What time are hawks active?

[Talithahorse]

A couple of things to consider is the weather. Birds of Prey will be more desperate for food during the winter and just before or after a big storm since they are unable to hunt in driving rain. The longer the bad weather, the more likely they are to be desperate for food. Also late winter, they begin sitting on their nests which means that they are hunting for two birds. A hungry bird will take more risks. We try to provide ample of natural prey for them so they are less likely to hit the chickens. Providing spaces for rabbits to hide encourages natural prey. In the city, even setting up a wild bird feeder (away from your coop) means that they have other prey. (So buy the next door neighbor a bird feeder for a gift

. Late in the summer your young hatchlings are beginning to hunt for their own and they can be very inexperienced. (Good news for you most of the time but sometimes they can be stupid too).


When the weather first clears I will try to be a bit late letting the girls out and more likely to keep an eye on them.

 

[Ronnie2]

Only being a farm boy at heart, my first thought about the story "trying to pick ribs off a grill," must have been a fellow from Texas. Now I beginning to wonder about getting out of my chair and start hanging CD's from my fishing line on my electrified top wires to keep the coons ,and deer out. I'm reluctant to do it around my farm house, because of all the nest-boxes I have put up for the bluebirds, house wrens, and flying squirrels I love watching. The birds now are feeding there young, great past time in the shade, with this cool breeze.

 

[Ronnie2]

Thanks Talithahorse, for the info on the hawks. I have a field of hairy vetch that hasn't started blooming yet. I imagine that it has a bunch of field mice in it for the hawks to prey on, only if they can see them,

 

[GiantRuntFan]

LOL...not from Texas, but I AM from Chicago (another rib centric place). The guy barbequing is a native Washingtonian. It was mindblowing for him, too. Bald Eagles are plentiful up here, and I know near water they pick on Ospreys (sea hawks)...they wait until the osprey has done the hard work, and, being almost twice their size, bully the fish from them. It's actually pretty funny.

 

[Emojikitten]

Hawks will eat anything they find, no matter how hard it is to get to the prey.

 

[kkel0024]

I have 2 hawk families up high in oak trees. They sit there and watch the hens. I did lose one to a hawk ... my girl was sticking her head/neck out of the run to eat some grass and one of those hawks swooped in and grabbed her by the neck and pulled what she could of the hen out of the run. I reinforced the bottom third of the run with hardware cloth and nothing since. I take my girls out of the run 2 at a time and let them run around while i go with them. The hawk will fly overhead while we're out but hasn't tried to get anymore. Darn birds.

 

[OliveGrace]

I am new to keeping chickens and now have 6 pullets. Three of the pullets I have had since chicks. The other 3 I got only a few days ago.
I live in a suburban area with a fenced fairly large backyard with a good amount of trees. I have let the first 3 chicks free range from the time they were about 8 weeks old. At first, I was so afraid something would happen to them, but after a while without incident, a false sense of security sets in.
Today, late morning I heard some commotion outside. At first I thought it was a little squirmish between the new pullets and the older ones. When I came out there was a hawk attacking the 3 girls under a very dense holly tree along the fence where they are during the heat of the day. I can't even see them sometimes when I walk by. They seem so camouflaged. I ran towards the hawk yelling and screaming and it flew away. I ran to the other side of the yard to find the new pullets when I heard another commotion and the hawk had come back and had my girl Eleanor ready to take her away. She is the biggest chicken I have. She is a beautiful wheaten? colored Easter Egger. I was horrified. I again ran at them screaming and waving my arms. It let her go and flew away. I saw it up in the trees watching.
I got everyone into the run which is covered. Thankfully Eleanor was unhurt. She just last weekend laid the first egg I have ever had a chicken lay so needless to say she is special as are all of the girls.
I don't know what to do now. It is not easy to get them into the run/coop at will. If I let them out they are out until they want to come in, in the evening. They would certainly come in if they saw a predator but like today they were far from the coop. I think they will be miserable "cooped" up all day but I don't know what else to do. I will try the shiny tape and the owl but I don't think I will ever feel safe with them out again. I wish I could unsee what I saw today! Would it be better to have happy free ranged chickens or not so happy safe chickens? I just don't know. They are going to stay safe chickens for a while.

 

[Powersmacintosh]

I am new to keeping chickens and now have 6 pullets. Three of the pullets I have had since chicks. The other 3 I got only a few days ago.
I live in a suburban area with a fenced fairly large backyard with a good amount of trees. I have let the first 3 chicks free range from the time they were about 8 weeks old. At first, I was so afraid something would happen to them, but after a while without incident, a false sense of security sets in.
Today, late morning I heard some commotion outside. At first I thought it was a little squirmish between the new pullets and the older ones. When I came out there was a hawk attacking the 3 girls under a very dense holly tree along the fence where they are during the heat of the day. I can't even see them sometimes when I walk by. They seem so camouflaged. I ran towards the hawk yelling and screaming and it flew away. I ran to the other side of the yard to find the new pullets when I heard another commotion and the hawk had come back and had my girl Eleanor ready to take her away. She is the biggest chicken I have. She is a beautiful wheaten? colored Easter Egger. I was horrified. I again ran at them screaming and waving my arms. It let her go and flew away. I saw it up in the trees watching.
I got everyone into the run which is covered. Thankfully Eleanor was unhurt. She just last weekend laid the first egg I have ever had a chicken lay so needless to say she is special as are all of the girls.
I don't know what to do now. It is not easy to get them into the run/coop at will. If I let them out they are out until they want to come in, in the evening. They would certainly come in if they saw a predator but like today they were far from the coop. I think they will be miserable "cooped" up all day but I don't know what else to do. I will try the shiny tape and the owl but I don't think I will ever feel safe with them out again. I wish I could unsee what I saw today! Would it be better to have happy free ranged chickens or not so happy safe chickens? I just don't know. They are going to stay safe chickens for a while.

My biggest fear is what you just described. We have hawks above. 2 teen chickens. They hide behind the bushes camouflage. And I think it gives me a false sense of security, but they just hate being cooped up. My teen rooster runs his beek back and forth on the metal screen till I let him out. Such a bad dilemma...

 

[chickengeorgeII]

… Is there a time of day that hawks don't hunt?....

Hawks hunt from can to can't or in otherwise from Sun Rise to Sun Set.

Owls on the other hand hunt from can't to can.

 

[Hoensehus]

Five of the chicks we had this summer were taken by magpies and other birds of prey of the same size. I was to give up on free-ranging but when I saw how glad my chickens were when they're out so I let them...up to the point when I we had two hawk attacks this last week. Luckily, we were in good timing to save our hens. But still, the two hens who were almost taken go out to scratch and feed outside. I think I just have to calm my nerves and hope for the best. I don't worry about the magpies now that the remaining young ones are already big. The bushes no longer have leaves that the hens, especially the white Italians, are so visible. Our very good old rooster Freddy died last summer and I particularly noticed we have more mortalities this last few months. Could it be that the rooster who took his position wasn't that experienced in protecting the flock? I don't know. I think he's a lovely fellow.