i know im randomly asking but does anybody know a tool to log back into an instagram account?? I was dumb forgot the login password. I love any tricks you can offer me!
@@ankstuhful Yeah like roosters if you upset a crow they will remember you. Crows also flank and attack in packs, basically they are unstoppable flying strategy fighters.
It don't matter Congress still going to demand background checks even for Crows no exception and they better not have a faulty record or they going to federal prison or Crow Federal prison LOL
This is really interesting. There are hawks in my area that sit in the trees and stalk my chickens. An incident that happened recently makes a little more sense to me now based on your video. About a week ago a hawk swooped straight down where about 5 of my chickens were hanging out. I just knew the hawk was going to grab one but as it got within about 4ft of them, it looked like it put on breaks and circled straight back up. I thought, that was strange. What made him stop in his tracks? My favorite hen, Willa, was among the group that the hawk swooped in on. Willa is a black Brahma. I feel slightly better about now after watching your video. Thank You.
Thanks again, Troy! Now that you say it, my dad's flock has 0 hawk attacks and is mostly autralorps. Will be getting some. Also didnt know crows fight hawks. Thanks for the info!
Thanks !!!! This definitely worked for me . Would lose 4 to 5 birds a week to hawks. Got a black rooster and haven’t seen a hawk since..thank you thank you !!!
Hawks eat crows. Crows just harass hawks and chase them out of the area if there is large numbers of them.. But they are no enemies to hawks. Maybe the black chickens are more ferocious and fight back. But I doubt it is because they remind them of crows. Because a hawk will make short work of a crow.
I've never heard this before but it makes sense. I just happen to have a couple of black australorps and a black cochin in my flock.. I've never lost a bird to a hawk. And I live in the boonies. I'm pretty protective of them in other ways, too, but it's good to know these girls might be an added deterrent. Thanks for the insight!
Curious... what's your ratio? How many australorps to other breeds. Trying to figure how many I might need for my flock, based on other's success. Thanks!
Nope! 1/3+ of my flock is black. Been letting them loose in a big open run for almost three years. Didn't really have a problem til this winter Dec/Jan 2020/2021 (when I got my rooster). I've lost 8-12 birds in two months. Hawks are treating my pen like a drive thru snack bar. Not sure if it's because of the Roo letting everybody know there's chickens around or if it's a migratory pair that stopped by for the winter and taught the locals how good chciken sushi is. Been keeping them locked up in the enclosed run but there's still 6-8 hawks a day stopping by to see if the cafeteria is open.
6-8? dear god son, just start sending birdshot their way. You don't even have to hit them, just sending it into the sky at them is enough to change their flight patterns.
Funny, I just did a video on this about a week ago! We started with 40 chickens about a year ago and we free range ours. All got killed in 12 months except our eight black hens and our black bantam rooster.
We have the real deal at our house. A family of crows nest in a tree in the neighbor's backyard every year. They don't bother our chickens at all, though I've read that they might predate young chicks. We just keep smaller chicks in covered tractors and we leave leftovers out for the crows sometimes, so the chicks are just not a worthwhile food source to them. Our rooster has even learned to listen to the crows' calls and if they alarm for a hawk, he gives the girls the signal to get under cover.
Observe nature for a short time, the life/death struggle is real. (mike rose) are really a blessing, smart too, knowing the rotation on trash days etc. eat treats mostly in silence😀beauty on ebon pinion
Moved from Austin TX to a more rural area last year with 2 English mastiffs and a doxie. Real citified dogs lol. I had seen a hawk shadow for a few weeks - last week - the end of April - the hawk went for the black doxie. I didn’t even know what was happening until the 4 yo mastiff had run into the hawk and body slammed him into the fence. The mastiff could have killed him but she didn’t. Took hawk a few minutes to regain his wits enough to be upright on the fence. The mastiff just stood over the doxie and watched the hawk until he flew away. I was looking for deterrents but I guess I have my deterrents already lol
It's a good theory, I wonder if "crow decoys" could even help. I've personally witnessed several Crows, Blue Jays, and Sparrows all attacking a hawk in a tree, and the Hawk had a Crow in it's claw. The Hawk flew off and the Crows chased him, while it was still carrying the Crow. Crows and other birds definitely sound alarms and fend off Hawks but ultimately it comes down to the willpower (and sheer desperation) of the hawk that happens to be attacking. If a predator is hungry enough, they'll go for just about anything.
I lost 2 chickens this week to hawks. I have 2 decoy crows and 1 owl decoy on my land. Both my chickens were killed far away from any of my decoy birds. I don't know enough yet to say if the decoy birds work. I think I will have to get more decoy birds and scatter them around my property to find out. Problem is the decoy birds are expensive 🤦♀️
A study published in the journal Wildlife Society Bulletin in 2010 found that placing crow decoys around chicken coops reduced hawk attacks on chickens. The researchers hypothesized that the presence of crows signaled to hawks that there was competition for food, and that they should look elsewhere for prey. Another study published in the same journal in 2006 also found that crow decoys were effective at reducing hawk predation on game bird farms. The researchers concluded that the presence of crow decoys may deter hawks by creating the impression that there are other predators in the area. The comments here vary quite a bit about what works or doesn't. Deeper studies show location and hawk species plays a large roll in effectiveness. For anyone that still has losses, combine a variety of deterrents for the best outcome. I hope it works out well for everyone!
@@maren807 It is important to move decoys often as some hawks realize after a while that they don't pose a threat. It seems your decoys might be effective but weren't close enough. How many chickens do you have?
In 10 years of raising 3 chickens in the city, A hawk attacked our Australorp, Thank goodness I was able to chase it off quick enough. Yes, we have crows that chase the hawks .
We encourage crows by leaving out peanuts which they love, havent had a hawk attack since but we also have a run with electric fence wire in a grid pattern overhead
Has worked well for us though when the chickens were out free ranging a huge red tail did come down where the ducks were and attacked one of our brown ducks and recently a pekin. Looked out kitchen window and saw what I thought was one of our chickens pecking on it so ran out the door and saw a huge wing stretch out and knew the closer I got it was a hawk. It did peck a hole in the head of our duck though managed to stop the bleeding and she is happy still running around with our mallards and pekins. When our Austra's are close nothing bothers them so would agree it absolutely is a remedy for the most part. Thank you for sharing
I literally came here to find out how to stop the hawk from taking my chickens because I went outside and a hawk was trying to carry off one of my black hens! LOL. Guess my hawks here are on to this trick..
