The Best Way to Keep Hawks Away From Chickens? Donna Larson, July 31, 2024July 31, 2024 The argument could be made that hawks are the top predator to backyard chickens. As you look to protect your thought, you’re probably asking what’s the best way to keep hawks away from chickens? The Best Way to Keep Hawks Away From Chickens The very best way to keep hawks away from chickens is to simply keep them in a chicken coop. However, most of us desire to allow our feathered friends to free range around our homesteads. That makes our chickens easy prey to hawk attacks. Let’s look at some ways that you can free range your birds and protect them from hawks and other predatory birds. A Good Rooster Firstly, a large rooster will run to your hens’ aide when he hears or sees an attack. You want a good boy who doesn’t attack people but will stand up to give a hawk a good fight. He probably won’t harm a red-tailed hawk, but he’ll make it think twice about picking on your chickens. Livestock Guardian Dogs Next, guard dogs can be effective protectors to chickens and other small livestock to homesteaders. Don’t just choose any domestic dog, as many will not get the job done. The ever-popular Great Pyrenes works to make sure that nothing bothers its flock, but that’s not your only option. Check out these livestock guardian dog breeds to help you choose which dog might work best on your own small farm. Make sure that you choose a breed with protective instincts. Also, know that you’ll need to work to train your dog to become a guard animal, and not eat your chickens himself. He will always need a job to do, a flock to protect, or else he’ll find himself bored and may want to wander outside of his perimeter. Speaking of boundaries, you will need an effective method to contain your livestock guardian dog. One of their natural instincts is to leave. Spay/neuter your protective pet to minimize that roaming drive. Additionally, many owners find that they must keep their dogs on a cable run near their flock. Be sure that he still has access to the general area the chickens are in order to protect them. Scare Devices Some argue that the best defense against the chicken hawk is to use a scare device. Some different ways to scare away the hawks in your area are: Scarecrow Shiny Objects / Flashing Light Birds of Prey Loud Noises Motion Activated Sprinklers Black Chickens Guinea Fowl Let’s look closer at each of these options, so you can decide which is right for you. 1. Make a Scarecrow Making a scarecrow or a “scarehawk” is fun task to let your kids take over. Stuffing old clothes with hay seems like silly family time to them, but make sure that you explain the purpose. You’re sure to make a few memories with this project. Hawks are intelligent animals, and aren’t as easily fooled as you might think. Move around your scarecrow nearby your chicken area every couple of days to make the hawks believe it’s an actual person. 2. Hang Shiny Objects / Flashing Light Aerial predators are scared away by flashing light. If you aren’t keen to watching for them during all daylight hours, hang items near your chicken run to reflect the sunlight. Hang old cds or aluminum pie plates on fishing line around your chicken flock. Chicken predators will become confused by the light, disorienting them, and they’ll flee. Once again, I always say use what you have, so I like this one. 3. Artificial Birds of Prey Get a fake owl, one of the only predators of the hawk, to post in a visible area nearby. Just like the scarecrow, make sure to move it every couple of days, or the hawks will realize that it’s fake. Similarly, a fake bald eagle or a coyote nearby might work. 4. Loud Noises One effective way to deter hawks is to employ loud noises. If you see a hawk approach, loudly clap your hands and yell until the hawk leaves. You can’t always be there to scare them off yourself though. Some chicken owners use wind chimes to scare away hawks, but if they’re out all the time, then the hawks get used to them. Motion-activated air horns work all too well, probably scarring the chickens too. 5. Motion Activated Sprinklers No living thing likes to be unexpectedly sprayed with water. Connect a motion activated sprinkler to the top of your chicken coop. When the bird of prey swoops down in an attempt to snatch up dinner, it’ll receive a blast of water instead, sending it away. These can be a little pricey, but they work in other areas of the homestead too, for example keeping deer and rabbits out of the garden. 7. Black Chickens For some reason, hawks don’t like black chickens. I’ve seen this myself, where hawks have only picked up our lighter colored birds. It’s thought that they believe the black chicken is a crow, a natural nemesis to the hawk. Keeping black chickens in the flock may cause hawks to think twice before attacking your birds. 8. Guinea Fowl Guineas are extremely territorial and loud. Perhaps I should’ve included them in the “make noise” section above. When guineas see a hawk nearby, they alarm, chattering away until the hawk leaves. Chickens learn what this chatter means, and run for cover when the guineas alarm. Also, when they’re raised together, the guineas will naturally protect your chickens. Making guinea fowl stay on your property can be a little tricky. Raise them up from chicks for 4-6 months before letting them out so that they’ll know where home is. Hawks may actually get one of your guinea too, but in my experience, the bald eagles have been the potential threats to our guineas. Other Ideas To Protect Your Free-Range Chickens Besides the scare tactics and guardian animals, the following ideas involve cover of some sort to protect your chicken yard from potential prey. For the record, I don’t think these are the best way to keep hawks away from chickens, but some small-space chicken keepers have good luck with them. 1. Covered Area Firstly, offer your chickens something to run and hide under if they’re in large open areas. Something as simple as a platform slightly lifted off the ground will give them protection from hawks, but also from the sun. This works well inside of “controlled” range for your chickens too. If you’re moving them around pasture with electrified netting, they’re still prone to hawk attacks. Giving them the cover will help to protect them. Make sure that there is plenty of room for all of the chickens to comfortably hide while they wait for the hawk to leave. 2. Plant for Cover Secondly, if you have a smaller space, you could use small fruit trees and trellising vines to offer a hiding place from potential predators. Keeping your chickens close to nearby trees offers hawks a place to sit and plot their attack. Plant an understory of smaller trees for your chickens. 3. Use a Chicken Tractor Next, instead of totally free ranging, build a chicken tractor to contain your birds on pasture. The tractor is simply a movable coop used to allow your birds to remain on pasture without giving them total freedom to go anywhere they want. Most importantly, it also protects them from predators, specifically hawks. Move your tractor daily with guardian animals nearby for peace of mind. Supervised Free Ranging Lastly, you can keep your birds cooped up for most of the day, then release them to free range at the end of the day while you keep eyes on them. You’ll be able to watch all the chicken social behaviors that your bird-loving heart can handle and your chickens will have you as their guardian. Even if you can’t totally supervise them, you’ll minimize the window of time that predatory birds have to attack your chickens. Your birds will likely put themselves to bed in the evening, then you just need to close the door to keep out night time predators. Summary of the Best Way to Keep Hawks Away From Chickens Whether you use a guardian animal, a scare tactic, or a cover of some sort, I hope that we’ve given you some ideas to protect your backyard flock. What have you found is the best way to keep hawks away from chickens on your homestead? Happy Chicken-Keeping! Donna @ Hazel Belle Farm Donna and her family have been homesteading for most of their 20+ years together in some shape or fashion. She currently lives on their 20 acre farm where they grow as much food as possible. What started as a just a few laying hens, has grown into large gardens, pastured poultry, pork, and lamb. They are continuously evolving their small farm to not suit their family’s needs, but also providing to their local community. Donna’s favorite part of the family farm is her self-built micro-dairy, where she gets to love on dairy cows while serving her local community. Milking, cheesemaking, and processing dairy have become the soul of their homestead and the center of their farm. Chickens Homesteading