Okay so today there was a falcon outside the chicken run today and thankfully the falcon couldn’t get inside and nobody was hurt and I scared the falcon away but I’m worried now it might come back? Does anyone know if once a falcon knows where your birds are they will remember and come back and try to get to them again?? I’m just really freaked out and worried.
Hi! Former wildlife rehabber here. Birds of prey will harass your cooped birds- we would have sharpies, red tails, red shoulders and coopers hawks harass our outdoor birds all the time. Like one hawk we named Alice Cooper would just sit on the pigeon/dove house and the birds would freak so bad they would bloody themselves on the walls AND she grabbed one as it panic-flew too closer to the roof. Even a falcon will stress your birds and an accipiter (bird eating bird) CAN kill them if it manages to grab one. Here are a few deterents in case a bird of prey fixates on your coop-
PIE PAN(s)- like those light, silvery shiny tin pie pans. You can hang or tie them to the top of your coop. The bouncing, shining light will irritate the very sensitive eyes of a hawk and the movement of the light will deter them.
MOTION SENSITIVE LIGHT- same idea.
A HOSE- or one of those cat-spraying things that people put in a flower pot. Hawks do not want wet feathers as it hampers their flight and they are NOT waterproof. Please don’t drench them though- if they are soaked to the skin it will ground them, they can get hypothermic and/or injured and killed.
TALK RADIO- constant human chatter will probably not bother your chickens but if you put on some talk radio and put the radio on top of the coop, a hawk will not want to hang out next to it.
If none of these work, you may need to construct a double-walled coop. It’s a pain but it’s the best way to keep birds safe and the hawk will be removed from the birds by 2 walls. Hopefully it a) will not be able to grab a panicking bird as it passes and b) realizing this, it may get bored and leave.
I really hope the falcon was just checking your coop out but if not, or if other hawks come by, I hope these suggestions help.
Awesome advice!!
awesome + advice = awesomadvice.
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