I heard the roosters crowing in the front yard. I was carrying because I lost two older pullets in the back yard the day before. Necks chewed off, inside a fenced area. As soon as I topped the hill, there was a hawk on top of one of my Black Australorps. I took a shot and missed. He flew off. Lucky for me. I found out later that they are protected. I put up netting and pie pans on fishing line. No attacks in two weeks. Prior to this event, I did not have any hawk attacks inside the fenced areas. 2 attacks with chickens that got out, both black chickens. 1 Bielefelder grabbed and a pile of feathers. Took a picture of a baby bobcat after I ran him off while jumping a pullet. His mother might of been in the backyard on the snatch and grab theft. 3 months later I saw a large bob cat viewing the chicken yard. The chickens told me she was there. Sorry, I think the black Australorp theory has no value.
I just had a red tail try and pick up one of my ayem cemanis, i know they have a green tint to their feathers but not sure the chicken being black is a sure fire deterrent
Are there crows in your area? This only works if the hawks are familiar with crows. We have crows around here so I’m giving the black chicken thing a try, I don’t wanna lose more chickens to the hawks.
Oh my god, I was trying to figure out why the hawks were only targeting one of my flocks! One flock is all brahma, and the other flock is a large variety, but includes Black copper marans, and now that I think about it, the hens do look crowish! I was trying to figure out why the heck they were risking going after the bigger birds, the brahmas, when there were, smaller more defenseless chickens like silkies and babies in the other, now I realize they are avoiding the “crows”!!! And to those saying it doesn’t work, what kind of chickens do you have? Not all black chickens look like crows. Black silkies, cochins, or jersey giants aren’t going to fool hawks. I suspect it needs to be a black chicken that has the correct body type, one that matches crows.
Well shot I just happened to switch up my poultry and added australorps. I also have ayam cerami chickens. I do have all my pens covered netting. 50 ×50 etc. Haven't had an issue with hawks getting my birds. When I see them I can do an osprey call and warning chrip and they leave almost immediately. Guess we are now 3 for 3 here. Interesting information had no clue.
I got black chickens and don't have anymore hawk attacks. We have Hawks still hanging around but not eating chicken. We were losing chickens like crazy. Coincidence? I agree ... Not!
@@jimenagarcia6215 update I have no idea what killed my duck because something tried attacking my rooster. There are three animals that I’ve recently found which is a raccoon, cats, and a hawk. Still trying to investigate who killed my duck.
I'm so glad I found this video. What size would you figure the chickens need to be before they would be mistaken for crows? We just started with chickens and our chicks are about 4 wk old and about 7"-9" tall (assuming they aren't craning their necks). We definitely have crows in our area and I've often seen them chasing hawks. Greetings from Toronto, Canada.
I had a few chooks and a beautiful big rooster. One day my neighbour rang me, and told me to check them when I get home as the Wedge Tailed eagles were at the coop (he cracked his whip to scare them away). I came home and found my rooster dead but no chickens were hurt. Very brave boy indeed, when you see how big the eagles are. 🐔✌️🇦🇺
It's a shame you're only defenses to be able to crack your whip I crack off a 12 gauge and that's the end of that hawk or eagle I will defend my livestock.
I only have three laying hens (Red Island Reds) and I "walk" my chickens twice a day. I don't put them on a leash or anything, lol, but I stand out there with them and I have trained them to pretty much have the same routine every time I let them out. I have a Hawk that circles my yard and I'm very grateful for this video. I was wondering if having only two of those black chickens would do the trick, since I only have these three hens. What do you think? Thank you in advance!
Crows are amazing birds. Extremely smart, family-oriented, and stay in "communities" that work together. They will even fashion a "tool" out of a stick and use it to get bugs out of holes in trees. Truly love having them around. And yes, they do fight off hawks. My big dufus Great Pyrenees, Elliott the Great, could use some lessons from crows. He's not earning his way.
My cat got one. Now a flock of them wait for him to come out.....my big chickens actually escourt him around the yard hunting mice and such. Crows lost an other one. He tried to swoop in and attack him. My girls got him and tore him to shreads. I felt sorry for a short min.....then realised it was a ploy. The other crows we going after the baby chicks. Mr. Turkey and the roosters fought the m off. It was like the movie the birds. My hens had the situation in control.....now I got buckshot.
I would add some more hiding places for the chickens/obstacles for the hawks. Any trash would work. Old furniture, etc. The run looks way to expose as mine was. Lost a baby chick to a hawk that came down while I was there....saw the whole thing.
We don’t have this problem anymore, since grandpa sits on the porch with a loaded 12 gauge cocked at all times , quite a few times grandma cooked Roasted Hawk with potatoes , and some good old moonshine . Anyways who is counting the Hawk population ??.
My first chickens long ago were black copper marans, & I never had a problem with hawks though there were many hawks around. Neither did my neighbor, who had some black chickens amongst his 20 or so wandering-over-5-acres-all-day flock. Then I didn’t have marans anymore & had others… hawks picked off 2 in a week immediately, and I became hawk-by-day-paranoid when it came to chickens since then (as if raccoons by night weren’t bad enough….😓). I never! thought of this. Will certainly have some black chickens again, thank you.
Most of our chicken predation is courtesy of raccoons and possums. I have only 1 confirmed hawk attack in 12 years but did have a few losses of "unknown origin", which could have been hawks. I have 10 Black Australorp pullets soon to be added to the main mixed flock. Got in September at TSC for 10 cents apiece on clearance!
We had a cooper’s attack one of our Australorps this morning. Hawk had her pinned to the ground and we ran out yelling and the hawk took off. The hen seems unhurt but the hawk keeps returning to our yard so the girls are in their secure run for a while. Not sure if the fact that my girls are in molt so look a lot smaller and not the shiny black they normally are might be part of the problem. The local crows don’t seem concerned with the hawks but have been thankful many times when an eagle starts to circle our yard and the crows go crazy attacking it.
I like this as a natural way to protect your chickens without making your homestead unsightly (like hanging wires or other debris back and forth would do). You do not want to kill the raptors, legal or not, because they also eat a lot of rodents and snakes that you also do not want overrunning your homestead. I've watched plenty of Heckle & Jeckle, it's not surprising that hawks would want to flee from them... lol
d'oh! That's right, technically H&J are considered magpies... but many sources call them crows. I always think of them as crows, too, cuz in WA where I grew up the magpies are the pretty ones with white on the bellies and wings, looking nothing like H&J. Magpies can be pretty vicious, I guess, at least to Australians...
So to keep the hawks from attacking my backyard birds that I draw in with feeders..and squirrels with nuts and cookies....I now have to get chickens! Hee hee my neighbors are just going to love me! I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia..and nobody has chickens..well I use to..I had goats too! I loved it..and so did all of our children..but the neighbors...not so much! Every child should be able to hold a fresh laid egg..when its still soft and warm...and know how to collect them! They learn where they come from..and its not the local grocery store! Thank you for the video! It makes great sense! 🐔
Hawks just fly over my property and ignore my flock. I couldn't figure out why until I saw some of the testimonials, like this video, online. I have a very large solid black chicken named Blondie. The hawks must think she's the Nightmare Crow from Hell.
