How to Hawk-proof your chickens

[LLee]

One of the recent (hot) threads has several posts about free range chickens and some of them being predated (fancy word for eaten) by hawks. There is a simple fix for this problem: Provide a shelter that the chickens can run under when they see anything in the sky that scares them. They have a natural fear of flying objects and will run for cover. If there are no bushes or trees, just make a low (less than 3 feet tall) shelter or lean-to, nothing fancy, and that will do the trick. If a large pasture (over .5 acre) then at least two shelters, spaced evenly apart. Make it large enough that the chickens can all get under the roof and not be crowded. They love shade on a hot day, too.

I’ve heard that a few large geese would deter hawks, but I’ve never tried it.

[2DogsFarm]

:lol:
Hey! That’s my inflammatory thread!

What has worked for me is stretching deer netting across the top of my fenced-in henyard.
Not like the flimsy netting could keep out a hawk, but their eyesight is keen enough so it looks like an obstacle & they detour.
I’ve seen redtail hawks all over my property, but never lost a hen to one.

My netting has been in place - just stapled to the top boards - for 6 years and is just this year looking like it needs to be replaced.
The lightweight netting lets most snow fall through, and when a heavy snowfall weighs it down it can just be shaken free of snow.
I’m thinking I may put together a frame of lath to hold it in place of the staples.

When the hens are out defying death they have several favorite spots under trees or perennial foliage they run to for shade or protection.

[ArabDiva]

I use the mesh approach described by 2dogsfarm, and there are shelters in the yard as well.

[HungarianHippo]

Have never lost a hen to an aerial predator. As long as there is scattered cover, in the form of bush, a few downed tree branches, or man-made shelters. they will pretty much be fine to free range.

[UrbanHennery]

Until the coyotes or coons go after them and then all bets are off. I’ve lost hens to coons, coyotes, hawks, eagles, and dogs. It’s best to keep them secure at least some of the time.

[leaf]

I use baling twine and staple it to the roof line of the coop and run it back and forth from fence to coop. Sort of looks like a circus tent. I want something that’s highly visible to all birds. No mesh for me, I don’t want hawks or song birds getting hung up.
I don’t have to leave it up all the time, actually haven’t had to resort to it in over a year. I have plenty of hawks making an honest living on wild birds and meadow mice etc.
Also love having trees in my chicken yard as cover and shady places for the chickens to hang out.

I love chickens. I have for many, many years. Over these many years I’ve figured out that I cannot free range my chickens. It’s just poor management if I do and essentially ring the dinner bell for wild predators. I love that I can have my chickens and hawks and foxes, and the majority of the time we peacefully co-exist.
My flock has a very large fenced yard with grass and trees. It’s purty
Fifteen hens and a rooster have plenty of space.
We sure are fans of chickens aren’t we?

[clanter]

when we had chickens, they were free range. They would run to stand under one of the horses at the first sighting of a hawk… chickens aren’t really dumb

[moving_to_dc]

I free range my flock of give-or-take 20 birds. To date, I have lost 2 birds to predators. One was a chick that got scooped up by a hawk. Learned my lesson not to let the chicks free range until they are too big to be carried away. Second loss was a full size hen that got too far away from my property to be protected. She was about 500’ away from the nearest “safe zone”. I am not sure what got her, I just found part of her.

I do have a 125lb Anatolian LGD that I credit with keeping my flock safe. She is alert to even the slightest scent - sight - sound of a predator, and keeps all the animals on the property safe.

I can also tell you that my neighbor has repeatedly lost hens to owls that will land and WALK right in to her coop to snag a chicken. They have been caught in the act.

She has also repeatedly lost her entire flock to foxes. She has 3 dogs, but they are house dogs with a doggy-door, and have never shown any interest in being “guardians” to the chickens. They bark at people at the door, or walking by the property, but ignore the birds.

[HungarianHippo]

[QUOTE=UrbanHennery;8053344]
Until the coyotes or coons go after them and then all bets are off. I’ve lost hens to coons, coyotes, hawks, eagles, and dogs. It’s best to keep them secure at least some of the time.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I should have clarified, they have a very secure coop that is locked up at night, so they free range in daylight hours only. I rigged an automatic door on a timer which works really well.
It’s funny when the door opens in the morning, it’s like a chicken brigade charge out the door. :lol: The door closes a little before dusk, since owls can be crepuscular hunters, and with rare exceptions all hens are in the coop well before it closes. I do a count and if there’s ever one missing, without fail she’s sitting in the barn. So I just scoop her up and bring to the coop.

[eponacelt]

Actually, just having close available shelter isn’t enough to protect hens from hawks. We finally gave in and stopped free ranging our hens around the farm (which has TONS of cover), largely because of a fox who I’m too fond of to kill. He (or she) was very brazen and started taking my hens on a pretty regular basis. Around the same time, we had some red-tailed hawk predation. So, they now have a pretty large fenced area to roam in, and the coop sits in the yard.

The yard has a building on one side, my manure bins on the other and a large maple tree next to it, with branches that overhang. Plus the coop (which is an old car, so plenty of place to hide underneath.

Imagine my surprise when I came home to find a redtailed hawk munching on a chicken INSIDE the fencing (which is only 20’ x 30’).

