I currently have eight hens that are 8-9 weeks old. I don't have a run made for them yet so they are in a small tractor outside that I rotate every day and a large dog cage in my garage at night. They seem to really want to free range but one day I let them out for a bit and shortly after I returned them to their tractor, a full sized red tailed hawk landed right on top! I think he was migrating b/c while we definitely have the smaller red shouldered hawks around here, we don't usually see anything bigger. This has pretty much deterred me from having them range. I've let them out before when I'm outside but we have so many mosquitos that it's not comfortable to stay outside for any length of time so I just can't stay out with them for too long.
We have named them all; they are pets. I wouldn't want to/couldn't afford to lose them at this point. We plan to have a 200 sq ft run for them with bird netting over the top but it's already mostly weeds/cleared area so not much in the way of foraging for them. We don't have a dog, we can't have a rooster. We do have some RIRs which are supposed to be good for sounding alarms/being alert. We have a lot of tree cover but do have a large clear area in the center of the yard. We have a six foot fence all around.
I could put up disco balls/shiny deterrents but really don't know what my risk is and I'm trying to figure out how to keep them happy while I wait for the run to be built (having someone else do it for us). TIA!
Hi, S. C. neighbor, check out the Audubon website, article “Red-tailed Hawk”, lists all native hawks as y’all have the exact same hawk species as we do in the Piedmont of N. C., year round, including Red-tails and Red shouldered hawks. They are often difficult to be seen and are very able to silently drop down on their prey, aka our beloved chickens. Personally I would simply hold off free-ranging your girls as others here recommend, for all the same reasons. Perhaps while you are having the predator-proof chicken house and/or run built you can limit the free-ranging to when you can walk around with your girls and maintain peace of mind while giving yourself the time to continue researching.
Now we only let our sweet little flock out according to when one of us can be present and stay with them the whole time outside ‘til sunset when they will walk into the run and coop. I have wanted chickens forever and now that we live on our farm full time , like you, I never imagined not free-ranging the little RIR flock that we finally raised newly hatched chicks. Their good-size, predator-proofed hen house and outdoor run was ready in the first year, yet we wanted them to be able to free-range. After-all, I thought, they would be safe as long as we could check in on them since they stay close to the house, near shrubs, trees and gardens until tragically we lost a hen within minutes after I had just been hanging and taking photos with them. We found her body, apparently taken then killed and eaten there by a hawk as they usually cannot lift their heavy weight, just a few yards behind the row of dense evergreen trees and hollies along the property line. I’m always with the flock unless someone else is home to take over whenever they free-range.
What is the most horrifying part was that despite my presence the hawks didn’t stop attacking- I witnessed the most alarming, closeup hawk attacks. Two Red-tailed hawks quietly dive-bombed from overhead, straight down through the limbs of a huge pecan tree til they suddenly reversed when they apparently realized I was there with the girls, together, walking around near their run. Then more recently was the worst moment when I had just stepped in the kitchen door for one minute to grab something and upon hearing/seeing panicked chickens flying around the patio, I ran out to find myself looking into the intense, wild eyes of a huge Red-tailed hawk, three feet away, on top of my sweetest and biggest hen…. no options but to leave her and fly away when he saw my stare down while yelling “No! Go!!” No harm, but a mere second later my girl would have been dead. Needless to say the flock gathered and remained hidden under the shrubs by the house and didn’t come out until sunset, tending to “Girlie”, barely bleeding from a claw-scratch. It obviously traumatized the roosters and chicks for days and still today main rooster Cash along with one-eyed Johnny hover around the house rarely taking his eye off the girlies and Cash knows what it means when I say, “ Get your girlies!”
I’m glad that you are also here to write in questions and read as this is where I’ve learned everything from the only and best people and website, for real. Best to you!
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