Thanks for making this video, really happy your hens are safe from hawks. I got sick of losing my chickens to hawks and Got myself a Game rooster. 1 full year and no loss of hens! The black hen i have is crazy flighty bird, she flew up at the door window and broke it out! My African hen is second in line of crazy and she is a smaller hen.. I am Making a new bird mix with Game and African with mix Butcher/ radio/kaso hutch/round head / leghorn mix game. ,Hawks Beware! Wish we had crows! I love the sounds they make!
Thank you for sharing. Lost two 3 month old chicks today to a Hawk. I have one black hen in the group but they scatter out a ways during the day. Have not seen many crows in our area so maybe my Hawk is unfamiliar with the crow. Will see if there is another answer to getting rid of this Hawk.
Clever. I was expecting to see you stringing brightly colored ribbons over the chicken pen. Supposedly discourages swooping attacks, never tried it myself.
A cooper hawk killed my favorite Australorp hen a few days ago. She was the largest and the alpha. However, she was molting and lost a lot of feathers and weight so that might be the reason.
I think his theory only works if you dont start out with the austrolarps bc we have a multitude of different breeds including the ones mentioned and we are still having issues with hawks, We actually saved a baby brahma this morning from the claws of a hawk and we have several large breed and small breed chickens that were grazing along side of it, and to make it worse it was literally in our back yard, we were able to save it bc the chick fought back and they hit the fence outside our bedroom window and my husband happened to be at his desk and saw/heard it and was able to make it outside in time. Thats how close this hawk was, these hawks are very smart and very brazen. Any other ideas or channels I can research on keeping the hawks away are greatly appriciated.
Once again you provided valuable information out of the goodness of your heart... You are the ideal educator and appreciated. Thank you and may you continue recording, editing and sharing your many talents for as long as you wish. From a long-time subscriber from N Idaho
Yeah but crows are almost never alone even if they look like they're alone so when halls or other birds of prey see a crow they assume that more are around
Omg I needed this video!! Theres 3 circling my yard as we speak. I'm gonna have to try this bc it's sad to see a pile of feathers, knowing that poor bird suffered.
I’ve been working at a restaurant over the last 3 or so years, and over that time I’ve built a relationship with my local murder of crows in exchange for daily scraps 😂 about a year or so a red tail hawk I ended up naming SB(screeching bastard) would end up trying to fight my crows and he loses every time. My dream is to leave the city behind and start a chicken farm. I’ll definitely be keeping my crow friends, but now I’ll have an actual purposeful reason to have them lol!
I kill them! I blast them with a 12g. I've lost too many of my chickens to birds of prey. And yes i have no trespassing signs on my property. Its not my fault those filthy sky pirates cant read english.
Great tip. We are down to one road Island red, from a "flock" of 3 reds and 2 dominiques. We have a few "rescue" ducks and a few mallards with the occasional Canadian goose family visiting. We've lost the 4 hens, 2 rescue ducks, and a rescue goose (yesterday). I'm heading for the Chicken Exchange to see if I can get one or two of the black chickens. Maybe they will protect everyone. We enjoy our chickens. the are more like pets that leave a few eggs.
Fascinating. I got my first two flocks last summer (a set of broilers and a set of layers). The broilers were half red broilers, and half were black broilers (these had Australorpe in their heritage). As for the layers, I raised up two black Australorpes among them. So many people in my town have lost their flocks or portions of their flocks to hawks. My meat birds did a lot of true foraging, front and back yard, and I didn't lose a single one. They lived until the human predator got to them at the end of September (that, ahem, would have been me...) Right now the layers aren't foraging (they don't care for snow), but I'm glad I have the two black Australorpes, and also the one black broiler hen that was simply too sweet to toss into the freezer. So, here it appears an accidental hawk-deterrent… not complaining! I'm actually not aware of anyone near me also having black Australorpes/black broiler birds. Thanks for figuring this out!
I remember you mentioning hawks and Australorps a while back and had wondered if that was why you hadn't complained of any hawk problems. Glad for the followup to that. I'm convinced; when I'm ready to start my flock a large percentage of my birds will be Australorps no matter what other breed(s) I decide on. It seems that someone else had had a problem with a crow attack on one or more of their chickens, but I really cannot remember who it was or how that was resolved. I hope that was a rare occasion, because I'd like to attract crows to nest nearby and encourage them to repel hawks from the area too, so any free-ranged chicken would be safe.
Usually is the chicks they will go for, they aren't big enough for full or medium sized chickens. I've been trying to attract the local murder of crows to stay around here but knowing chicks have to be big enough to be added to the flock.
I don't believe it, I've lost 1 to a hawk this year, and the crows were nesting near by and harassing hawks all spring. The day I lost one I came outside and heard the chickens and the crows, both going off like crazy. I started in the direction of the noise, then saw a hawk take off. Later I found the chicken the hawk had killed but getting harassed by me and the crows was too much, and it didn't get to eat her. - update, I'll try it, but intend to try black bearded silkie banties, thanks.
I had a hawk kill one of my black Australorps so that didn't work out for me. At the same time I have many times seen a bunch of crows attacking hawks over or near my yard so I've learned to love those crows. They inadvertently became my flying guard birds.
Here in the sonoran desert, we are eaten up with gorgeous hawk species. I love them as much as I love the coyotes--a lot! But I have a feeling our relationship is destined to change when my flock arives this summer. I am going to give the australorp method a go--along with numerous other secret weapons!
That explains why there were crows circling my house seconds before a hawk swooped down and tried to grab lunch. We've never had a hawk problem in over 20 years of raising chickens so this is a new problem to deal with. Thank you for the suggestion. We will try it.
I just had an attempted red tailed hawk attack on my chickens today as I was looking out the window at them. I ran out the door as fast as I could. Out of 5 hens, one is a black australorp. All are fine and safely locked up in their run. So you’re saying you need mostly black chickens?
I am getting the impression from some of the comments to this video that the key is having crows in your area. If hawks aren't used to fighting crows, then they aren't going to respect the black chicken. Our valley is full of crows and I see them fighting hawks from time to time. Good luck!
I have mostly black chickens (20) and 10 red Hawk got 2 of the black ones and one red in front of me So,I guess that it does matter if you have crows in your area
We don't have crows, we have ravens, but they are not always around. Had a hawk attack yesterday, smart hens ran and hid. We do have black chickens, they attack anyway. So I got a speaker out the window and loudly played eagle crys. I chose the 10hr video and had to leave. I came home to the video still playing and no dead chickens.
Farm chickens has lost the jungle in them, i got a game rooster and he does not run! 2 years ago i had 6 rooster's that would run in fear of hawks, and now 1 rooster does the work of 6.
