[Leica] Chicken killing hawk

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Tina writes:
 A question for the infinite wisdom of the LUG - we have a Cooper's Hawk
> that
> is killing our chickens.  We didn't think a hawk would get a full-grown
> chicken but we've seen him dive in and attack the chicken, breaking her
> neck.  Then he drags her into the bushes and comes back later to eat her.
> We've lost 6 chickens to this hawk.  We've bought fireworks and set them
> off.  We've tried leaving the chickens shut up until noon.  Nothing works.
> The hawk even killed a chicken when Tom was cutting down trees only a
> hundred yards away.  It's against the law to kill the hawk.
>
> Any suggestions?

- - - - -
Tina,
A few years ago we were away for much of the winter. When we returned home a
large wood hawk had declared our yard its territory and repeatedly attacked
my wife when she was working in the garden. She took to carrying a broom
with the sweeping part over her head whenever she walked outside. This
apparently discouraged the hawk form a direct attack but he kept a watchful
eye on her for the rest of the summer. Then the hawk family moved on.
My suggestion is to get a lot of brooms or tree branches and plant them butt
first in the chicken run. String a few lengths of fishing line or netting
between the tops. This will discourage the hawk from swooping down.
Alternatively get a BB gun and fire off a few shots at the hawk. You
probably won't kill it but a stinging BB will certainly discourage it. And
contact the County Agent for advice. If the hawk is taking chickens. You may
get a special dispensation to shoot it with real bullets.
Larry Z