rooks

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chickenfan

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Am trying to keep a flock of a dozen rooks out of the garden. I've tried scarecrows, banging saucepans and only putting food out for very short periods, but they are eating all my young growers' food as soon as it goes out and pooing all over the place even when there is no food available.
 
I use a Grandpa's feeder so there is no readily available food and hang a dead magpie or crow up in my run as soon as I am troubled with rooks and crows. They used to steal the eggs. Have had no problems since. I keep growers in a covered run until they are big enough to use a Grandpas feeder.
 
Clearly they have no fear of you Chickenfan. I agree with 3441 here -you need to shoot one and hang it up. Not only are they costing you money, but there is a serious risk of disease, so it's a problem that needs dealing with immediately. We haven't got any here, probably because the kites and buzzards have scared them off. Alternatively the local farmers may have shot them all. If you haven't got a good air rifle you could try asking in the local shooting shop -they may well know someone willing to help.
 
Oh dear, I don't like the idea of killing a bird to keep mine safe, but I can see this is sensible advice. The bantams aren't heavy enough yet to use the Grandpa's feeder, but they are really enjoying being out on grass. I think I need a licence for an air rifle, and they are expensive, starting at c £50 from the looks of things. Might be useful for dispatching when this is necessary I guess.
 
I get my magpies and crows either from a local gamekeeper or from a friend who has a larsen trap. I don't shoot them myself. You don't need a licence for an air rifle, but there are more humane ways of dispatching chicken than using an air rifle such as the broomstick method.
 
3441sussex said:
I get my magpies and crows either from a local gamekeeper or from a friend who has a larsen trap. I don't shoot them myself. You don't need a licence for an air rifle, but there are more humane ways of dispatching chicken than using an air rifle such as the broomstick method.
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You could use the air rifle as a broomstick but you'd have to catch the crow first :)
 
Sorry, I missed the context. You need a good air rifle to be powerful and accurate enough to shoot a crow/rook and plenty of practice to be good enough to hit it cleanly (otherwise shouldn't try.)
 
A good air rifle and telescopic sight will easily set you back £400 Chickenfan -second hand. It would be awkward to despatch a chicken with one -we use a full power (6 ft lbs) air pistol but that would certainly be insufficient for a large fowl mature cock.
 
It would be cheaper and kinder to just take a poorly chicken to the vet and get her PTS, if you don't want to use the broomstick method or invest in an air rifle - somehow, I can't see you shooting your chickens,Chickenfan!
As for the crows and the growers, you just have to keep them in a pen covered with mesh, don't you, which can be moved on to fresh grass every day or so.
 
A dead bird hanging in the run does keep crows and rooks away from my chicken run.
 
Love your witty posts Marigold. The problem with putting to sleep is the bird is unnaturally filled with toxins, so its life is wasted as it can't be eaten by anything and you poison the land even if you bury it. So then you have to cremate it which adds to climate change, which is pushing many people over the margins of existence. I'm doing some research for a community farm who want to set up a small dispatch facility for their meat birds. This I think I could perhaps cope with.
 
I agree with Chris's first suggestion, find someone to shoot them for you. Either ask at your local gun shop or contact the BASC here http://basc.org.uk/about-basc/contact-us/ to find a a shooter, make sure they have insurance and you agree on exactly what they are there for, most air gunners are delighted to find somewhere to shoot at live targets. Crows/rooks really need a decent level of accuracy to kill as their wings effectively act as armour cutting down the vulnerable areas. We had a large colony near us a few months ago, wiped out in one day by someone presumably because of the noise.
 
chickenfan said:
The problem with putting to sleep is the bird is unnaturally filled with toxins, so its life is wasted as it can't be eaten by anything and you poison the land even if you bury it. So then you have to cremate it which adds to climate change, which is pushing many people over the margins of existence. I'm doing some research for a community farm who want to set up a small dispatch facility for their meat birds. This I think I could perhaps cope with.
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I dispatch my own birds, but would never considered eating an ill or ancient hen and I don't consider it a life wasted. They have lived a happy life and served their purpose by providing me with eggs. If you don't agree with the vet putting them to sleep and get the community farm to dispatch your diseased chicken what are you going to do with the carcass so that it's life is not wasted.
 
It can become soil again. This particular bird was injured rather than diseased.
 
So if you had a dog or a cat that was seriously ill and had to be put down, I wonder what you would do, Chickenfan? Much larger carcass, much more difficult to kill painlessly and without distress, except by injection by the vet.
I would also bear in mind that corvids are among the most highly intelligent of birds, much more so than chickens, and I would be as reluctant to kill them as I would be to shoot my own hens. It would spoil my view of the peaceful garden if I hung up dead rook carcasses as well. I would just keep my growers in a safe pen, for protection against other predators as well as rooks.
Please understand I'm not getting at you, Chickenfan, I understand you have a genuine dilemma here, and you've brought up some important questions about our relationship with the ecosystem that we all should consider. Personally, I've decided that if any of my hens becomes sick with anything serious enough to need an antibiotic, she will either be dispatched then and there, or possibly I will try simpler treatment methods for a while if she doesn't appear to be in pain. There's a very real risk to human health from the over-use of antibiotics in poultry.
 
We are straying a bit, but worth mentioning that a TV advert here for free range eggs also adds that they don't use antibiotics. This suggests that the use of antibiotics on laying hens is standard practice in France? Good job we don't need to buy any eggs here (and they are expensive as well).
 
I don't know, but would hazard a guess, that an injection would not result in general toxicity after a few days of decomposition. I don't have anywhere to bury a chicken so would probably be going to the vet anyway. Did worry about dispatching them but on reflection if the bird was in a really bad way then it would be an unpleasent but necessary task (made urgent for the bird's sake.)
Don't have a problem with crows, mice or enything else now our chickens are in a full enclosure but they also can't roam as much as those I've seen on farms. It's all swings and roundabouts!
 
Prior to your comment Marigold I had always thought euthanising a dog or cat yourself was illegal, but according to the RCVS apparently not if done humanely, learn something new every day.
 
Don't worry, I have no intention of killing my rooks or any other wildlife, but it was kind of people to post. I am not a farmer and keep hens for pleasure and from a real interest in the breeds. I'm now trying a solar ultrasound deterrent and cd's. My growers would not be happy shut in a small run now they have tasted freedom.

For me, part of the objective of keeping poultry is to ensure that they have interesting and enjoyable lives because of the way most poultry are treated. I have done so much research on the bloodlines and eggs my birds have hatched from, and am now breeding from birds which have particularly nice character traits, or lay particularly good-tasting or beautiful eggs. As such, occasional visits to the BHWT vet may be worth it to me because I get so much pleasure from my birds, and could not easily replace them. Similarly, one can choose only mature birds which have had no health issues for breeding.

I heard antiobiotics are used almost all the time in farmed birds here to stop them going down with things in intensive conditions. Surely this is the issue re chickens and antibiotics? I think occasional use on welfare grounds is permitted even in organic farming, although homeopathy is generally used on cost grounds (and works well in poultry). Cats and dogs have a longer lifespan than a chicken, Marigold, and one usually has one or two rather than a flock of these.
 
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