PLEASE HELP !!! CROWS & ROOKS!!!

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If anyone can help on this one I would REALLY appreciate it.

We have Chickens and Ducks on a small parcel of land (5 acres). We have built a Fox proof caged area with the hen & duck houses, The animals are let out of the large caged area in the morning and put to bed at night.

Currently one of my ducks is sitting on a nest of around 12 eggs and I am desperate for these to hatch as we have been waiting for this for a long time. In the recent week Rooks and Crows have discovered the pen, they are emptying the feed trays and eating any chicken eggs that are or have been layed!! I am really worried about them discovering the duck is sitting on a nest as I am sure they would hurt her into leaving the nest (she is a bit of a wimp at the best of times). :cry:

I have hung a CD on a piece of string in the door way, this kept the Crows and Rooks out for a day but they are now used to it again and have returned. I don't want to shut out the animals that wish to roam the land as they would not be able to get to safety if I close the cage keeping the duck and her brood safe.

The only thing I can think is to keep all of them in but as I live in a rural village in Hampshire and wish to breed the chickens and ducks I can not expect them to live in a cage forever especially as they have gotten used to be able to roam during the day and forage for different food other than shop bought...

Please can you give me any advice on how I can keep the Rooks and Crows OUT of the cage? :cry:

Regards
Cindy
 
Hi Cindy. Regarding your problem, there is nothing quite like a good twelve bore to get rid of unwanted visitors! Regards Jigsaw. :twisted:
 
Yeah agree with your suggestion but these guys are already too smart... they wont even come into our field if someone is there!

I wondered if a fake bird of pray sitting on top of the cage would deter them? or maybe a whole string of CD's so they would bump thier heads if they tried to enter? apart from an electronic cat flap (a bit over the op!) I dont know what else to do.

The Rabbits, Rats and Birds certainly need a good shot gun treatment at the moment but I dont have a license or the time.
 
Hi Cindy (found your post at last - :lol: )

I think the bird of prey is an excellent idea- but I also think they may just attack it. You can buy large owls and so on at shooting shops and the idea is to attract the carrion so they attack it, before shooting them.

An air rifle / shotgun suddenly seems like a good idea! A larson trap, used for magpies could trap them if you know of anyone with one.

I know it's pretty rancid - but I often see farmers hanging dead crows up to scare them away.... I guess it works.

Ultimately though, if you remove the food source and make sure eggs are laid inside the house away from the crows, the crows would go... so I would try feeding your chooks a few times a day, only giving what they will eat while you are there.

I'm not sure how you can protect your duck without seeing where she is - but once ducklings have hatched, get them in a covered run to protect them pronto.

After you emailed me, I'm thinking maybe this does need a new category. Maybe Pests and Predators - I will create one later and move this thread there.

Let us know how you get on...

Tim
 
I found that putting a large expanding metal fireguard across the entrance to the duck house helped. I push it shut at night and in the morning open it just enough for the ducks to exit when they wish. The only way for magpies & crows to get at the eggs is for them to land and walk several yards with folded wings, which they won't do. After I did this, I no longer found broken/half-eaten eggs around the run. :D
 
If you have a magpie trap put some eggs in it, the crows and rooks will go in, but you will have to be prepared to put some thick gloves on, grab the bird out of the trap and kill it.

Sue
 
Is there no way you could put netting across the top of the area (above the house etc). That should stop it.
Sorry if that sounds really stupid.

Donna. x
 
I'm sure there are more humane ways of dealing with them but I use my air rifle to pop them off.

Just thinking about your post made me realise why the crows tend to hang around my friends allotment 50yds away from me but they rarely hang around my garden.

He puts out a lot of kitchen scraps and I prefer to keep a tidier run and only put out what they'll eat at the time. I do this to minimise the risk of rats appearing, I never thought of the flying pests until now!

Lead poisoning! It's not very nice, I take no pleasure in killing anything but I want my hens to be happy and safe!

Osric
 
Deterring them from entering completely is very good,but,ducklings are too tasty for them to resist.
I don't get crows and rooks in my garden,where it is small, they can't take off before a dog has caught them.

If I fired a rifle,I'd er miss what I was aiming for........... :shock: .
Rooks and crows are scavengers,who happily eat each other (when on the road as roadkill),their lifestyle is very much eat or be eaten.As long as they're dispatched quickly,I don't think it matters.If a crow or rook pecks you and takes a chunk out of your hand,you're not going to make the same mistake again ;) .
 
We have been very successful with hanging a (dead) crow over the area where the duck was sitting. Up until then, the crows used to eat every egg laid
 
A friend of mine hangs a dead crow in each open run, I have to say looked rather macabre... :shock:
Here though my hubby shoots them with a high powered air-rifle, that seems to keep them away for awhile. Next door, my hubby and err one of our cats have a crow/magpie scorecard, so far Remy (cat) is in the lead! Neighbour is a crack shot in the army :lol: :lol:
 
Hello Cindy,
I was cleaning out my grandmas freezer once and found a crow in a plastic bag!! Obviously i inqured about it. She said that she had it because if she ever needed to keep crows away from something, all she had to do was hang the crow there and they would keep away! Interesting hey? I dont know how she caught the crow tho!
I know its been a year since your post, but have only just registered. How did you go?
Melinda
 
Try putting down some pot eggs. Worked when I suggested it to the Sister-in-law. Bashed themselves stupid on it and didn't bother to get another.
 
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