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| I live on a beautiful homestead and had have free-ranging Bantam chickens and guineas for years. As expected, predators occasionally kill a chicken but the birth ratio has been much higher than the deaths…. Until this spring.
A hawk or pair of hawks have begun targeting our Bantams. Repeatedly we have seen a hawk swoop down and take off with a half grown chick. Some of our hens have lost their entire brood to the hawks. Today I witnessed a hawk attacking a full grown hen. Yelling, I ran towards the hawk and it flew away empty taloned. The whole flock is very nervous. All morning my chickens have been constantly sounding the hawk alarm call and the chickens stay in hiding under the house and in sheds. They now live in constant fear of death from the sky. I would appreciate advice on what can I do to discourage visits from hawks. Is shooting the hawks the only option? I know the hawks probably have their own offspring to feed. I admire their hunting skills and know they are an important part of the food chain. I would freely give them all the mice and wild rabbits they could catch, but I don't enjoy losing dozens of my chickens to them. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| It is probably illegal to shoot the hawks---unless you get a nusiance permit. Short of putting a roof over all or part of your chicken area, there is little, save human intervention, that will deter them. You have provided an easy obtained meal whenever the predators are hungry. The easy food allows the hawks to breed more---which makes more hawks---which makes more need for food---which is easy to get. |
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| I don't think you can get a nuisance permit to kill birds of prey because they are protected at the federal level, and the fine for killing any of them or even having their feathers in your possession is stiff. That doesn't mean people don't do it anyway, and my own dh threatened to shoot a hawk that was a problem. I told him if he did I'd turn him in: it is the way of the land, you have provided a ready pantry for them. I don't know any solution short of penning your chickens which kind of defeats the purpose of having chickens, to me. I guess so far we've been fairly lucky as we haven't had losses surpass gains. Be aware, though, that small kittens or even larger ones are also on their menu. I wonder if there is any kind of a sound-frequency thing that might work. sharper image used to have something that you could change the frequency to 4 different target pests (insect, mammal, two others??). I used to use one for wasp control. the mammal sound will drive YOU insane, and quickly lol. So I don't know what would work for birds that wouldn't also stress your chickens. If there is some way you can keep your chickens put up for a couple months they will move on. Right now they are rearing their young so couldn't move even if they wanted to, but they wouldn't nest there again next year if they loose their (easy) food source now. |
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- Posted by nancy_in_mich (My Page) on Sun, Jun 15, 08 at 19:46
| They make netting to keep birds off of fruit trees and out of gardens. Could you suspend some over the areas where your birds most like to hang out? Or just regular wire fencing, hanging like a roof over their favorite areas to protect them? I would probably tie some strips of fabric or something to the fencing or netting to show the hawks that there is an obstacle there, so they don't get tangled up and hurt. Once they figure it out, your birds may use these areas to hide under when the hawk alert sounds. If they can't swoop down and snatch the birds, I bet the hawks will give up. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Bird netting from Gardener's Supply
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- Posted by buyorsell888 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 7, 08 at 13:29
| I use the bird netting which I got cheap from Home Depot to cover my pond every year when herons and kingfishers are breeding. I also use a floating island planter year 'round. My goldfish are smart enough to hide from birds under it when they see shadows. I bet if you provided netting covering part of your chickens run that they would learn to run under it. If a hawk got tangled in it they would learn not to come back. You can also try yelling at the hawks but shooting them is illegal and can get you in serious trouble. More would just move in the territory anyway. Maybe planting trees or shrubs in the area might help provide more cover? |
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- Posted by joepyeweed (My Page) on Tue, Jul 8, 08 at 12:31
| Shooting the hawk is not an option, its highly illegal. They are protected. I had a hawk picking birds off of my feeders. I stopped feeding the birds and the hawk went away. Then I started feeding again. I think if you can stop free ranging the chickens for awhile, the hawks will go away. I would provide a cover, netting or containment for the chickens. If the hawks can't get to the chickens they will leave. This may have to be a repeated each year. I would try a fake owl. The birds of prey are somewhat territorial. If they see the fake owl, they might move on. I also would not have wild bird feeders either. Any food source for the hawks will encourage them to stick around. |
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- Posted by paulywalter(paulwalterjenkins@gmail.com) onThu, Dec 30, 10 at 8:58
| I don't know how legal or illegal it is. I shot fireworks at the hawk. I used a large size bottle rocket with report. The accuracy of the bottle rocket is very bad And the chances of hitting the hawk is very slim, it is what I used at one time and the hawk did not come back for months. In the winter time food is scarce for hawks And my fat and slow chickens are easy targets. It is affective and does not kill the hawk. From past experience Removing the chickens from the hawks is the best thing. And then allowing them to free range after the hawks move on. |
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- Posted by carmen_grower_2007 (My Page) on Fri, Jan 21, 11 at 16:17
| We had free-range chickens and never had a problem with hawks although they sure tried to get the chickens. We also had three roosters though who alerted the chickens when the hawks were circling and the chickens would all run for cover immediately. The roosters would just stand out there until the hawks gave up --- even a large hawk doesn't mess with a rooster. BTW, other predators are either run off or the chickens where alerted. |
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- Posted by Teresa(hazyhills@tds.net) onSun, Apr 10, 11 at 7:19
| Yesterday I opened the door intime to see a group of hawks fly off - one had something with him. My big, furry, blonde cat Joey never came in the rest of the day or last night. Now I realize the hawk had picked up my cat and flew off with him! This is terrible! |
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- Posted by Cathey(ashleyscloset@hotmail.com) onTue, Apr 12, 11 at 14:46
| Oh no Teresa! I worry about my rabbit and small, seven pound dog here. We have hawks, buzzards, misc birds of prey roosting in my area (tree groves near a ravine across the street). So sorry about Joey. I don't free range any of my creatures under 24 pounds due to the birds of prey here. |
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- Posted by Tanya(angel4ever8@sbcglobal.net) onThu, Jun 9, 11 at 19:33
| I have had a number of both ducks and chickens killed by a large redtail hawk...last fall one beheaded our last small duck before I scared it away...now this spring we have sighted 9 of the big birds of prey. We have built a big totally covered coop for our couple of chickens and now a overhang with windsocks and chimes hanging around it to protect our new ducklings in the duck yard....I sure hope this works because there are still openings for the hawks to fly in if they want but my husband insists a hawk won't fly into a place it can't get out of quickly. |
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