Help! Hawk Problem!

[Chickens4Life101]

We have a big hawk problem going on right now! We have had chickens for about a year now and we have never lost a chicken to any predator until recently. We just hatched 9 chicks from a broody hen and that is what started attracting this hawk. He is huge and is probably big enough to catch our rooster if he tried. So far he has only caught one of the chicks. But yesterday he came back and grabbed hold of our silkie but one of the bigger chickens went after the hawk and saved her. He also went after the chicks again yesterday and they are all missing a ton of their feathers. They normally go under our deck for hawk protection, but yesterday we watched the hawk swoop under it. They have a fenced in are where they are supposed to stay, but 3 in particular go outside of it all the time. I am worried because the one who goes out there the most is quite small. Luckily she is crazy fast but I don't know if that is enough. We have one though, that is just a sitting duck. Her name is Roseanna and she is a Rhode Island Red. She can't run fast because she has a severely injured foot, and can't fly due to a broken wing. What should we do to prevent this hawk from taking any more of our chickens??

 

[New2Chicks97]

Do you have a covered run? If not maybe building some sort of covered run they can access in lieu of free ranging would be helpful.

We have a large Redtail Hawk that frequents our area. On days he is present I keep our chickens in their large covered run (11’x33’) adjacent to their coop. There are days when the Hawk will sit and watch their run for hours before finally moving on. We covered the top because of the hawks, eagles and owls we have around our house. So far we haven’t lost any to any flying predators.

 

[Molpet]

put a net, fence some kind of cover over the run so they can't get out or the hawk in.. if the run is too big fence off part of it with a cover... the hawk will return for at least a week or 10 days because it knows there is food.... a dog out with the chickens helps

 

[RWise]

Myself I use a shotgun with blanks or very lite bird shot and fire in the general area the hawk is in. Not trying to do any harm to the hawk, just tell it to hunt somewhere else.

 

[Stepnout]

Raptors are now moving to their winter grounds. The young are becoming independent from their parents. You may be in their wintering grounds or on the migration path.
If you add your general location to your profile some close could give you recommendations for your area.
As suggested we have to keep our birds safe raptors play by different rules.

 

[centrarchid]

We have a big hawk problem going on right now! We have had chickens for about a year now and we have never lost a chicken to any predator until recently. We just hatched 9 chicks from a broody hen and that is what started attracting this hawk. He is huge and is probably big enough to catch our rooster if he tried. So far he has only caught one of the chicks. But yesterday he came back and grabbed hold of our silkie but one of the bigger chickens went after the hawk and saved her. He also went after the chicks again yesterday and they are all missing a ton of their feathers. They normally go under our deck for hawk protection, but yesterday we watched the hawk swoop under it. They have a fenced in are where they are supposed to stay, but 3 in particular go outside of it all the time. I am worried because the one who goes out there the most is quite small. Luckily she is crazy fast but I don't know if that is enough. We have one though, that is just a sitting duck. Her name is Roseanna and she is a Rhode Island Red. She can't run fast because she has a severely injured foot, and can't fly due to a broken wing. What should we do to prevent this hawk from taking any more of our chickens??

Pen the chickens up. Some like the silkies and bantams should never be exposed to hawk pressure. Hawk species important in some situations but yours, just pen the birds up and make so hawk cannot grab birds through wire.

 

[annagoodspeed]

Just had a Cooper’s hawk in my shed, twice, the second time all the way under the coop. I top hung a wire panel in the door way so it could not fly into the shed, but it was angled open enough at the bottom so the chickens could enter. If you could rig some fencing up in front of your deck so it cannot fly under it, but the chickens have an opening so they can still get under by running, that could help. Hawks attack from the air, so if they cannot fly under the deck for an attack they most likely won’t land and walk in. Since I hung the panel it hasn’t been back in. Knock on wood!

 

[aart]

Hawks attack from the air, so if they cannot fly under the deck for an attack they most likely won’t land and walk in.

Don't count on it.....have seen several videos showing hawks walking into a run and under a bush to seek out fleeing chickens.

 

[annagoodspeed]

Wow! Sure hope the local birds take a while to figure that out!

 

[Chickens4Life101]

put a net, fence some kind of cover over the run so they can't get out or the hawk in.. if the run is too big fence off part of it with a cover... the hawk will return for at least a week or 10 days because it knows there is food.... a dog out with the chickens helps

We do not have a dog, and they are free range. But we do have a cat, who recently has been sitting up on the fence watching for the hawk. The hawk was by our garden once and the cat immediately ran after it.