
AS you might imagine, their is far more to the story than I can tell here. Martins have simple needs, but they are rather particular needs, unique to them and them alone.
And whenever you introduce one species into an eco-system, you push something else out. In fact, proper management of your nesting site is a must if you are going to have success with martins.
Finally, they don't stay all year, so they must be seen as only one part of an overall hawk deterrent scheme in those areas where they will live.
But, all things considered, they certainly bear some research. SO look into it and see if this old fashioned, nature friendly method of hawk deterrence is for you!
For more information, visit the Purple Martin Conservancy Association, here:
http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html
Some devise elaborate defenses of wire, dangling CD's and inflatable owls in hopes of deterring them. Others will follow the "Three S" method of controlling hawks... Shoot - Shovel - Shut up.
Still more will just throw up their arms and hope the hawk doesn't take too many chickens.
However, you may not want to build fancy, passive deterrents or turn your range into a shooting gallery... and maybe you don't wish to just roll over and appease the local hawk.
Is there something else? Well, maybe.
I was reading "Foxfire 3" and one of the chapters covered "Purple Martin Gourds."
If you are unfamiliar with the bird known as the purple martin, here is the basic concept: The purple martin is a type of swallow and migrates from Brazil each year. It comes north in late winter to raise it's young. It primarily visits the eastern US, with a few small enclaves in the SW deserts and the Pacific NW.
If you provide it a nesting site, it will set up a breeding nest on your property, raise its young until they can fly (usually around August) and then go back south.
"Home" to a purple martin is large round gourd, about the size of a volleyball. You can grow the gourds yourself, anywhere you can raise pumpkins or other marrows. Once they are dry and cured, you make them into a martin nest gourd and hang them from a pole about 20 feet off the ground. Martins are aerial birds and rarely land on the ground, except to gather nesting materials. In fact, it is rare to even see them in a tree.
So what does this have to do with hawk deterrence? Let me share what was written in "Foxfire 3" about martins:
"People in years back put up martin houses to entice martins to stay the summer - and chase off chicken hawks.
The primary reason people erect purple martin gourds today is to keep flying insects away from their gardens and from around the house. People who have them say they can sit outside late of a summer evening and not be bothered by mosquitoes or gnats.
Mr. L. Davis says, 'I guess they help me a lot, because they eat all the bugs and insects. Martins will cover a large area eating insects, mostly mosquitoes. You can see them dive like jet planes. People like martins especially, around ponds.'
Mr. B McClure, on the other hand, says this:
'My mother used to have purple martins long ago and they were not for catching insects, but to keep the hawks away from the chickens.
They'll fight them... they'll fight a crow, too. If a hawk comes around, the purple martins will gang up on him. They'll chase him right out of the country.' "
Through happy coincidence, martins are insectivorous and eat their own weight in insects daily. So, while they are on guard for hawks, they also devour pesky mosquitoes, gnats and other bothersome insects.
AS you might imagine, their is far more to the story than I can tell here. Martins have simple needs, but they are rather particular needs, unique to them and them alone.
And whenever you introduce one species into an eco-system, you push something else out. In fact, proper management of your nesting site is a must if you are going to have success with martins.
Finally, they don't stay all year, so they must be seen as only one part of an overall hawk deterrent scheme in those areas where they will live.
But, all things considered, they certainly bear some research. SO look into it and see if this old fashioned, nature friendly method of hawk deterrence is for you!
For more information, visit the Purple Martin Conservancy Association, here:
http://purplemartin.org/main/mgt.html
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