Crows are protecting my flock from a hawk

[climb2safety]

So about a week ago I was walking out to the chicken coop and a big red tailed hawk flew away right behind it. I looked and one of my buffs was dead. I was so angry because I wanted to free range my chickens without any restrictions and now I had to reconsider this notion. As soon as I was cleaning up the mess up I noticed three crows chasing away the Hawk. I didn't think anything of it until the next day when I noticed they were hanging around some trees nearby and thought well this is good, at least the hawk won't be around a while. The next day I came home from work and walked to the coop like I usually do everyday and all of the chickens were grazing in the field and as I got closer two crows flew away that were right in the middle of the flock. I have never heard of this before and just thought it was a freak occurrence until I noticed that they hang out with my chickens almost everyday since this attack. They don't seem to be eating their food and it gives me comfort to know I have a weird kind of guard dog but now I am concerned with bird diseases that my ladies might pick up from the crows. Anyone out there in chicken land have any experience with this sort of thing, it would be greatly appreciated if I could get some advice on the situation.

As a side note I put old Cd's all over the coop to help deter anymore attacks and was planning on getting a fake owl but with my current situation I think it might scare away my guard crows.

 

[chfite]

The hawks fly over my place all the time. The crows don't like them and chase them away. The rooster alarms and the hens hide. The crows frequently hang out in the tall oak trees here.

Chris

 

[kannna]

The crows also make a yell that sounds like "hawk hawk". Then all the neighbor crows come by til there are 50 crows in the trees chasing the hawk away. It's very helpful.

 

[Ole and Lena]

Your crows are probably nesting nearby. They're very territorial around their nesting areas, I've even seen them run off eagles. They probably are helping themselves to some chicken feed or scraps you throw out but being sneaky about it. If your chickens are outside, they are exposed to wild bird diseases regardless of the crows.

Starlings will behave in a similar manner. I used to hate the things, but last year a pair took a nesting spot in a loose corner of barn siding near the coop. They pick at the chicken scratch when I throw it out. They also harass any large birds that come around, but seem to have a mutual understanding with the chickens to drop in and grab some feed but not linger. The tree swallows in my bluebird house serve the same purpose.

 

[Zonoma]

Harmony is a beautiful thing.

 

[heronz]

So about a week ago I was walking out to the chicken coop and a big red tailed hawk flew away right behind it. I looked and one of my buffs was dead. I was so angry because I wanted to free range my chickens without any restrictions and now I had to reconsider this notion. As soon as I was cleaning up the mess up I noticed three crows chasing away the Hawk. I didn't think anything of it until the next day when I noticed they were hanging around some trees nearby and thought well this is good, at least the hawk won't be around a while. The next day I came home from work and walked to the coop like I usually do everyday and all of the chickens were grazing in the field and as I got closer two crows flew away that were right in the middle of the flock. I have never heard of this before and just thought it was a freak occurrence until I noticed that they hang out with my chickens almost everyday since this attack. They don't seem to be eating their food and it gives me comfort to know I have a weird kind of guard dog but now I am concerned with bird diseases that my ladies might pick up from the crows. Anyone out there in chicken land have any experience with this sort of thing, it would be greatly appreciated if I could get some advice on the situation.

As a side note I put old Cd's all over the coop to help deter anymore attacks and was planning on getting a fake owl but with my current situation I think it might scare away my guard crows.

I love (my) crows.
They protect my property from hawks and owls daily.
If there is a hawk around they sound off and the chickens run for cover.
I come running out the door and the crows chase away or beat up the hawks and owls.

 

[jennsassen]

We recently had some crows build a nest in a tree nearby and they have been chasing off hawks above our yard like crazy. This morning I heard the chickens (6 weeks old) screaming, and I ran out to find a cat outside their run and a crow in a branch above their run screaming down at the cat. It left just after the cat did. So cool!

 

[llombardo]

Yep. When the crows speak I take notice. There is always a hawk nearby.

 

[RNPAULIE69]

I have watched a group of crows run off a hawk that was eyeballing my girls. They sounded the alarm and crows came from every direction to surround and harass it in a nearby tree until it flew off..i leave peanuts for the crows every morning as a thank you and to keep them in my neighborhood

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So about a week ago I was walking out to the chicken coop and a big red tailed hawk flew away right behind it. I looked and one of my buffs was dead.... and was planning on getting a fake owl but with my current situation I think it might scare away my guard crows.

The real question is what or who will guard your crows against the hawks?

A side issue is that crow hunters regularly use GHO decoys and crow calls to attract crows.
Crows do have their place in keeping down attacks on chickens but the real benefit of having crows around is the early warning that they provide. Now if you are unprepared to do grave bodily harm to a hawk, or at least appear that you will, or if you are away from your chicken yard, crows are mostly useless at even protecting themselves from hawk attacks.

here is a link but you may need to click & copy then open it in your browser.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrEwGWFFylbf3wAPNg0nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBncGdyMzQ0BHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEdnRpZAM-;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTcwMARfcgMyBGFjdG4DY2xrBGJjawM2Y2YycGZsYnVwMnJkJTI2YiUzRDQlMjZkJTNEYnVLSVdreHJZSDNoZzZlNy45SkJOVWIwcUc0RWxzMElsWUxDVm1BU0FiNWJady0tJTI2cyUzRGxjJTI2aSUzRDdkLldoMFouQ2huZndTWXZLU0J5BGNzcmNwdmlkA2twVUhYREV3TGpKbVBGbDlWLnlMYlFvS05UQXVPQUFBQUFERExGOHkEZnIDeWhzLXB0eS1wdHlfZW1haWwEZnIyA3NhLWdwBGdwcmlkA2wwOVZvc2dyUUJpYWtTdXAuQ0ZScUEEbXRlc3RpZANudWxsBG5fcnNsdAM2MARuX3N1Z2cDMARvcmlnaW4DdmlkZW8uc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMxOQRxdWVyeQNoYXdrIHZzIGNyb3cgdmlkZW9zBHRfc3RtcAMxNTI5NDIwNjk5BHZ0ZXN0aWQDbnVsbA--?gprid=l09VosgrQBiakSup.CFRqA&pvid=kpUHXDEwLjJmPFl9V.yLbQoKNTAuOAAAAADDLF8y&p=hawk+vs+crow+videos&ei=UTF-8&fr2=p:s,v:v,m:sa&fr=yhs-pty-pty_email&hsimp=yhs-pty_email&hspart=pty#id=11&vid=066916edc602c7a476d1f007e4ef5452&action=view
This is not written to be argumentative but to help you better understand what is really going on out there in the natural world, but most of all to help your chickens.