I have the same problem, except it’s the opposite, and with most of their predators (except for things like coyotes but we haven’t encountered any yet)
Maybe it is the hawks that have tangled with crows before that don't come after the Black Australorps. Their like those are like the godzilla of crows No thank you lol
Lots of red tailed hawks where I am in the mts of central pa and the crows are always taking it to the hawks. I am looking to get some chickens and the astros were already on my list but this info. Just confirms me getting them and one will be a rooster🐓 thanks for the great info. Have a blessed day
Unfortunelty this is not working for me. I have 25 birds and half are black Australorps and over the last month my girls have been getting dive bombed at almost daily. My Rooster Fernando has been doing a good job fighting the hawks away. Very frustrating that i cant do more myself.
Black hens acting as crow imposters? Once I had a coyote kill a mother hen and I ended up with about 8 orphaned chicks (that was the only time I lost a chicken). Luckily, those chicks were already about 7 or 8 weeks old and survived. But black hens acting as crow imposters, explains why I never had any problems with hawks swooping up any of my chickens. After all, it was a small wooded valley in the higher elevations of Arizona. As a 10-year old (a few decades ago), I started off with five hens and a rooster. I only bred chickens for about five years in my youth. But one of the hens was a small black hen with a beautiful golden-colored neck. She had a very small comb and was always the first one to begin laying brown eggs in early spring. Not sure of the breed, but perhaps she was part Sumatra. You know, in retrospect, her small body size, small comb, and extremely shiny black feathers made her look like a crow. Many times the other much larger hens picked on her. She was at the bottom of the pecking order. Yet, it's ironic that she ended up protecting and saving the lives of the other larger hens. Great video with valuable information.
Interesting idea!! There are hawks in the neighbor’s trees right behind my chickens. Never had a problem with them. I have 2 black chickens (something got into the coop at night and killed the 3rd a few days ago).
it was a very weird and traumatic experience for me yesterday to experience,went out side bc a bee was in the house n was putting it outside and thought the wings flapping was our duck that hangs out with our chickens and realized it started flying away and notice when it flew away it snapped our silkies neck off,never seen something like it ik it’s nature but it was painful to witness
I had a hawk take another chicken of mine today and all that remains is about 15 feathers. This was a fenced in area with all trees and open spots I put netting. I dont know how the hawk managed to carry the chicken out of there.
I call foul. Less than a month ago my prize black silkie bantam was swooped up on by a hawk and thankfully I know the sound of trouble in my 65 chicken colony and was able to intervene and save her so yeah, no, buying a coyote blanket costly but guaranteed 😁
Great idea mate. We have fox problems here and rats. Got to wrap everything in rat proof fencing, including veggie gardens. The cat does a good job with rats, but foxes, not so sure. I'm in awe of you homestead'ers. I'm from Australia, living in the outer suburbs/decent yard. Yet nothing like this American set-up, with cellar, barn, (golf buggy lol) and that much space, for whatever you need to sustain yourself.
After seeing your video I bought australops and added to my chicken gang... today one australop was killed by hawk. I wander is there any other things that need to be considered... size of free range cage, ratio of regular chickens and australops...
This is absolutely true. I have a hawk that visits a tree in my yard every morning. And every morning the crows come and attack the hawk.
Apparently crows have an excellent memory and that hawk might have wronged them in the past, so they attack him when given a chance.
@@ankstuhful The crows have a natural hatred for raptors b/c they know they are a danger to their young.
i know im randomly asking but does anybody know a tool to log back into an instagram account??
I was dumb forgot the login password. I love any tricks you can offer me!
@Santana Mordechai instablaster :)
@@ankstuhful Yeah like roosters if you upset a crow they will remember you. Crows also flank and attack in packs, basically they are unstoppable flying strategy fighters.
I had this problem also and in a previous video you mentioned this so I got 10 of them for my flock of 50 and haven't lost another hen since.
Awesome!
Lmao its in yalls head , I got black silkies and a fucken hawk killed one of my blue Plymouth
@Joshua Jewell I lost 4 black australorps to hawks this winter. I also have actual crows that I see chasing off hawks everyday.
@@JoseBaez192 Silkies don't even look like birds, let alone crows.
What!! My black chicken had its guts torn out today!
Open carry crows. I new there was a reason I loved West Virginia.
Yes, our crows are strapped up here...
I love this
It don't matter Congress still going to demand background checks even for Crows no exception and they better not have a faulty record or they going to federal prison or Crow Federal prison LOL
West Virginia ! ❤❤
This is really interesting. There are hawks in my area that sit in the trees and stalk my chickens. An incident that happened recently makes a little more sense to me now based on your video. About a week ago a hawk swooped straight down where about 5 of my chickens were hanging out. I just knew the hawk was going to grab one but as it got within about 4ft of them, it looked like it put on breaks and circled straight back up. I thought, that was strange. What made him stop in his tracks? My favorite hen, Willa, was among the group that the hawk swooped in on. Willa is a black Brahma. I feel slightly better about now after watching your video. Thank You.
Thanks again, Troy! Now that you say it, my dad's flock has 0 hawk attacks and is mostly autralorps. Will be getting some. Also didnt know crows fight hawks. Thanks for the info!
Thanks !!!! This definitely worked for me . Would lose 4 to 5 birds a week to hawks. Got a black rooster and haven’t seen a hawk since..thank you thank you !!!
Thanks for this advice. I just lost 2 chickens to a hawk. It’s so frustrating.
Hawks eat crows. Crows just harass hawks and chase them out of the area if there is large numbers of them.. But they are no enemies to hawks. Maybe the black chickens are more ferocious and fight back. But I doubt it is because they remind them of crows. Because a hawk will make short work of a crow.
I've never heard this before but it makes sense. I just happen to have a couple of black australorps and a black cochin in my flock.. I've never lost a bird to a hawk. And I live in the boonies. I'm pretty protective of them in other ways, too, but it's good to know these girls might be an added deterrent. Thanks for the insight!
Curious... what's your ratio? How many australorps to other breeds. Trying to figure how many I might need for my flock, based on other's success. Thanks!
Nope! 1/3+ of my flock is black. Been letting them loose in a big open run for almost three years. Didn't really have a problem til this winter Dec/Jan 2020/2021 (when I got my rooster). I've lost 8-12 birds in two months. Hawks are treating my pen like a drive thru snack bar. Not sure if it's because of the Roo letting everybody know there's chickens around or if it's a migratory pair that stopped by for the winter and taught the locals how good chciken sushi is. Been keeping them locked up in the enclosed run but there's still 6-8 hawks a day stopping by to see if the cafeteria is open.
6-8? dear god son, just start sending birdshot their way.
