The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: HesterF on March 31, 2015, 10:51:15 pm
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Not seen a topic on it yet this year so here goes! I've got crows stealing eggs from my two chicken breeding pens (as well as nicking the odd duck egg that gets laid outside but fortunately that's just one a day at the moment). I've had somebody in to shoot them - they disappear for one day and are back. I've followed that up with bangers - they take no notice. We have big spinning eyes everywhere - no notice. We have fishing line over the top of the runs which helped last year but doesn't seem to be doing the job this year (think because it's thicker so it doesn't break so easily so maybe they can see it more easily). Today I've put eight fake eggs in each house and when I went up tonight, four of them were lying around on the ground. So at least I've annoyed them but I don't think it'll stop them, just delay them (and probably cause all the hens to go broody just before I need to start collecting hatching eggs for an order). Is there anything I can fill eggs with that will put off crows for life but not hurt chickens? Any other suggestions?
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Ladder trap? I'm going to build one if they start on my eggs this year. I suspect that it is probably one or two birds who get smart and cause all the trouble. I doubt it is hundreds of passing crows dropping in for an egg. So, if you can nail those ones.....
Other idea I had was building a permanent hide in the field and spending a few days in it with a good book, an air rifle and bottle of chardonnay or 2.
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Think you'd need a week in a hide judging by mine! It could well be only one bird - I haven't seen the hoards of crows we had last year. But he/she's a clever chap.....
How does a ladder trap work?
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I have a bit of experience of this problem having had crows, magpies and a huge flock of jackdaws at various times. Shooting them is a waste of time as they are way too clever and can spot a gun a mile off. We found that catching a few using a larsen trap (no real need for a decoy bird we just use the trap on it's own baited with eggs) and hanging their carcasses around the chicken pens kept them away. They really don't like to see one of their kind dead and will go elswhere.
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They really don't like to see one of their kind dead and will go elswhere.
does that work with pigeons to keep 'em off my brassicas grrrr
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Yes I was going to suggest hanging a dead one up around the pen- our friend does this on his silage pit with success.
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I hung a dead fledgling up last year-it works for a bit (their initial reaction to it was astounding though). They aren't stealing eggs this year but they've worked out all the feeders and its costing me a fortune. Pens with netting on just don't work here in the winter (and its still winter going on the last few days).
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I've got one dead one up at the moment and that's not working - the shock factor works for a day or so and then they learn to ignore it. Maybe I need to move it around a bit.....
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You could try hanging strips of hessian sacking over the entrance to the house, that may deter them.
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Google ladder trap and you will find an image. It's a large frame with chicken wire around it. On top is a 'ladder' construction like a ladder laid flat with holes I think about 8" square. The crow can get in by landing on the ladder and sliding through but getting out requires flying and they can't get their wings through the hole. I appreciate that some people don't like the idea of trapping but no harm is done to the bird until you deal with it. It's just caged and once you have one, others will be attracted. A dead rabbit or chicken carcass is good bait. It's very important to make sure there is fresh water in the trap and to check it regularly.
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Don't Larsen and ladder traps have to be registered with police ,sspca / rspca ???
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Law is explained in some detail here:
http://birdersagainst.org/cage-traps/ (http://birdersagainst.org/cage-traps/)
It's worth noting that even the RSPB do a lot of corvid control when required. It's all about balance.
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I have a huge problem with rooks. Shoot one and hang it up by the pen. After a few day's they'll return so shoot another and put it in a different location. Continue this process if they return. From my experience, this has proven the most successful. I tried more humane methods to please the wife but to no avail, so resorted back to the good old fashioned way!
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I hung up dead ones couple years ago, they avoided for an afternoon, then knocked them down and ate them. I had shot a jackdaw, crow and rook. :-\
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Good morning, following this post with interest as we are also plagued with Crows, not only stealing eggs but going for the pig feed as soon as I put it down, I now put the feed in separate bowls for the pigs and the crows till go for it. Sorry I rambled on, I bought a second hand Larsen trap it has all the wooden perches etc. with it but I do not know how to set it up, can anybody tell me please? I do not want to use a call bird but propose to use pig feed and eggs as bait.
Many thanks in advance.
