We don't normally have a hawk issue. They are around but don't seem to come real close to our place & we have never lost a chicken to one in 2 years. Not sure what has gotten into the hawks lately but I have had close encounters with them several days in a row now. I literally had to chase one away from a bird on foot and the next day I had to set the dog on one that was in our backyard. Can't kill them legally so doesn't do much good to shoot, best we can do is chase them off and put some things around the farm to deter them. I have heard of people encouraging crows to live on their properties and I think this sounds like a good deal. Does anybody have any feedback on this method? How do you encourage the crows to come and stay? Any downfalls? Does it really keep the hawks away?
We do have a resident owl already, who so far has not made a fuss about the chickens. I know hawks & owls don't mingle, but with owls being mostly nocturnal I'm not sure he's real effective as a hawk deterrent. I don't encourage him (or her, unsure) to live here, but he was here when we moved in so it's not really fair to kick him out. I figure if he leaves the chickens alone and can help with rodent control, that's a good deal.
We do have a resident owl already, who so far has not made a fuss about the chickens. I know hawks & owls don't mingle, but with owls being mostly nocturnal I'm not sure he's real effective as a hawk deterrent. I don't encourage him (or her, unsure) to live here, but he was here when we moved in so it's not really fair to kick him out. I figure if he leaves the chickens alone and can help with rodent control, that's a good deal.