what chicken breed for hawk infested area

[phrogg]

My flock of EEs handles the hawks pretty well. There are 21 birds down from 40 sumthin originally, the predator that killed 17 in 9 hours one day was never identified but it must have made the remainder of the birds a little smarter. Since that day I have not lost a single bird to a predator, besides myself. It was probably a dog, but nevertheless this is what they do...
when a hawk is in the sky, one of those 42 eyes sees it pretty darn quick. that bird makes some little tiny noise and all the birds instantly dash for cover, even the ones that are WAY too far away to hear the alarm, they see the rest of the flock reacting and they react too. They all keep hid for quite a while, not making any noise or anything. I've watched my roo peek out from time to time to check for the hawk...
One bird evenetually gets tired of waiting and eases back out. My coop is built raised off of the ground and open on two ends so the birds, if around the coop, can quickly dart under the coop to avoid flying predators. When they are not around the coop the utilize dense brush, outbuildings etc.
I hope this keep working well for me *knock on wood*

 

[cobrien]

I had an interesting idea, can you start out with some unwanted roosters, see which ones make it, and then you have some good protectors lined up once you get hens. the complication is quarantining them for the required time. I feel conflicted suggesting this as I am a softy vegetarian type but on the other hand the practical reality is that there are many unwanted roosters. If sacrificing them can save some hens that actually are wanted, it sounds worth it. If I lived in the country I'd have roosters around to protect the hens.

 

[little_grey_bantam]

Red Jungle Fowl have worked best for us... we only lost our flock due to a mama bobcat trying to feed her bobkittens in the dead of winter

Other than that, we have had Mama hens CHASE labs and rotties out of the yard when they were brooding babies...

You can try Lakenvelders and Black Spanish or Game birds, they are flighty-er(?) but some of our Lakenvelder hens are missing today... so who knows, but our RJFs always did great!

 

[BlackBart]

My Neighbour who breeds/trains Hawks and Falcons told me no chicken is safe. They will fly down and snap the neck of the chicken, which thankfully kills it instantly and they will feed on it where it dropped dead.
Allot of people have started putting up lengths of Prayer Flags. They make their own out of scrap material and string them from tree to tree. It has to be made of the colors of blue, yellow, green, red and white, I can't remember the order.
Seems to be keeping the Hawks away and as a bonus it brings good luck.

 

[babyblue]

I have personaly seen a red sex link rooster thrash a hawk so badly that the hawk needed medical attention because it could no longer fly. not a scratch on the rooster and he was the sweety that followed you around and sat in your lap.

 

[kayri]

Quote:
Do those colors keep the hawks away, or are they traditional for prayer flags? Do they string them so close the hawks can't fly down between them? Mine are under netting now (12x30), but I'm hoping come summer when everything has leafed out they can run around within their 1/8 of an acre electric fenced in area.

 

[kayri]

Quote:
I want that rooster, lost two hens in the last month to hawks, but they were huge red-tails, I find it hard to believe any rooster could fight off something that large coming at such a fast speed. I would like that rooster for the smaller cooper hawks that are landing on the ground, walking up to my chickens and trying to kill them.

 

[NateinFL]

You would probably have the the best luck with chickens that are street smart, like those living in the neighborhoods nearby, it amazes me they dont get picked off by hawks, surely some do but there is a healthy population that has been around for many many years. I was riding my bike through the neighborhood one day and heard eeping sounds coming from a tree and guess what....a mother hen had her nest UP IN THE TREE!!! Looked like over a squirrels nest. Never seen nor heard from that before but when predation is high birds sense it and get crafty. Survival of the fittest with them.

 

[CaseFarms]

Growing up we had two roosters and 8 hens, all RIR... the roosters were able to fend off coyotes for several years. We also had red tailed hawks that had nests in the surrounding trees and fed in the area and a chicken hawk (ugly bird) or two. When the big roo finally went down in what I am sure was an all-out battle with a pack of very desperate and later bloody but less hungry coyotes, so went the rest of the flock, one by one. The second roo was about as scary as a clown fish, and offered as much protection as he gave eggs.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
I wanna keep that roo outside my coop at all times.


Got some hatching eggs from that one?