You don't even have to hit them, just sending it into the sky at them is enough to change their flight patterns.
Ouch
I have a huge black cans corso that would love some fresh hawk meat.
Yeah same here but 4-5 a day. And they killed a black chicken today. 12/5/22
Funny, I just did a video on this about a week ago! We started with 40 chickens about a year ago and we free range ours. All got killed in 12 months except our eight black hens and our black bantam rooster.
Another great tip, thanks again Troy and Family!
We have the real deal at our house. A family of crows nest in a tree in the neighbor's backyard every year. They don't bother our chickens at all, though I've read that they might predate young chicks. We just keep smaller chicks in covered tractors and we leave leftovers out for the crows sometimes, so the chicks are just not a worthwhile food source to them. Our rooster has even learned to listen to the crows' calls and if they alarm for a hawk, he gives the girls the signal to get under cover.
That is handy to have around. We have many crows in the valley too. I think that definitely helps keep the hawks away.
Just shoot the predators. Be a real american.. Not a coward..
@@CFITOMAHAWK2 you're not supposed to kill hawks here in the U.S.
Observe nature for a short time, the life/death struggle is real. (mike rose) are really a blessing, smart too, knowing the rotation on trash days etc. eat treats mostly in silence😀beauty on ebon pinion
Moved from Austin TX to a more rural area last year with 2 English mastiffs and a doxie. Real citified dogs lol. I had seen a hawk shadow for a few weeks - last week - the end of April - the hawk went for the black doxie. I didn’t even know what was happening until the 4 yo mastiff had run into the hawk and body slammed him into the fence. The mastiff could have killed him but she didn’t. Took hawk a few minutes to regain his wits enough to be upright on the fence. The mastiff just stood over the doxie and watched the hawk until he flew away. I was looking for deterrents but I guess I have my deterrents already lol
Mastiffs are the best 🧡
We've got Australorps, but just had our first hawk attack 😔. Interesting idea though, I'm glad it works for some people.
It's a good theory, I wonder if "crow decoys" could even help. I've personally witnessed several Crows, Blue Jays, and Sparrows all attacking a hawk in a tree, and the Hawk had a Crow in it's claw. The Hawk flew off and the Crows chased him, while it was still carrying the Crow. Crows and other birds definitely sound alarms and fend off Hawks but ultimately it comes down to the willpower (and sheer desperation) of the hawk that happens to be attacking. If a predator is hungry enough, they'll go for just about anything.
I lost 2 chickens this week to hawks. I have 2 decoy crows and 1 owl decoy on my land. Both my chickens were killed far away from any of my decoy birds. I don't know enough yet to say if the decoy birds work. I think I will have to get more decoy birds and scatter them around my property to find out. Problem is the decoy birds are expensive 🤦♀️
A study published in the journal Wildlife Society Bulletin in 2010 found that placing crow decoys around chicken coops reduced hawk attacks on chickens. The researchers hypothesized that the presence of crows signaled to hawks that there was competition for food, and that they should look elsewhere for prey.
Another study published in the same journal in 2006 also found that crow decoys were effective at reducing hawk predation on game bird farms. The researchers concluded that the presence of crow decoys may deter hawks by creating the impression that there are other predators in the area.
The comments here vary quite a bit about what works or doesn't. Deeper studies show location and hawk species plays a large roll in effectiveness. For anyone that still has losses, combine a variety of deterrents for the best outcome. I hope it works out well for everyone!
@@maren807 It is important to move decoys often as some hawks realize after a while that they don't pose a threat. It seems your decoys might be effective but weren't close enough. How many chickens do you have?
I love Black Australops! Easily one of the top looking breeds. The males are also incredible to have around, they aren't aggressive.
In 10 years of raising 3 chickens in the city, A hawk attacked our Australorp, Thank goodness I was able to chase it off quick enough. Yes, we have crows that chase the hawks .
We encourage crows by leaving out peanuts which they love, havent had a hawk attack since but we also have a run with electric fence wire in a grid pattern overhead
I think having crows around helps tremendously with this theory.
Has worked well for us though when the chickens were out free ranging a huge red tail did come down where the ducks were and attacked one of our brown ducks and recently a pekin. Looked out kitchen window and saw what I thought was one of our chickens pecking on it so ran out the door and saw a huge wing stretch out and knew the closer I got it was a hawk. It did peck a hole in the head of our duck though managed to stop the bleeding and she is happy still running around with our mallards and pekins. When our Austra's are close nothing bothers them so would agree it absolutely is a remedy for the most part. Thank you for sharing
I literally came here to find out how to stop the hawk from taking my chickens because I went outside and a hawk was trying to carry off one of my black hens! LOL. Guess my hawks here are on to this trick..
I heard the roosters crowing in the front yard. I was carrying because I lost two older pullets in the back yard the day before. Necks chewed off, inside a fenced area. As soon as I topped the hill, there was a hawk on top of one of my Black Australorps. I took a shot and missed. He flew off. Lucky for me. I found out later that they are protected. I put up netting and pie pans on fishing line. No attacks in two weeks. Prior to this event, I did not have any hawk attacks inside the fenced areas. 2 attacks with chickens that got out, both black chickens. 1 Bielefelder grabbed and a pile of feathers. Took a picture of a baby bobcat after I ran him off while jumping a pullet. His mother might of been in the backyard on the snatch and grab theft. 3 months later I saw a large bob cat viewing the chicken yard. The chickens told me she was there. Sorry, I think the black Australorp theory has no value.
I just had a red tail try and pick up one of my ayem cemanis, i know they have a green tint to their feathers but not sure the chicken being black is a sure fire deterrent
Exact same thing for me. All I have are these black hens and it's actually a dark colored hawk but he is big and has attacked 2 of 4 of my chickens
@@samiam7387 = What is the breed of your black chickens ???
Are there crows in your area? This only works if the hawks are familiar with crows. We have crows around here so I’m giving the black chicken thing a try, I don’t wanna lose more chickens to the hawks.
Oh my god, I was trying to figure out why the hawks were only targeting one of my flocks! One flock is all brahma, and the other flock is a large variety, but includes Black copper marans, and now that I think about it, the hens do look crowish! I was trying to figure out why the heck they were risking going after the bigger birds, the brahmas, when there were, smaller more defenseless chickens like silkies and babies in the other, now I realize they are avoiding the “crows”!!! And to those saying it doesn’t work, what kind of chickens do you have? Not all black chickens look like crows. Black silkies, cochins, or jersey giants aren’t going to fool hawks. I suspect it needs to be a black chicken that has the correct body type, one that matches crows.
Well shot I just happened to switch up my poultry and added australorps. I also have ayam cerami chickens. I do have all my pens covered netting. 50 ×50 etc. Haven't had an issue with hawks getting my birds. When I see them I can do an osprey call and warning chrip and they leave almost immediately. Guess we are now 3 for 3 here. Interesting information had no clue.
