Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[TurtlePowerTrav]

If you have a large property, you could try setting up a bird feeder somewhere away from the chickens. Hawks consider bird feeders as buffets.If you're lucky, it will hunt the wild birds there.

Unfortunately for me the rest of my property is forest, that is where the hawks stage the attacks. The only open areas on my property are my 12,000sf front yard and 18,000sf back yard. And I don't want to attract the hawks to the front yard as my neighbors flock is right across the street. I am just gonna take away the food and hope they move on. I really need to kill the 2 coyotes that have set up in the area. They are taking all the rabbits and squirrels away from the hawks, leaving them to hunt for the chickens.

 

[Mumsy]

If you have a large property, you could try setting up a bird feeder somewhere away from the chickens. Hawks consider bird feeders as buffets.If you're lucky, it will hunt the wild birds there.

This is what I do. I feed wild birds scratch, suet, and seed on the opposite side of my property as my chickens. Have for decades. Hawks do come through and take a meal on the wing. Mourning doves are their favorite. It hasn't effected the wild bird population in my neighborhood at all. Many of my neighbors feed the wild birds and squirrels. I also put stuff out for the squirrels. I like watching and feeding the wild critters and the hawks are not starving in my neighborhood.

There is something I've recently read about on this forum. The use of fishing line to string over head to baffle and confuse the predator birds. I might try this. I want to let some of my bantams free range the orchard this Spring. Husband has a lot of fishing line and I have lots of ladders and places to string it from. The trick would be to get it high enough to not be a bother to people and weave it close enough to keep birds of prey from getting into it. Anyone tried that yet? Google "fish line to keep hawks away" and a lot of stuff pops up.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote:
I think you not only have to do it overhead but have to do it on the sides, they will figure out something is keeping them out from top attacks and they will try a lower side attack. Maybe a side wall of poultry netting and the fishing line over head weaved so no more than a 6" space between weaves would prolly work.

 

[mikeyb]

here are some tips that might be helpful;


http://www.darkbrownegglayers.com/chicken-predators-protect-your-poultry-from-predators/

hope it helps

 

[Hinotori]

I guess i need to start checking the birds 3 or 4 times a week for mites. Once a week did not catch them early enough. Most of the birds still look mite free. The ameraucanas and one brahma that hang out with the ameraucana cockerel have a few. The cockerel is covered. Poor boy. I bathed him to wash as many as i could off. He's been dosed with eprinex and I'll get the rest tonight. He doesn't want to do anything but is eating and drinking.

I'm seeing mites everywhere now and am itchy all over. DH laughed and said he was going to tell me, "Oh, there are mites on your forhead". The rat! Every speck of dirt seems to be moving.

 

[KMHunter]

I guess i need to start checking the birds 3 or 4 times a week for mites. Once a week did not catch them early enough. Most of the birds still look mite free. The ameraucanas and one brahma that hang out with the ameraucana cockerel have a few. The cockerel is covered. Poor boy. I bathed him to wash as many as i could off. He's been dosed with eprinex and I'll get the rest tonight. He doesn't want to do anything but is eating and drinking.

I'm seeing mites everywhere now and am itchy all over. DH laughed and said he was going to tell me, "Oh, there are mites on your forhead". The rat! Every speck of dirt seems to be moving.

They totally gross me out! I dust my silkies and use Adams flea and tick or Front line works great if you can see them. The little beggars die really fast. If you ever get a bad infestation.

 

[Ogress]

I guess i need to start checking the birds 3 or 4 times a week for mites. Once a week did not catch them early enough. Most of the birds still look mite free. The ameraucanas and one brahma that hang out with the ameraucana cockerel have a few. The cockerel is covered. Poor boy. I bathed him to wash as many as i could off. He's been dosed with eprinex and I'll get the rest tonight. He doesn't want to do anything but is eating and drinking.

I'm seeing mites everywhere now and am itchy all over. DH laughed and said he was going to tell me, "Oh, there are mites on your forhead". The rat! Every speck of dirt seems to be moving.

Sorry about the mites, I had a problem with them about 2 years ago.I have not seen a single one this year. I think it is because the HS boy I hired to clean the coop this spring and summer would coat everything in the coop with a heavy layer of permethrin. I told him to use DE and make the boards white with it each time he scraped off the poop boards. I was laid-up then and had to try and describe to him where I kept the DE. He misinderstood and used up the stash of poultry dust that was stitting on the shelf above my garbage can full of DE. I did not even use Eprinex in the fall as I usually do - not a bug in sight; no flies nor yellow jackets all during the beautiful, sunny autumn.

 

[TerrorBird]

I really hate it when that small hawk comes through. Today, he had a meal right next to the chicken pen door: a grosbeak. I found part of a wing and its head. I feel sorry for the poor girls who might have seen it.

 

[Hinotori]

I went through the few canisters of permethrin that I had in my chicken treatment box. Dusted the silkies coop and the roosts in the large coop are white with it. Nest boxes are well coated and the rest went on the floor. Speaking of the Adams spray, I just picked some up tonight at petco when I picked kitten flea treatment. I sprayed that around in crevices and the kennel that the cockerel is in. I could SEE them on that. That spray worked really well.

Just dosed everyone out in the coops.

It's the stupid little birds. Found a bunch of them on the roosts this afternoon. I don't feel so bad about the GSD eating them anymore.

I'll be cleaning out the coop from top to bottom and reapplying dust. As soon as it warms, DH says he'll start building the new coop. That will be painted inside and have screened vents.

 

[Hinotori]

Well- we figured out what killed my layer last weekend. A hawk. And it struck again today, killing 2 of my Bantams who were in a secure cage, with a top, and with my mom and sister home. We drove up the driveway and saw it flying from the scence. We thought they'd be fine as we were home and keeping a close eye on them- but we were wrong.

I'm sorry about your birds.

I have a tarp over the silkie run and there is a big pond net over the large run. We have a lot of hawks around this year. My birds are really good at watching the sky and getting under cover when they free range. I keep them in if there is to much hawk activity though.