Stupid hawks! I want to give up!

[femalecbrown]

Got our first chickens in April. We were expecting some loss and got that with one "sick" bird and one attacked by something early on. Our chicks had free run on our property. TRAGEDY. We have lost 8 chickens in the past week. 7 just disappeared and the 8th one's body was found just outside the run before the chicks went in for the night. We are so devastated. We went out and bought fencing for a new run but that won't let them free range as they are used to. I just don't want to lose any more. We also had a coon try to dig under the run last night. Can you effectively predator proof? I don't want to quit raising chicks as I really love my chickens.

 

[nnbreeder]

You can make a coop and run pretty much predator proof. For the diggers either bury wire along the perimeter or lay an apron of wire all along the bottom and either cover it with dirt or use lawn staples to hold it down. For the fliers and climbers use wire to cover the top. And for everyone equally use a hot wire perimeter.


When I build my next run I will use tin along the bottom with buried wire to prevent digging plus I am going to put the dog run surrounding the coop which should deter any predators.

 

[Oakeyacres]

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I have a coop/run vermon free for nearly 10 years. I buried 2x6 pressure treated, stapled aviary wire(because I already had it) to that. Then added the gradiated hog fencing to that because I was worried about our dogs. The enclosure is about 7 feet tall. I later covered the run with corrugated tin to keep the rain out because it stunk worse than a pig pen in winter. That being said I did lose 4 hen in another area because I forgot to shut their door. Not a good feeling. Do it right once and you won't have to worry about it for a long time.

Good luck,
Walter

 

[savingdogs]

We live where there are hawks, racoons and coyotes so cannot let our chickens free range here. However we are contemplating making some daytime tractors, our chickens are very happy and content in a large predator proff (we hope) pen and coop we made. We bring alot of greens to them and let them out when we are supervising. We have not lost a single pullet keeping them pretty much always contained, but we made the pen quite large. We also put a tarp over much of it for shade and I think that it keeps the predators from being able to swoop down. Still much better than store bought eggs even if they are not really "free range". They are "cage free" and happy. In our area that is the best I can do safely but I do think our chickens are happy. We are new to this though, I might have a different opinion in a year.....

 

[Saladman]

Hi there. You have my total sympathy, we have been steadily losing ground to predating Hawks here on our small lifestyle block in New Zealand for the last two years. Trouble is.. The darned things are totaly protected here and if we retaliate with a shotgun or trap (as I would like to!) it attracts a hefty $5000.00 fine!

We dont run any Roosters with our free-ranginging gals as we were drowning in chickens and , of course, thats why the Hawks are able to pick the gals off one by one. We are trying an experiment with Guinea Fowl eggs being introduced to our broody hens and see if they will act as the sentries we need! Will keep you all posted.

 

[catfish/okie]

If you can train a dog this works very good. If a dog thinks your chickens are part of the family then your dog will protect them by not allowing predators in his or her domain. and you have to put wire over your run. I only let mine out when i can sat out back and watch em myself. An hour or two before dusk.

 

[Saladman]

Hi There,
Yes, a dog would be nice around the place too. Trouble is, we have our gals free-ranging under a Kiwifruit canopy and a dog is not going to want to spend all day comuning with our chooks! I dont know of any dog that is THAT dumb! (maybe our Kiwi dogs are more "new age"? )

 

[pharris9]

In my experience a dog works best for hawks. My chickens feel so protected by the outdoor dog. One time I was sitting out just watching the flock and a large crow swooped down, they chickens must have thought it was a predator because they took cover under the dog. It was the cutest thing ever.

 

[kcardella]

Quote:
That is awesome!

 

[femalecbrown]

Thanks to all for your thoughts and sympathies. Most people around our place don't understand my love for our chicks. That is why this site is so great! Our yellow lab recently passed away and we do have a German Shepherd mix pup in training so that might help later. My DH took the day off of work and the new run is coming along nicely. Until the new run is finished, there is not enough room in the old run to fit all our chicks comfortably. I did spy the hawk while out helping build. I am so glad that we were out there to protect our babies. The run will be 16'x32' and 4 feet tall. We will put wire over the top for protection. Has anyone tried hanging old CD's from this to scare off birds? Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks again.