# Question.. Baby goats and hawks/birds of prey



## yipperskipper acres (Aug 8, 2011)

We live in a wooded area where I constantly see hawks, hear owls and we do have eagles who have a nest on the front side of our hill but we have never seen them in our side of it. So question, will hawks try and take or kill my baby Nigerian dwarf kids? This same hawk has try several times to take my ducks which are the same size or a bit bigger than my dwarf goat kids. I plan to keep them ( the goat kids) in side for a while maybe a week or so than was thinking of letting them out with mom to venture and forage with her. Thoughts? Any advice on how to deal with the hawk would be great. Its obviously illegal to kill or injur a hawk I would like advice on keeping it away from my ducks and my kid goats. Thanks for any help!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I would watch them at first.


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## Karen (Jun 22, 2010)

Definitely keep the baby goat inside for a while, or consider installing netting over the top of an enclosure for the ducks and goat kids ...

There is product I have mentioned before called Nite Guard you can install that fools birds of prey and other predators into thinking there's larger predator already there - I can post a link if you want.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Hawks can indeed take off with small goats, watch carefully.


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## MylieD (Sep 16, 2013)

We have a crazy amount of hawks. I can not keep my chickens uncovered or the hawks will get them. But I have not lost a kid to the hawks. The mothers seem to protect them. I have had hawks circle and stare at my kids and my piglets, but that's about it. The piglets are tinier than the kids too, so I've been afraid of them going missing. So far, the only thing the hawks take are the chickens. Just make sure there's places for your kids and ducks to hide. Lots of bushes are good and a shelter. I just had a dang hawk swoop into a small hole in one of my chicken coops and kill 3 of my half grown chicks. :-( It was in the front yard too, away from the woods, so I thought they were safer. But anyway, I'd just keep an eye on things and keep your ducks covered.


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## yipperskipper acres (Aug 8, 2011)

Thank you all for the advice. I have a duck house which is always open during the day and I lock them up at night. I also dvds hanging out as a reflective to scare away the hawks but that's about it. The one hawk actually took down my DVD string so I have to put it back up. But we have a shelter for the goats to go in to. My husband is actually working on a small barn for them. But we did not have trouble last year with it but since I moved the ducks closer to the goat field I've seen more hawks fly over and swoop down. My kids are very small anyway so plan to keep them inside a few more days.


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## ShireRidgeFarm (Sep 24, 2015)

I don't know if this situation can be manufactured, but we've kind of got crows protecting our animals from hawks. The crows live somewhere close to the barn and are often perched on the trees over the field. A hawk once flew low near the chickens (not sure if he was browsing, or just driven down by the wind) and a crow came and chased it far away.


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## MylieD (Sep 16, 2013)

I have minis too. I know it's scary. We thwarted the hawk that was getting in my silkie pen. Put up bird netting. Yay! My husband saw the frustrated hawk sitting on a tree next to the pen. 

I've heard fake owls that move work. You have to change their position too. Like move them around the pen. Crows don't scare the hawks by me away. There are tons of those too. They don't mess with my animals though, so I don't mind them.


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