Crows pinching egg...

[jeffkerle65]

I have a flock of Isa brown hens that are fantastic layers & have a problem with crows pinching the eggs. I've shot them & strung them to a high pole. That only worked for a week or so. I've baited eggs with tobacco sauce, they ate the eggs & vomited out the ?sauce. But that never stopped them. I don't know what to do next. Anybody have any suggestions?
jeffkerle65.

 

[irisshiller]

Oh dear. I have the same problem. The crows eat mostly the duck eggs, because they lay outside. The chickens lay inside the coop and the crows don't go in there. Crows are very clever animals, so maybe your best bet would be to make sure they can't reach the eggs... Maybe keep the chickens inside until they have laid their eggs? I have to say that my crow problem got better since I got a barn cat. I got her to control the mice, but the crows seem to be scared of her, which is a great side effect. Good luck with it, hope others have more solutions for you.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Thankfully both of our cats are more like chicken guards they sleep with the chickens, they protect the chickens from other cats and birds. Dogs have been our problem mostly.

 

[irisshiller]

Mine too..!! Loose neighbourhood dogs, I might add :/ And the crows... They have also taken newly hatched ducklings before I had a chance to put them inside. Did you get any new brainwaves about the crows?

 

[Jesusfreak101]

How big is the area you have them in? Ours its not fisable to but up bird netting. We had chicks out with our hens and then havent been messed with by crows but we have very few crows mostly blue jays and finchs, and most seed eating birds, the onlt two birds of prey i have seen pr have seen evidence of are hawks and mexican eagles. Which surprising enough either they have plenty of food or the cats keep them away not sure which. Our black feline phebie is a great hunter she killed some of the largest birds i have ever seen a cat kill, plus rattle snakes she has never been biten. And maybe a scare crow would work as well for the crows as long as he can move abit during the day that might work.

 

[irisshiller]

A scare crow, of course! That could work! No we also can't put up netting, I can't imagine the amount of net I would need... Fortunately the crows usually don't get the chicken eggs, only the duck eggs. So I just kind of put up with them.

Your cat sounds like a great help to have around! Mine is only a kitten but I hope she will grow up to learn that chickens and chicks are off limits, but mice and snakes are fair game And crows, of course!

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Lol yeah i was surpised that ours act the way they do when we first got chicks she thought hey food in a cage, i yelled at her once and that all it took for her. And my husband cat well he can be a jerk still he likes scaring the hens when they annoy him but he the only one allowed to do that according to him. We had a big ferral cat problem for a long time until our cats started guarding the hens. I saw them catch a cat before he could make it to the yard and the chased him off, you always see one cat with the chickens. Some hens will even cuddle with our cats they are weird lol. Always reminds me of the verse were it says and the lion laid down with the lamb. I hope the scare crow works and is there a certian spot your ducks lay at i imagine thats where i would put him at.

 

[estheramelia]

How bout feed them Crows usually scare away hawks, if you have any unfertilized eggs scramble them up and give them some. I feed them when no one's looking hehe

 

[jeffkerle65]

How bout feed them

Crows usually scare away hawks, if you have any unfertilized eggs scramble them up and give them some. I feed them when no one's looking hehe

Now that is inviting them in, I don't want to attract them. I don't think so. The crows here in Australia are vicious.
They love to get in baby chicks up to 8 to 10 weeks old. I keep all the chicks in an enclosure tell 12 weeks then
let them into a larger open pen. The best I have found to do is a 12 gauge shot gun. Give a few a charge with it
& hang them on a tall pole. It seems to keep them away.