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We made a scarecrow out of old clothes stuffed with bits and bobs and put a hat on it, big eyes and lipstick and it worked like magic to keep the starlings and crows from stealing food, next to the chuck huts, chucks didn't mind a bit. Hanging dead birds around didn't work with us for longer than a week.
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Well I've officially given up and just bought a trap! We have had scarecrows - interestingly they pecked the faces off! - we have fishing line all over the run, we have had a man with a gun (keeps them off while he's here but not for much longer), we've hung up corpses, we've had bangers, we have had a terror kite, we have those rotating face things that look like big birds of prey faces, I've put in fake eggs (they peck them all and throw out the fakes and fly off with the real ones), I've put in hardboiled eggs coated with mustard (they just peck through the mustard). A broody will keep them off but not reliably and a bit of a waste of a broody.
Meantime if I don't check for eggs every hour or two, I lose every single chicken egg. Which is a complete nightmare. Not enhanced by the fertility of the eggs I do get being dodgy (sorry Stereo!).
So my only remaining feasible option is traps. I'm going to bait with eggs to begin with but I guess if I catch a live one, I can keep it happy and healthy and hope to catch a few more. And then kill them all >:(. Cue maniacal laughter.
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You've got some smart crows there. I had big problems with my welsummer house last year but so far this year, no issues. I built a rollaway system for the Light Sussex house which works well except now I have rats getting in there and eating the eggs. Not nice if I get up there in the evening and open the hatch to see a couple rats. I think it's because I've changed all my feeders to treadle types which has cut off their main food source.
What sort of trap did you get in the end?
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I've gone for a Larsen trap - can't really picture how it works but willing to try anything at this point!
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We make the entry to the nesting area as complicated as possible, unless you're a chicken! It consists of an old dog crate at the back of a stable with the entry to the crate facing the wall and blocked at one side and the top. The door to the stable is wedged so a chicken can just get in. Seems to make it too risky for the crows to consider.
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If it's the larsen trap with one large compartment with 2 adjoining (not sure if the name is used with other styles)
you don't use the large bit till you have the decoy,
ours has 2 'gates' on the top of the 2 small sections, make a nest in the bottom with eggs as bait.
we use 2 half sticks which prop the gate open across the bottom. when the crow lands on the stick it gives in the middle, crow drops to the floor while gate flips shut. crow caught, first crow can than be transfered to bigger compartment, (use thick gloves!), where there should be a perch, food and water. sometimes better if you bring a crow in from a different area. some people clip wing feathers in case they get out.
just been talking to gamekeeper today, he just uses one stick but it holds the gate open slightly differently.
You have to be prepared to kill them once caught, either shoot with air rifle or neck them, some people think it's OK to let them go some miles away! ::)
Hope this gives you some idea, sorry I'm not better at explaining
We've had 4 magpies in as many days, hopefully stop them multiplying before they start!
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Thanks both! I don't credit my hens with many brains so I think anything they can work out will be a breeze for crows (and they're a lot bigger than crows too!). The trap is yet to arrive but hopefully it'll be more obvious once it's here. I was going to kill them (bar the decoy) in the same way I do the chickens. Now I'm so annoyed with them, I don't think I'll have a problem. We had a couple of lads over at the weekend with shot guns. They got one pigeon whilst the crows stayed away. While we stood talking at the bottom of the field, just out of range, in swooped four or five crows again straight off.
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How about a scarecrow that looks like its holding a gun, moving it often of course?
I think hens are very clever, they just don't like us to know it ;)
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Don't Larsen and ladder traps have to be registered with police ,sspca / rspca ???
The RSPCA are nothing more than a charity having no more powers than you or I, they do not need telling anything.
If crows Larson traps will work, you could be amazed at how many you trap. If trapping slows it can sometimes work to swap call birds with neighbors. If rooks are a problem then ladder traps are very effective, but please be careful with non target species.
If you can find nesting sites they can be controlled this way.
All you have to remember is if they are clever enough to steal eggs and get away with it, then they will not be shot or trapped without dedication and persistence.
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I think they've started on mine again. Started finding broken shells out in the fields. Most of my runs are in a group with a space in the middle so I plan on setting up a temporary hide there which they can get used to. I'll have them this year. Also might get some scraps together and knock up a ladder trap.