how to protect from raptors

I am pretty sure an owl or hawk has been killing my chickens. We have lost three in the last six days. All killed between 4 and eight in the evening. All completely missing heads, feathers pulled out and crop and breast partly eaten. I found feathers that were not chicken feathers amongst the remains. They are barred, brown and creamy white. I also have been hearing an owl in the mornings in the woods behind us. Barred owls are inhabitants of vancouver Island so I think that is a possibility. Today I am going to put the birds in the yard after three oclock. I have some criss crossed lines above the yard but I am not convinced that is going to deter an owl. Any other ideas besides having to completely cover it in netting. It is a really big yard.

Flight netting comes in various widths and lengths.

Maybe an owl decoy would help? I've heard of others using them with some success.

Another idea is a purple martin house. (Once they've migrated back to Canada for breeding.)
All last summer I watched the martins harass and chase away any hawks that dared to fly into 'their yard'. They seem to have a good 10 acre radius. And are quite fun to watch too.  

Sorry you have to deal with this. Predation sucks.  

where can i get flight netting on vancouver island?

I ordered mine online. There are many suppliers.

Three choices. Keep them inside. Cover the area with netting. Shoot the raptors.

Keeping them inside is the safest and cheapest. However, you lose the many benefits of having your chickens out.

Covering with a net can be expensive if you have a large area. It can be more practical to give them a small covered area instead, or to use tractors. As well, a determined owl or hawk can rip through netting like butter if they put their mind to it.

The last option is distasteful and probably also illegal.

If you are anywhere near a golf driving range that uses nets, ask them if they have some old netting lying around. Might get it for cheaper than buying new. We have a driving range and the nets are often getting torn or ripped, so I have pieces of netting all over the places, esp. over my silkie and chick/poult yards. I have found that I don't need to have the netting completely covering the yard, just large portions of it so the raptors can't get a big enough space for their dive. Good luck!

Stop by Fanny Bay Oysters, they sell used netting at a reasonable price

I think I posted about fort chicken knox...you can get netting from Ferris Fencing in Qualicum...and I can give you some tips for putting it up - I learned the hard way it needs to be removed for snow...

islandgal99 wrote:I think I posted about fort chicken knox...you can get netting from Ferris Fencing in Qualicum...and I can give you some tips for putting it up - I learned the hard way it needs to be removed for snow...

I have herring net over my Choco's pen. I didn't take it down and our wet wet snow dragged it down to within six inches of the ground.   Lesson learned

So far we haven't lost any more. Only half the run is netted. I am going to call fanny bay oysters and Ferris on Monday. We hopefully have goslings hatching on wednesday or thursday and I guess I need to net them too. I can hear the ravens chicks squawking above my kitchen window so they are going to be looking for easy food.