we "hawk proofed" our run! I feel bad for the hawks though

[ticks]

My dad didn't want to cover the coop because of the cost of flight netting. So he bought some wire that is probably not visible to a hawks until 5 feet at least. The wire goes from the top of every pole to another pole. It will clothesline the hawk. It will only take one failed attempt to teach the hawks.

 

[bangor777]

yowie,
if and when a hawk does make the swoop sounds like it might be a messy landing!

sounds cool though, any pics?

 

[ticks]

yea I can get pics in a couple of hoours, my dad took the camera fishing this morning.

 

[conny63malies]

I just checked for netting on ebay last night. You can buy that net for bird proofing your trees and plants for around 15$ and up for a 15x45ft net . Thats what i am going to use, along with something that lets the airborne predators know there is a barrier.

 

[ticks]

I have heard that the stuff rips very easily

 

[Prairie Mary]

Hi guys!

We lost a 11 wk old hen to a red tailed hawk yesterday. I'm struggling with whether to string wire or string fishing line. In addition we could buy a 50' x 50' (expensive) 2" netting. I don't like the idea of finding wild birds (the nice ones) caught in netting so I'm leaning toward wire or fish line. I understand that hawks have incredible eyesight so I suspect they could easily see the wire line.

We live near fields so there's plenty of potential predators - *coyotes, *neighbor dogs, cats, I've been told *crows can be a problem (but for a full sized chicken?), *raccoons, skunks, *opossum. On rare occasions we see eagles, bald ones too.
* = most likely, spot them regularly.

The chickens are locked in the coop at night. The chicken yard is fenced with 5' tall 2x4 welded wire fencing w/about 6" buried. The yard is roughly 50' x 50' and odd shaped with an apple tree and a lilac (that the chickens LOVE to hide in).

Any suggestions? How far apart should the wires be? Should they be weaved or just strung perpendicular to each other? Will hawks take on a full grown chicken?

This newbie REALLY appreciates any advice!
Lil Chicks on the Prairie

---
My hubby & I have 6 Aracaunas, 6 RIRs (all hens), & a cat . . . that wants to play with the chickens but is semi-scared of them. A friend's horse is in the pasture.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Hawks will definitely go after a full grown chicken. I believe the wires should be criss crossed. I hope this works for you.

 

[halo]

I lock my chickens up at night too. I have netting over the top of the run and have had no problems with hawks...and I have a lot of them around here. I got it at Lowes in the garden section, was around $15, did the whole run with it.