I got black chickens and don't have anymore hawk attacks. We have Hawks still hanging around but not eating chicken. We were losing chickens like crazy. Coincidence? I agree ... Not!
I had hawk issues as well. I now have black marans i hope it takes care of the issue cause I lost several chickens from my flock
I have one big hawk flying around and keeps killing my chickens. Today my duck died. Im seeking revenge.
@@konoo0219 period. Tell me how it went
@@jimenagarcia6215 update I have no idea what killed my duck because something tried attacking my rooster. There are three animals that I’ve recently found which is a raccoon, cats, and a hawk. Still trying to investigate who killed my duck.
@@konoo0219 alright. Keep me updated
I think you are right on! We’ve watched hawks fly over without striking our flock as they free range all day.
Good deal!
Hmmmm am thinking of some black dye right now...hope the camouflage works.
I'm so glad I found this video. What size would you figure the chickens need to be before they would be mistaken for crows? We just started with chickens and our chicks are about 4 wk old and about 7"-9" tall (assuming they aren't craning their necks). We definitely have crows in our area and I've often seen them chasing hawks. Greetings from Toronto, Canada.
I had a few chooks and a beautiful big rooster. One day my neighbour rang me, and told me to check them when I get home as the Wedge Tailed eagles were at the coop (he cracked his whip to scare them away). I came home and found my rooster dead but no chickens were hurt. Very brave boy indeed, when you see how big the eagles are. 🐔✌️🇦🇺
It's a shame you're only defenses to be able to crack your whip I crack off a 12 gauge and that's the end of that hawk or eagle I will defend my livestock.
@@curte7739 it’s illegal to shoot them
I only have three laying hens (Red Island Reds) and I "walk" my chickens twice a day. I don't put them on a leash or anything, lol, but I stand out there with them and I have trained them to pretty much have the same routine every time I let them out. I have a Hawk that circles my yard and I'm very grateful for this video. I was wondering if having only two of those black chickens would do the trick, since I only have these three hens. What do you think? Thank you in advance!
Crows are amazing birds. Extremely smart, family-oriented, and stay in "communities" that work together. They will even fashion a "tool" out of a stick and use it to get bugs out of holes in trees. Truly love having them around. And yes, they do fight off hawks. My big dufus Great Pyrenees, Elliott the Great, could use some lessons from crows. He's not earning his way.
Dogs aren't deterrent for birds 🤷🏻♀️
Dogs do not fly
Our Yorky attacked a hawk that landed near our coop.The hawk escaped dangling 1 leg
My cat got one. Now a flock of them wait for him to come out.....my big chickens actually escourt him around the yard hunting mice and such. Crows lost an other one. He tried to swoop in and attack him. My girls got him and tore him to shreads. I felt sorry for a short min.....then realised it was a ploy. The other crows we going after the baby chicks. Mr. Turkey and the roosters fought the m off. It was like the movie the birds. My hens had the situation in control.....now I got buckshot.
I have two Great Dufus mixed dogs, so I feel your pain (and embarrassment).
I literally just lost my black Australorp to a hawk today. My heart is broke.
I'm so sorry 😞
I just got started with chickens and had heard this as well. That is why half of my flock is Australorp and half Barred Rock.
Jail birds! My wife says the Rocks look like they are wearing prison uniforms.
I would add some more hiding places for the chickens/obstacles for the hawks. Any trash would work. Old furniture, etc. The run looks way to expose as mine was. Lost a baby chick to a hawk that came down while I was there....saw the whole thing.
We don’t have this problem anymore, since grandpa sits on the porch with a loaded 12 gauge cocked at all times , quite a few times grandma cooked Roasted Hawk with potatoes , and some good old moonshine . Anyways who is counting the Hawk population ??.
i will kill a hawk and not think twice. if it’s attacking my livestock it’s gonna catch some lead. don’t give a fk what the ‘government’ thinks
I've noticed a lot of crows around recently, this was after last week with all the Hawks around. I welcome the crows.
My first chickens long ago were black copper marans, & I never had a problem with hawks though there were many hawks around. Neither did my neighbor, who had some black chickens amongst his 20 or so wandering-over-5-acres-all-day flock. Then I didn’t have marans anymore & had others… hawks picked off 2 in a week immediately, and I became hawk-by-day-paranoid when it came to chickens since then (as if raccoons by night weren’t bad enough….😓). I never! thought of this. Will certainly have some black chickens again, thank you.
Some of the most useful information I’ve come across in my chicken journey so far. Thanks
Starting our small flock this spring. I'm definitely going to get few Black Australorps in there! Thanks Troy
Good luck!
Not few but many. Hawks are not scared of few crows.
Most of our chicken predation is courtesy of raccoons and possums. I have only 1 confirmed hawk attack in 12 years but did have a few losses of "unknown origin", which could have been hawks. I have 10 Black Australorp pullets soon to be added to the main mixed flock. Got in September at TSC for 10 cents apiece on clearance!
That is a great price!
The day after watching this I saw A crow chasing a hawk!! Pretty cool 😎
We had a cooper’s attack one of our Australorps this morning. Hawk had her pinned to the ground and we ran out yelling and the hawk took off. The hen seems unhurt but the hawk keeps returning to our yard so the girls are in their secure run for a while. Not sure if the fact that my girls are in molt so look a lot smaller and not the shiny black they normally are might be part of the problem. The local crows don’t seem concerned with the hawks but have been thankful many times when an eagle starts to circle our yard and the crows go crazy attacking it.
I like this as a natural way to protect your chickens without making your homestead unsightly (like hanging wires or other debris back and forth would do). You do not want to kill the raptors, legal or not, because they also eat a lot of rodents and snakes that you also do not want overrunning your homestead.
I've watched plenty of Heckle & Jeckle, it's not surprising that hawks would want to flee from them... lol
No doubt! The magpies can be hard on you!
d'oh! That's right, technically H&J are considered magpies... but many sources call them crows. I always think of them as crows, too, cuz in WA where I grew up the magpies are the pretty ones with white on the bellies and wings, looking nothing like H&J. Magpies can be pretty vicious, I guess, at least to Australians...
So to keep the hawks from attacking my backyard birds that I draw in with feeders..and squirrels with nuts and cookies....I now have to get chickens! Hee hee my neighbors are just going to love me!
I live in the suburbs of Philadelphia..and nobody has chickens..well I use to..I had goats too! I loved it..and so did all of our children..but the neighbors...not so much!
Every child should be able to hold a fresh laid egg..when its still soft and warm...and know how to collect them! They learn where they come from..and its not the local grocery store!