We now have deer netting stretched across the top of the hen yard, and haven’t had any problems since then.

[cowboymom]

Yep, the shelter that protects them from the hawk provides cover for the fox!

For hawks, my roosters have learned to watch out for the hens, someone is always on guard. My young chickens have learned to beware from the older hens, all these years. Turkeys are actually extremely good at watching the skies for predators, mine were good for that but not much else! If my chickens hear a hawk screech they all run for cover.

Mine are locked up tightly at night but free range during the day. Having a lot of dogs helps keep the predators down too.

[chism]

I had a young adult pair I needed to separate from my adult flock. I let them free range in my goat pen with access to their 10 x 10 shed. I came home one day to find a hawk in the shed scoping out his dinner options. I don’t believe that having something for them to run under will keep them all safe from hawks, though it will definitely save some of them. I didn’t realize hawks were a threat until I had two losses (first was a missing adolescent, 2nd was caught in the act inside my chain link pen.). I took the baling line from my round bales and made a lattice over the top. It’s not pretty, but the hawks can’t get in. I can’t use avian netting because it collapses under snow.

[RHdobes563]

[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;8053609]
Sorry, I should have clarified, they have a very secure coop that is locked up at night, so they free range in daylight hours only. I rigged an automatic door on a timer which works really well.
It’s funny when the door opens in the morning, it’s like a chicken brigade charge out the door. :lol:[/QUOTE]

NEED video!

[2DogsFarm]

[QUOTE=leaf;8053386]
I use baling twine and staple it to the roof line of the coop and run it back and forth from fence to coop. Sort of looks like a circus tent. I want something that’s highly visible to all birds. No mesh for me, I don’t want hawks or song birds getting hung up.
My flock has a very large fenced yard with grass and trees. It’s purty
Fifteen hens and a rooster have plenty of space.
We sure are fans of chickens aren’t we?[/QUOTE]

Just wanted to thank you for this idea.
I ripped down my netting today & replaced with a crisscross of baling twine. No shortage of that here!
The stuff I had up was open on the sides where the coop roof is higher than the fencing & sparrows regularly fly in & out of the coop - some have even nested inside.
My henyard has a good-sized tree at one end, and I leave some of the brush/weeds inside the fence line for cover.
My hens are pretty spoiled when they are confined.
But they repay me with egg s & amusement.

[leaf]

You’re welcome! As you say, no shortage of baling twine.

When I moved my chickens to their new digs, I came home one afternoon to a dead, partially eaten hen. I knew a cooper’s hawk was the culprit, I’ve seen it too many times before. I only had time to twine half of the yard. The next morning after the chickens were out, I heard them screaming in alarm. I ran out and the Cooper’s was flying under the twine, it couldn’t figure a way out. Even though the twine is at least 6’ apart in places, it’s also at varying heights from the ground. I believe it confused the hawk. I yelled and threw my hat at it and it flew to the uncovered part and glided away. I finished twining later that day and have had no problems with hawks since. Yet I see plenty of hawks around. A sharp shinned hawk flew onto my porch yesterday and buzzed my head so close that it’s wing touched my head. Cool, huh?

May your eggs and amusement continue.

[2DogsFarm]

Leaf:
I have sharp-shin, redtail & Cooper’s here.
When my hens are out, the people-size door to the coop & fenced yard are open.
I came out one day to see a redtail sitting on the ground by the door - it was a good 2’ tall!
I caught a little sharpshin in my barn - by hand! - it was fluttering by a window trying to get out. I thought it was one of the stoopid starlings until I had it in my hand & saw the beak!

[leaf]

A sharpshin in the hand is worth two in the barn? Good on you.
I rarely see redtails around my place. The crows have a fit when one comes around. We have red-shouldered hawks galore, they’re quite large too. They’ll sit on a fence post and watch the chickens walk by. The crows don’t mind them and even the chickens don’t sound the oh-god-a-predatory-bird alarm.

[2DogsFarm]

[QUOTE=leaf;8057960]
A sharpshin in the hand is worth two in the barn? Good on you.
I rarely see redtails around my place. The crows have a fit when one comes around. We have red-shouldered hawks galore, they’re quite large too. They’ll sit on a fence post and watch the chickens walk by. The crows don’t mind them and even the chickens don’t sound the oh-god-a-predatory-bird alarm.[/QUOTE]

:lol:
I don’t know who was more surprised, the sharpshin or me!
Amazing your crows & chickens don’t mind the red-shoulder.
Just this year I seem to have lots of crows & am grateful they will do Hawk Patrol.
Although, I’ve seen some much smaller birds harrying a hawk off “their” territory.

[leaf]

Amazing to see smaller birds harrying hawks. And sometimes all you have to do is listen, and know somebody isn’t happy.

Crows. So intelligent. Such a social-community group that lives along side us, and gives us warning.
I’ve appreciated this family of crows for years. Some of them have had names…yeah.

[Incantation]

We enlist the help of the crows. We feed the crows near the barn - extra eggs, bread, pretty much whatever we have. They do not tolerate hawks in their territory. On many occasions we have witnessed the guineas pinned down by a hawk, only to be saved when the crows intervene, and chase it off.