First yardbird casualty..

HawgBonz

HawgBonz

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We've been liking havin the chickens around. They're pretty entertaining. It's great to have the eggs. The coop is set up for easy maintenance. And we've been letting them wander the yard most of the day. But a coupla days ago a hawk got our youngest Barred Rock that was just starting to lay. We've kept them in the run/coop since. It's a 16x8 run so plenty of room for the 3 left and then some. Kinda hate keepin'em cooped up, tho'..
Is the occasional loss just "part of it" or is there something else I should be doing?
Thanks for any useful information on this.. :cool:
 
If you had a dog that you could leave with them. I have a few dogs some that will kill them amd some that watch out for them.

But a hawk will not get anywhere there is a dog it’s a natural predator. It’s been my experience anyway. I’ve had chickens for 14 years and have lost only one to a hawk and it was prior to have dogs.
 
We have livestock guard dogs in with the goats and chickens and do not have issues with anything getting them in the pasture. But if the chickens fly out of the pasture, the osprey around here will get nearly all of them. Years ago we lost 5 in one week. Killed on little bantam hen on the sidewalk right in front of the front porch steps.

SSS
 
The occasional loss depends on how many felonies you’re willing to commit
 
Near the beach we’d hang jags of water to keep the seagulls away, and over pools we’d tie a few strands of monofiliment fishing line. No idea what a hawk would think of fishing line.
 
Yes.. S³ is the default response for whatever causes grief here.. 🤠
Curious if there's any reasonably effective prevention besides keepin'em in the run.
Or just keep the local supplier on speed dial..
We've got a horse here that does not play well with canines and after my one dog I'm not inclined to get another.
Thanks much for the suggestions, fellas!! 😁👍
 
if you're free ranging losses will happen imo. for aerial predation some folks use netting, I have some decent canopy so I've haven't lost to a hawk yet.
stray dogs are the worst threat and I really can't stand people who let their mongrels roam around others property. I owned my dog for 15 years and never let him affect other peoples livestock so it's really not hard. have a handful of dog proof coon traps which was my biggest threat. was. a few coyotes and foxes around and i'd love to get a shot on one for the hide.
 
What about a donkey? would a donkey protect vs hawks?
 
Catfish said:
What about a donkey? would a donkey protect vs hawks?
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Too far left and too "tempting" just on principle.. 🤠 🤣🤣
I'd rather have the hawks..

Seriously tho'. Cute as they are that's another set of large animal vet bills. I think replacement chickens may be more fiscally efficient.
We looked at one of those as a companion for the horse. Decided against in the end..
And the chickens generally only wander into the edge of the pasture.. Mostly they hang out under the Junipers near the driveway.
Where Miss Lily got hit.. 😡
 
I was watching a YouTube video about rabbit hutches, and noticed random pieces of wood painted white, with big black dots on them.

As the lady was walking around the spot, she commented on how the black dots on the white background looked like eyes (the wood was angled up), and hawks didn't like it, so they never dropped down to snatch a rabbit or chicken.
 
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Weird question, do those fake owl dummies with the revolving heads work on hawks and such?
 
A hearty "Hat's Off" to Mr Bloodyhands for fixin me up with a coupla birds!!
Got'em in the run lettin the girls get things sorted..
They've already learned that they like the coop and that the really big chicken tosses food about the joint..
Smart girls.. 😁 :cool:
 
HawgBonz said:
We've been liking havin the chickens around. They're pretty entertaining. It's great to have the eggs. The coop is set up for easy maintenance. And we've been letting them wander the yard most of the day. But a coupla days ago a hawk got our youngest Barred Rock that was just starting to lay. We've kept them in the run/coop since. It's a 16x8 run so plenty of room for the 3 left and then some. Kinda hate keepin'em cooped up, tho'..
Is the occasional loss just "part of it" or is there something else I should be doing?
Thanks for any useful information on this.. :cool:
Click to expand...
I was losing a few to hawks also then got a crow call. You see a hawk call 3 times really quick on it and other crows will hear it and come hauling they love to pester hawks. practice with it and listen to crows when you hear them going after hawks you can mimic them fairly easily and they will come. Also, you can get crow decoys that will
help tons
 
The kid at Homestead told us to get dark colored chickens and that the hawk(s) would think they are crows and not bother the others.
Dunno about that.. But the ones Bloodyhands brought over are dark..
Might get a coupla decoys out there. Just threw out a bunch of my old calls..
The one I'm currently thinkin of using is a good bit longer and louder than those.. 😄
 
The past few weeks we've had crows hanging out in the yard - I was thinking about driving them off, now I don't think I will...
I didn't know that about hawks and crows.
 
pigpen said:
Do you have a rooster?
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Nope..
..She got chased around the yard of a farmhouse back when she was a home health nurse and has a dislike for roosters.
I would love to have been witness to that lil fiasco.. 😄
Anyways, we're still workin on that cause it's her yard, too..
Question is, will her hawk hate overrule her rooster fear? 🤣 🤣
 
BeeTee said:
A few of my yardbirds (guinea fowl) ain't feeling so good. May be the dumbest birds on the planet.
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IIRC Ruark made reference to the guinea fowl "committing suicide" in the road even back during the time of "The Old Man and the Boy".... :cool:
 
Years ago my wife wanted chickens so I built a coop and so forth and she let them free range during the day. I told her that everything out there likes chicken and that she would occasionally lose some. I told her I wasn't going to kill a critter who was just out there working for a living because of her stupid chickens. She was OK with that. She finally ended up buying some breed of huge chickens, including a few mean ass roosters and that cut her losses quite a bit. There are a lot of raptors migrating this time of year so the one you kill may have been the one living off your rodents and doing you a favor while the real culprit is miles away. And if you have chickens you will have rodents and you will have the occasional snake too. Everybody out there likes fresh chicken and fresh rats.
 
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I have no problem taking out predators. I only like to do it when the fur is prime though. It seems a waste at other times but I understand how overly populated thay can become.

So when November gets here I’ll do my part to keep the local chickens feeling safe.

Feeling safe is important, don’t believe me, just ask a chicken.
 
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