Terrified Girls - Hawk Questions

[yerawizard_Kristen]

I heard a cry this morning, and when I looked out the window, my 6 girls were piled in the corner of their covered run behind their waterer, frozen in fear. Then I noticed a hawk on the ground about 4 feet from their run. As soon a I raised the blinds the hawk flew away, but it took the girls a good 2 hours to calm down.

I have some questions and concerns.

1) Our run is covered with a shingles roof, and lined completely with hardware wire. Can a hawk get in past all that? Are they motivated enough to bother?

2) Now that the hawk knows there are chickens in the neighborhood, will it continue to return?

3) When both of us are home, we let the girls out to scratch in the backyard (with us actively supervising). Will a hawk come after them while we are present?

4) Are there any effective ways to deter the hawk from coming back?

Thank you.

 

[FrappcinoObsession]

I heard a cry this morning, and when I looked out the window, my 6 girls were piled in the corner of their covered run behind their waterer, frozen in fear. Then I noticed a hawk on the ground about 4 feet from their run. As soon a I raised the blinds the hawk flew away, but it took the girls a good 2 hours to calm down.

I have some questions and concerns.

1) Our run is covered with a shingles roof, and lined completely with hardware wire. Can a hawk get in past all that? Are they motivated enough to bother?

2) Now that the hawk knows there are chickens in the neighborhood, will it continue to return?

3) When both of us are home, we let the girls out to scratch in the backyard (with us actively supervising). Will a hawk come after them while we are present?

4) Are there any effective ways to deter the hawk from coming back?

Thank you.

No the hawk wont break in your run as long as its tight. Also the hawk will return so Id only let them free range when your here to monitor and yes some hawks are not afraid of humans and will attack chicken even when your here I had a hawk kill my chick cozy infront of me and my family but we threw a rock at the hawk and it flew away. I suggest getting more black chickens as they trick hawks that there crows and the hawk wont attack any full black chickens well it works for most people I know at tricking the hawks. If you dont have any space for more chickens Id hang Cds around your run to scare the hawks and lots of fake crows.

 

[GC-Raptor]

If your pen is as secure as you say, no worries from hawks while in their pen.
My pens are covered with tarps and deer netting for nearly two years. No hawks got inside pens.

I see the pair of Coopers hawks around here once or twice weekly, they probably fly over daily, I'm just not outside.

I let my hens out to free range an hour before sunset daily.
I had a Coopers Hawk fly over my head, under tree branches while standing next to my chickens.
I felt the breeze.
I've read many stories of chickens killed with a human near by. Not only Hawks but Foxes too.

I lost an 11 months old Pullet last March while free ranging.
I was doing laundry in the basement when a pullet ran into a cat house attached to the basement window.
I quickly ran outside where I heard commotion and a Coopers Hawk flew out of bushes behind the coops.
I found the chicken dead with some feathers plucked but the hawk had not yet begun to feed.

I lost 3 chickens from March 2020 to March 2021 while free ranging late afternoon.
A Fox March 2020, a Bobcat last June and the hawk last March.
They are the only chickens lost to predators since I got chickens 5 years ago.

I don't know of any sure way to deter hawks or other predators while free ranging. GC

 

[CluckerFamily]

You could plant flowers or bushes in areas where the flock free ranges. This would allow them to take cover if they can’t get to the run when a hawk is near.

 

[GC-Raptor]

You could plant flowers or bushes in areas where the flock free ranges.

Nope, probably won't work.
Pullet was hiding in brush, hawk swooped in and done.

GC

 

[CluckerFamily]

Nope, probably won't work.
Pullet was hiding in brush, hawk swooped in and done.View attachment 2683989View attachment 2683997
GC

I’m sorry this happened.

 

[yerawizard_Kristen]

If your pen is as secure as you say, no worries from hawks while in their pen.
My pens are covered with tarps and deer netting for nearly two years. No hawks got inside pens.

I see the pair of Coopers hawks around here once or twice weekly, they probably fly over daily, I'm just not outside.

I let my hens out to free range an hour before sunset daily.
I had a Coopers Hawk fly over my head, under tree branches while standing next to my chickens.
I felt the breeze.
I've read many stories of chickens killed with a human near by. Not only Hawks but Foxes too.

I lost an 11 months old Pullet last March while free ranging.
I was doing laundry in the basement when a pullet ran into a cat house attached to the basement window.
I quickly ran outside where I heard commotion and a Coopers Hawk flew out of bushes behind the coops.
I found the chicken dead with some feathers plucked but the hawk had not yet begun to feed.

I lost 3 chickens from March 2020 to March 2021 while free ranging late afternoon.
A Fox March 2020, a Bobcat last June and the hawk last March.
They are the only chickens lost to predators since I got chickens 5 years ago.

I don't know of any sure way to deter hawks or other predators while free ranging. GC

Thanks for the reply, we have 6 pullets... they are easy to corral while out, so one of us keeps the group together and the other watches for the hawk. It is working so far, and we are more diligent than we were before seeing the hawk.

Luckily we don't have bobcats or foxes. Our concerns are raccoons, opossums, neighborhood cats, and now hawks.

 

[yerawizard_Kristen]

You could plant flowers or bushes in areas where the flock free ranges. This would allow them to take cover if they can’t get to the run when a hawk is near.

They do love to get in our star jasmine, we should let that take over a little more. For now, we are watching the girls "like a hawk"... I'll show myself out.

 

[KyCoop]

I had a similar problem this past fall when my girls were 6wks old. My run is very secure so the hawk could not get in so it stalked them from the ground. Every day I would look out there and it would be on the ground looking at my terrified girls. I would run out with a broom and scare it way. Then I hung string all over around the run and their chicken yard. No more hawks on the ground. They still fly over sometimes , but don't land anymore.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hawk won't get in if run/coop is as described. Your birds did what they were supposed to do, and will relax over time - usually some number of days.

Hawk will continue to visit. They are opportunists.

Maybe. Some have had hawks and other predators take birds right in front of humans, dogs, goats and other things they thought were deterrents. Others haven't. The size of your birds, relative to local predators, is a factor to consider as well. An individual raptor isn't normally going to attack a healthy creature too big for it to make use of.

Adding cover where they free range (bushes, etc) increases the chances of a successful escape - it is NOT a guarantee, any more than standing next to your birds as they free range.

Legal effective ways? Other than netting, or stringing lines of fishing wire in random patterns, but still close together (a practice which may be *frowned upon* due to the risk of damage to protected species), NOPE.

All you can do is assess your level of risk and your tolerance for bad outcomes, then re-evaluate as you refine your risk assessment or your risk tolerance changes. There are no guarantees.