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Post by houseodessey on Jan 6, 2009 19:23:12 GMT -5
I have seen 2 or 3 of these birds many times and have lost chicks to them once. The other day one dove at the girls when they were free ranging. This evening one was flying over low so I looked up and saw 7 more flying way up in the sky. I think they are somehow spreading the word to one another or just had a very successful batch of fledglings this year. Lord help me, I'll be snipping grass for my hens for months instead of letting them out. They are beautiful birds but they need to focus on squirrels and mice. We have more than enough to go around.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jan 6, 2009 19:28:53 GMT -5
I saw one take a chihuahua at a rest stop once. 
I think they're really cool, but having lost a few chickens in recent history, I understand your worry. You should post in the "Getting Rid Of Your Forest Friends" thread, to see if anyone has a solution.
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Post by canadamike on Jan 6, 2009 22:49:04 GMT -5
EUhhhh! Tough one. They are not afraid of many thing, it is expensive to cover an area with a net...a big fat guarding goose maybe....cff should step in here, I am only deducting... they ain't afraid ofanything either  |
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Post by cff on Jan 6, 2009 23:26:36 GMT -5
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Post by canadamike on Jan 6, 2009 23:35:58 GMT -5
I knew the guy knew, and he knew that you too knew that he knew
So, there nothing new...
He's great, is'nt he? Thanks uncle Hayne ;D
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Post by cff on Jan 6, 2009 23:37:24 GMT -5
 I knew the guy knew, and he knew that you too knew that he knew So, there's nothing new... He's great, his'nt he? Thanks uncle Hayne ;D
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Post by plantsnobin on Jan 7, 2009 9:13:00 GMT -5
I know this isn't going to be a popular view, it certainly isn't in my husbands family, but I like to see the hawks in flight, doing what they do. Even if they are eyeing my chickens. My BIL just the other day was talking about what he had done-that whole SSS thing. Says they are hard on the quail population. So is my BIL, the way I see it. And I am not anti-hunting at all-I eat quail and rabbit and deer. But I just love to see the hawks soaring.
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Post by landarc on Jan 7, 2009 16:51:02 GMT -5
Wait until you see the eagles Lavs. They are something to behold. And they can take a chihuahua for a snack.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jan 7, 2009 16:59:01 GMT -5
Yeah, when we lived in Western Washington, the bald eagles were incredible. I think they could've taken goats, really!
We have red tailed hawks all over the place here... there's one that I think is in love with my truck. EVERY afternoon when I leave to get the kids from school, it swoops in front of the windshield, from one side of the road to the other. If I drive Moneyman's Jetta, no hawk. Funny.
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Post by houseodessey on Jan 7, 2009 20:46:12 GMT -5
I don't want the hawks to die. I just wish they'd leave the hens alone. They have a very large covered run and could live there full time, but I like their eggs better if they get out more. Plus, it's fun to watch them chase butterflies and each other when one gets a snake or tomato horn worm.
The hawks were nowhere to be found today. I think they have different areas to hunt in. So far, I've been pretty successful just keeping an eye peeled and put the hens up if I see any sign of them.
Honestly, the crows and bluejays squawking normally alerts me to their presence. They're a pretty handy alarm system and I consider them to be beneficials in my organic chicken raising/hawk sparing experiment.
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Post by canadamike on Jan 7, 2009 21:21:14 GMT -5
Well then, invest in a blue jay feeder, it will only cost you sunflower seeds. They'll attract grackles too, also efficient at chasing the hawks. I f you feed them regularly enough so they nest close to your hens, your problem will be over....
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Post by houseodessey on Jan 8, 2009 19:54:46 GMT -5
If I feed them, they'll be squawking all the time and I'll constantly be running outside, looking at the sky for death raptors. I like that they just come around to chase the hawks.
Still no hawks today. I think they must have a very large territory. I was outside all day in the garden so I would have seen them, had they been around. My neighbor who has lost dozens of birds to raptors has been keeping hers in the run so maybe they're not as jazzed about our area as they were in the past. No chicken dinners = less frequent fly-overs? But now I hear that we have a pair of foxes in the NH. Luckily I have a very solid fence.
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Post by macmex on Apr 24, 2009 8:24:47 GMT -5
I've also heard that if one feeds the crows that they do a good job of running off the hawks. A lot of folk in the Ozarks have the SSS philosophy, but I have never had the heart for it.
We did have, perhaps still have, a mated pair of red tailed hawks on our place: that is nesting & raising little ones on our place. The first one arrived here as a juvenile and darned if he REALLY wasn't afraid! I once plunked a 22 slug into a tree limb near him, just to see if he'd get up and go. But he didn't. Anyway they have taken a couple of our pullets and poults (baby turkeys).
Different folk may have different circumstances which affect how things play out. But what I've learned, here, is that these hawks are opportunistic. They look for the easiest way to fill their bellies. When chickens and other poultry are about 1/2 to 3/4 pound, they make excellent "carry out" food and the hawks will focus on them. But once they are larger and faster, they pretty much leave them alone. They never bothered our ducks, and I believe that's because they were in a small enough pen, that the hawk would have difficulty taking off, in order to get out, if he landed in there.
Every day I see these birds flying, hunting and playing. I'm glad we've come "to an agreement." I keep the poults and pullets confined until they are past the "carry out stage." And the hawks pretty much leave the adults alone. If there was great dearth of food, they would probably go for the adults. But they haven't so far.
On another vein, I once had a fascinating conversation with an old timer, about an hour from here. This gentleman raises turkeys. He has some unconventional methods of eliminating troublesome raptors. But he is not at all one to "shoot on sight." Speaking of owls, he commented that there are "law abiding owls," and there are "thieves." Thieves steal poults. "Law abiding owls" generally don't. He commented that every now and then a thief would appear and he'd have to deal with it. But generally he had very little trouble with owls. In his area one can hear MANY owls at night. Yet, standing there he peacefully told me that he had almost no owl problem.
We now have a Great Pyrenees (very large livestock guard dog). He eats only slightly more than our Boxer and does a fine job of protecting our livestock. He even went nuts when a wild turkey wanted to hob knob with our turkeys. (Fortunately he was penned.) The large guard dog is a great predator deterrent for those who have some land. Their main disadvantage is a tendency to wander.
George
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 24, 2009 21:53:35 GMT -5
House, this makes for extra work, but I think it's worth it.
We built knock=down frames using 2x2's and lightweight nylon mesh (the 1/2" square type) 48" wide. We didn't put floors on them, just walls, ceiling and a 'door flap' with a bolt or a hook & eye to keep them in.
These cubicles weren't any good for overnight stays, because skunks, coons, coydogs could easily tear the mesh. But they were great for putting birds outside on the lawn during the day. Light enough for me to drag across the lawn to 'fresh' grass as well.
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