Thank you for the video! It makes great sense! 🐔
Hawks just fly over my property and ignore my flock. I couldn't figure out why until I saw some of the testimonials, like this video, online.
I have a very large solid black chicken named Blondie. The hawks must think she's the Nightmare Crow from Hell.
Interesting. I'm going to get some black chickens. My wife is so worried that the Hawks will get our chickens. Thanks for the video!
Do you currently have crows in the area. I think if the hawks are accustomed to fighting crows then this theory works better.
Thanks for making this video, really happy your hens are safe from hawks.
I got sick of losing my chickens to hawks and Got myself a Game rooster. 1 full year and no loss of hens! The black hen i have is crazy flighty bird, she flew up at the door window and broke it out! My African hen is second in line of crazy and she is a smaller hen.. I am Making a new bird mix with Game and African with mix Butcher/ radio/kaso hutch/round head / leghorn mix game. ,Hawks Beware! Wish we had crows! I love the sounds they make!
Thank you for sharing. Lost two 3 month old chicks today to a Hawk. I have one black hen in the group but they scatter out a ways during the day. Have not seen many crows in our area so maybe my Hawk is unfamiliar with the crow. Will see if there is another answer to getting rid of this Hawk.
Now that you mention it we haven’t had any hawk attacks since we have added black australorps. Never saw the correlation.
Could be the answer!
Clever. I was expecting to see you stringing brightly colored ribbons over the chicken pen. Supposedly discourages swooping attacks, never tried it myself.
I saw a post on Facebook the other day of a person doing that very thing. Made for a colorful chicken run!
Or use the magnetic tape in an old cassette tape. The string freaks out the hawks
I did that last year but I’m trusted of my run looking like a cheap carnaval 😂
A cooper hawk killed my favorite Australorp hen a few days ago. She was the largest and the alpha. However, she was molting and lost a lot of feathers and weight so that might be the reason.
I think his theory only works if you dont start out with the austrolarps bc we have a multitude of different breeds including the ones mentioned and we are still having issues with hawks, We actually saved a baby brahma this morning from the claws of a hawk and we have several large breed and small breed chickens that were grazing along side of it, and to make it worse it was literally in our back yard, we were able to save it bc the chick fought back and they hit the fence outside our bedroom window and my husband happened to be at his desk and saw/heard it and was able to make it outside in time. Thats how close this hawk was, these hawks are very smart and very brazen. Any other ideas or channels I can research on keeping the hawks away are greatly appriciated.
Once again you provided valuable information out of the goodness of your heart... You are the ideal educator and appreciated.
Thank you and may you continue recording, editing and sharing your many talents for as long as you wish.
From a long-time subscriber from N Idaho
Thanks, Peter!
A murder of crows can fend off a hawk, but a crow alone is no match for a hawk as smart as a crow is.
Yeah hawk has to much killing power in it’s talons, if it latches the crow is done
Yeah but crows are almost never alone even if they look like they're alone so when halls or other birds of prey see a crow they assume that more are around
Black Bird Power 😂😂 More like Gang Of Crows Power... Ive heard about this before..That's awesome technique keep ur live stock alive 👍👍👍👍👍😁
THIS DOES NOT WORK. I have many different colors of chickens. I've lost 5 to Hawks so far. 3 being my australorps. This is bs
How about getting a Pet Falcon that is trained to chase off other Falcons
A hawk killed my black australorpe yesterday. I'm not buying this.
Probably depends on the breed of hawk and location
I have a lot of crows on my property. I thought crows come to everyone's yard
one guy suggested adding a turkey to the flock and actually saw the turkey chase a hawk
My sister’s neighbor had an adult Turkey killed by a hawk just last week.
@@vickievonn1286 same but not last week it was early spring
Well by golly I'm gonna try this as I'm losing to many chickens and ducks this year. thank you for the info.
Omg I needed this video!! Theres 3 circling my yard as we speak. I'm gonna have to try this bc it's sad to see a pile of feathers, knowing that poor bird suffered.
I’ve been working at a restaurant over the last 3 or so years, and over that time I’ve built a relationship with my local murder of crows in exchange for daily scraps 😂 about a year or so a red tail hawk I ended up naming SB(screeching bastard) would end up trying to fight my crows and he loses every time. My dream is to leave the city behind and start a chicken farm. I’ll definitely be keeping my crow friends, but now I’ll have an actual purposeful reason to have them lol!
I have a black australorp and two black German shepherds...and they seem to have kept the hawks at bay!
Someone should tell the hawk that just killed my chicken this... my hawk missed the memo.
I kill them! I blast them with a 12g. I've lost too many of my chickens to birds of prey. And yes i have no trespassing signs on my property. Its not my fault those filthy sky pirates cant read english.
Great tip. We are down to one road Island red, from a "flock" of 3 reds and 2 dominiques. We have a few "rescue" ducks and a few mallards with the occasional Canadian goose family visiting. We've lost the 4 hens, 2 rescue ducks, and a rescue goose (yesterday). I'm heading for the Chicken Exchange to see if I can get one or two of the black chickens. Maybe they will protect everyone. We enjoy our chickens. the are more like pets that leave a few eggs.
I hope it works for you!
Fascinating. I got my first two flocks last summer (a set of broilers and a set of layers). The broilers were half red broilers, and half were black broilers (these had Australorpe in their heritage). As for the layers, I raised up two black Australorpes among them.
So many people in my town have lost their flocks or portions of their flocks to hawks. My meat birds did a lot of true foraging, front and back yard, and I didn't lose a single one. They lived until the human predator got to them at the end of September (that, ahem, would have been me...)
Right now the layers aren't foraging (they don't care for snow), but I'm glad I have the two black Australorpes, and also the one black broiler hen that was simply too sweet to toss into the freezer. So, here it appears an accidental hawk-deterrent… not complaining! I'm actually not aware of anyone near me also having black Australorpes/black broiler birds. Thanks for figuring this out!
Awesome! Sounds like it is working for you as well!
I remember you mentioning hawks and Australorps a while back and had wondered if that was why you hadn't complained of any hawk problems. Glad for the followup to that. I'm convinced; when I'm ready to start my flock a large percentage of my birds will be Australorps no matter what other breed(s) I decide on. It seems that someone else had had a problem with a crow attack on one or more of their chickens, but I really cannot remember who it was or how that was resolved. I hope that was a rare occasion, because I'd like to attract crows to nest nearby and encourage them to repel hawks from the area too, so any free-ranged chicken would be safe.
Usually is the chicks they will go for, they aren't big enough for full or medium sized chickens. I've been trying to attract the local murder of crows to stay around here but knowing chicks have to be big enough to be added to the flock.
Thanks!
