Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Because hawks are federally protected, there's not much you can do to control them.
When I lived in the pine woods of northern Idaho, I dealt with several species of hawks
that thoroughly enjoyed the feasts my poultry provided. They are skilled hunters that
can swoop down, grab a chicken, and be gone in just a few seconds. They made meals
of every Polish crested chicken I attempted to raise.
If you live in an area where hawks are common and you want to raise chickens or
any poultry, you will need to provide a wire or net cover of some sort over the fowl.
Hawks are skilled at darting in and out of trees and brush to get their desired meal, so
natural cover overhead won't suffice. Fix properly covered pens and only carefully let
your poultry out when you are with them to help deter losses. Free range is not an option
if you have large hawk populations, unless you can tolerate losing a bird or two a day.
Mink
A close relative of the weasel, the mink is another serious predator. If you have a creek,
stream, lake, or any other body of water within a half-mile (0.8 km) of your poultry
building, be aware that mink may be a problem for you. These mammals follow streams
up to the source looking for food, so even a simple drainage ditch on your property that
dumps into a creek can invite mink.
It's essential to cover your pens if you live in hawk country.
The one time I had a problem with a mink family, I discovered that the animals
traveled from the creek the half-mile (0.8 km) up the ditch to the chicken building. They
successfully destroyed all the ducks living in four different pens in one night. Rarely,
mink will kill only one or two birds, but usually it's mass murder. They kill in a manner
similar to that of the weasel, but prefer to eat the heads off your fowl, leaving the rest of
the body.
