Using old CD's to scare away airborne predators (hawks, etc)?

[MightyChickenJF]

I have an idea to keep hawks and other airborne predators away. I bought a stack of old blank CD's at a garage sale, the kind that used to be used for home data storage. Now, birds tend to be scared away by things that flash, my grandfather would use strips of aluminum foil to keep birds away from his corn. I was thinking of tying some of the CD's to a couple poles so they could blow in the wind. In my view not only would this keep away hawks, but would keep the chickens from flying the coop. Good idea?

 

[LaFleche]

Sorry to tell you, but it does not help.

From my experience, the only thing keeping your chickens safe from birds of prey, would be heavy duty netting covering your predator proof run.

 

[MightyChickenJF]

Thanks, I was worried that it wouldn't work. I will simply have to put netting over the top of the run.

 

[LaFleche]

Thanks, I was worried that it wouldn't work. I will simply have to put netting over the top of the run.

Heavy duty netting (holes no bigger than 5-8 cm) will give you peace of mind.

 

[McChooky]

You'll lose a lot of chickens if you don't use netting overhead.

 

[MightyChickenJF]

As is typical with me, I was trying to find a cheap shortcut. And as is usual, it was a dumb idea. Yep, I definitely will need netting, and around the perimeter of the run fencing as well as overhead.

 

[McChooky]

As is typical with me, I was trying to find a cheap shortcut. And as is usual, it was a dumb idea. Yep, I definitely will need netting, and around the perimeter of the run fencing as well as overhead.

I used black netting over my run until after I was able to get the top framed up with 2 x 4's. I attached hardware cloth after I removed the netting .

 

[Krugerrand]

I tried the CD trick to scare the robins away from my black raspberries. It didn't work. It's either netting or share when it comes to hungry birds.

 

[cmom]

Sorry to tell you, but it does not help.

From my experience, the only thing keeping your chickens safe from birds of prey, would be heavy duty netting covering your predator proof run.

I've had the same experiences. I use good heavy duty netting. I have a quite large area.

It wasn't easy to put up but I did it and I'm no spring chicken. It's been up a long time and still good. Good luck...