The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Jethro Tull on May 11, 2017, 05:41:40 am
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I am fed up with crows stealing duck eggs and goose eggs. I dont want to confine the birds but if they can go in and out of houses to lay then so can the crows. Anyone got a solution that doesn't involve killing crows?
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I found hanging a feed bag cut into strips from the top of the door kept them out of the hen house for a few weeks, but they learnt to walk through it. A small run outside the house with more bags cut into strips kept them out for another while, but the odd brave one still got through.
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They are so clever and soon work out how to get round anything that is put up. My chickens are now kept in until late morning but I do have them in a stable with a netting roof. In bad weather I shut the barn doors so they do get the run of the place. the crows even chase away the cat and have his food !!!!
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I thought you hang a dead crow close and it fends them off? They do need to be controlled.
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I have two dead crows hung on a tree, which I move around every couple of days. It works.
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The crows started with taking duck eggs and then moved onto attacking and killing our ducks - we've lost two over the last week or so with another one wounded on its back.
Weve now totally covered the duck run with some scaffolding netting which hopefully will keep the bu@@ers out.
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We had a mallard with nine ducklings on the slurry lagoon (it's very clean). The crows swooped down like sea eagles and carried eight off. The ninth survived for a couple more days but we haven't seen it since .....
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We had a crow stealing hen and duck eggs from our big hen shed and a small broody run, we trapped and despatched it in the broody run, solved the problem for now. It was done humanely and quickly.
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Staying around, showing up as much as you can is the only thing they don't like. I have tried pottage, wooden and even marble eggs as a deterrent which all got stolen. Very clever and determined birds, crows, maybe the odd one got a sore beak. Never leave ducklings without protection from attacks. marka, I would like to know if you actually saw that it was crows attacking your ducks. I've never come across that in all the years I've watched, they co-exist well besides stealing eggs and feed.
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Hi there,
Whilst we didn't see the crows attacking the 2 ducks who died, they were seen pecking the back of the one who survived but was shooed off before it did too much damage - the poor duck was wounded to the bone though.
The crows have now moved onto stealing eggs from the chickens but so far no sign of any attacks on the chickens.
There are two large crow roosts near to us and both landowners have now started shooting them so they have obviously been a major problem this year for everyone local to us.
Regards
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Corvid numbers seem to have exploded here this year. Not only crows but jackdaws and magpies too. I guess pressure on the parents to find food for the chicks is causing them to become bolder than ever.
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not being funny marka but are you sure they are crows and not ravens? I've had crows take occasional eggs and they are always about-never had one have a go at either chicken or duck (not adults anyway, I keep youngsters netted). I've never had crows go through tunnels/under nets etc to get in either but ravens do-see my other post.
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I have two dead crows hung on a tree, which I move around every couple of days. It works.
Yes I also hang dead crows from a tree next to the coop.
It keeps the magpies away as well.
If all else fails a Larson or Ladder traps work very well.
As long as your comfortable dispatching after you have caught them.
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I think it's a good idea to apply for a licence to control ravens if they're a problem. (They are around here, when they wait for a ewe to lie down to lamb her second twin then swoop in for the anus, tongue, navel and eyes of the first.) Perhaps if more folks did the next lot of legislation to protect species or introduce those that haven't existed in these islands for centuries would be more thoughtfully and sensibly framed.
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I have two dead crows hung on a tree, which I move around every couple of days. It works.
hanging a dead crow only worked for me one year, its not worked since, whatsoever.