How to stop Chicken hawks when raising pastured chickens inside electric fencing

So this year we ordered 60 Easter Egger chickens to go with a few banties we hatched in our incubator from neighbors eggs. We had low success rate for several reasons mainly first time users of the $50 tractor supply incubator, and the eggs had been refrigerated up to 3 weeks. Anyway from the house we have seen the chicken hawk fly over, land, reach under the shelter and grab a pullet and fly off with it. Very sad, very frustrating. We have premier1 4 ft high electric fencing. A little over 300 feet of it and move it once a week around the yard. We have discovered that tree limbs stacked in a 3 to 4 foot high stack are one of the favorite places to hang out and great source of worms after they have been in place a week or so. We have also discovered a great use for old volleyball nets we have 3 cheap ones from walmart. After setting them up in a random pattern inside the electric fence we have seen the hawk fly over but decide not to try for a chicken. The nets seem to disrupt the flight path and takeoff area just enough to make it go somewhere else for a hot lunch. Time will tell if this solutions will be the final one And i may use some rebar to stick in the ground and set the volleyball nets a few feet higher off the ground. They are currently 3-5 feet what with different sets and broken missing pieces of the poles.

I agree that you often need a multi-pronged approach. I also suggest that moving things around so it's always a 'little different' can help.

One idea I'll add - we hammer in a rebar stake and slide the tube of an old umbrella overtop - we salvage old ratty ones from friends so they're different colours and sizes and the pipes are cut different heights. These provide shade as well as protection from aerial predators and are easy to move.

Having the entire shelter and run area move around helps with flock health as well as predator protection.

My vote is the same for many homestead problems.  A good dog.

Trace Oswald wrote:My vote is the same for many homestead problems.  A good dog.

We currently have 3 (good is up for debate) dogs. One older mutt that just barely puts up with us and visit the surrounding area for days at a time only coming home when he is to chewed- to hang with the big dogs any more. Two puppies that showed up a couple weeks ago on the back side of the property. The puppies are currently in a pen inside the chicken fencing. The girls leash them and take them around on chicken duty morning and evening. They have ceased to be interested in the chickens and even have had a few fly over the fence into their area with no ill effects. We hope to be able to run them loose in the chicken pen in a few months of acclimation.
Our current dog sits and watches the neighbor dogs come through and kill our chickens when the first few were completely free range. And is of zero use against a hawk.

Oh for a few good dogs! :)