I don't believe it, I've lost 1 to a hawk this year, and the crows were nesting near by and harassing hawks all spring. The day I lost one I came outside and heard the chickens and the crows, both going off like crazy. I started in the direction of the noise, then saw a hawk take off. Later I found the chicken the hawk had killed but getting harassed by me and the crows was too much, and it didn't get to eat her. - update, I'll try it, but intend to try black bearded silkie banties, thanks.
Thanks a lot for the great tip.I will have to try a black chicken.
I had a hawk kill one of my black Australorps so that didn't work out for me. At the same time I have many times seen a bunch of crows attacking hawks over or near my yard so I've learned to love those crows. They inadvertently became my flying guard birds.
Here in the sonoran desert, we are eaten up with gorgeous hawk species. I love them as much as I love the coyotes--a lot! But I have a feeling our relationship is destined to change when my flock arives this summer. I am going to give the australorp method a go--along with numerous other secret weapons!
That explains why there were crows circling my house seconds before a hawk swooped down and tried to grab lunch. We've never had a hawk problem in over 20 years of raising chickens so this is a new problem to deal with. Thank you for the suggestion. We will try it.
I just had an attempted red tailed hawk attack on my chickens today as I was looking out the window at them. I ran out the door as fast as I could. Out of 5 hens, one is a black australorp. All are fine and safely locked up in their run. So you’re saying you need mostly black chickens?
I am getting the impression from some of the comments to this video that the key is having crows in your area. If hawks aren't used to fighting crows, then they aren't going to respect the black chicken. Our valley is full of crows and I see them fighting hawks from time to time. Good luck!
I have mostly black chickens (20) and 10 red
Hawk got 2 of the black ones and one red in front of me
So,I guess that it does matter if you have crows in your area
@@armandsauciuc = What type of black chickens do you have ??
@@DocScience2 new jerseys giants
We don't have crows, we have ravens, but they are not always around. Had a hawk attack yesterday, smart hens ran and hid. We do have black chickens, they attack anyway. So I got a speaker out the window and loudly played eagle crys. I chose the 10hr video and had to leave. I came home to the video still playing and no dead chickens.
Half my chickens are black. Doesn't matter. Hawk just killed a chicken last night and came back this morning looking for more.
Hawks are very small in size compared to chickens , still y do chickens are scared of hawks?
Farm chickens has lost the jungle in them, i got a game rooster and he does not run! 2 years ago i had 6 rooster's that would run in fear of hawks, and now 1 rooster does the work of 6.
Red tailed hawk just got two of my black chickens they were so friendly too.
I have the same problem, except it’s the opposite, and with most of their predators (except for things like coyotes but we haven’t encountered any yet)
I am definitely getting me some Asap!! There's been a hawk feasting here for the last 3 days. Thanks for the info.
Has anyone noticed that 3 pm is the witching hour for hawk attacks?
Yes! Lost two in the last month, and it was around 3 pm!
Maybe it is the hawks that have tangled with crows before that don't come after the Black Australorps. Their like those are like the godzilla of crows No thank you lol
ya gotta love the old timers...they paid attention and no doubt this is one of their solutions....a shame we are losing so much of the old ways
Yes, we will never know as much as they did.
We have 9 in our flock with one black Australorp chicken. Do you think that is enough?
Lots of red tailed hawks where I am in the mts of central pa and the crows are always taking it to the hawks. I am looking to get some chickens and the astros were already on my list but this info. Just confirms me getting them and one will be a rooster🐓 thanks for the great info. Have a blessed day
You think speckled Sussex would work or not black enough?
I love chickens and I want to keep them safe so I will try what you said
Unfortunelty this is not working for me. I have 25 birds and half are black Australorps and over the last month my girls have been getting dive bombed at almost daily. My Rooster Fernando has been doing a good job fighting the hawks away. Very frustrating that i cant do more myself.
great advice for hawks what about other predators like bobcats? We have a bobcat willing and able to jump our chicken fence...
I have black australops. The last couple weeks a hawk came in an killed two roosters and one of my black Cayuga ducks. Black chickens don't help.
Black hens acting as crow imposters? Once I had a coyote kill a mother hen and I ended up with about 8 orphaned chicks (that was the only time I lost a chicken). Luckily, those chicks were already about 7 or 8 weeks old and survived. But black hens acting as crow imposters, explains why I never had any problems with hawks swooping up any of my chickens. After all, it was a small wooded valley in the higher elevations of Arizona. As a 10-year old (a few decades ago), I started off with five hens and a rooster. I only bred chickens for about five years in my youth. But one of the hens was a small black hen with a beautiful golden-colored neck. She had a very small comb and was always the first one to begin laying brown eggs in early spring. Not sure of the breed, but perhaps she was part Sumatra. You know, in retrospect, her small body size, small comb, and extremely shiny black feathers made her look like a crow. Many times the other much larger hens picked on her. She was at the bottom of the pecking order. Yet, it's ironic that she ended up protecting and saving the lives of the other larger hens. Great video with valuable information.
Interesting idea!! There are hawks in the neighbor’s trees right behind my chickens. Never had a problem with them. I have 2 black chickens (something got into the coop at night and killed the 3rd a few days ago).
I wonder if dummy crows will work?
it was a very weird and traumatic experience for me yesterday to experience,went out side bc a bee was in the house n was putting it outside and thought the wings flapping was our duck that hangs out with our chickens and realized it started flying away and notice when it flew away it snapped our silkies neck off,never seen something like it ik it’s nature but it was painful to witness
That has been the most upsetting part of it they chew the head off and leave the rest. It’s such a waste.
I had a hawk take another chicken of mine today and all that remains is about 15 feathers. This was a fenced in area with all trees and open spots I put netting. I dont know how the hawk managed to carry the chicken out of there.
I call foul. Less than a month ago my prize black silkie bantam was swooped up on by a hawk and thankfully I know the sound of trouble in my 65 chicken colony and was able to intervene and save her so yeah, no, buying a coyote blanket costly but guaranteed 😁
Silkies have distinct feathers.
All I have is black Australorp chickens and Hawks keep wiping me out
I have black chickens that did not help some of the black chickens died themselves
Will black ayam cemani chickens work?
Great idea mate. We have fox problems here and rats. Got to wrap everything in rat proof fencing, including veggie gardens. The cat does a good job with rats, but foxes, not so sure. I'm in awe of you homestead'ers. I'm from Australia, living in the outer suburbs/decent yard. Yet nothing like this American set-up, with cellar, barn, (golf buggy lol) and that much space, for whatever you need to sustain yourself.
After seeing your video I bought australops and added to my chicken gang... today one australop was killed by hawk. I wander is there any other things that need to be considered... size of free range cage, ratio of regular chickens and australops...
Have you watched the follow up video? I think the key might be the need for crows to be in the area and the hawks experienced with them.
just lost my favorite hen. going to give it a try with the black australops chickens. thanks