Dear crows, this means war‼

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi friends,

it was just one hour between letting the duck out in the morning and collecting the eggs, but that was enough time for the crows to raid the duck house and destroy between six and eight eggs. Black crow-feathers everywhere and most of the eggs completely in pieces, except this one:

How can i keep those crows out of the duck-house? - They are also stealing the pellets!
Shoot one and hang it into the pine tree as a warning to the others?

 

[orloffer]

I do not have any experience with this sort of thing, but I wish you luck with your duck-vs-crow situation. There are lots of crows in my area these days, too. I like crows in general, but I wouldn't want them messing with my poultry!

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

I’ve heard Owl decoys work for crows, though crows are smart little buggers so they might realize the decoys are fake rather quickly. You could also go with the good old fashion scarecrow, but I wouldn’t think that would work very well. Maybe crow-proofing your duck house would work, but as I have stated, crows are smart little bugger, they can find their way into everything.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I tolerated the stealing of pellets in exchange for chasing away the birds of prey, but stealing the eggs, even out of the nest boxes goes too far.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I’ve heard Owl decoys work for crows, though crows are smart little buggers so they might realize the decoys are fake rather quickly. You could also go with the good old fashion scarecrow, but I wouldn’t think that would work very well. Maybe crow-proofing your duck house would work, but as I have stated, crows are smart little bugger, they can find their way into everything.

Not sure if an owl decoy would scare the carp out of my ducks!
To get to the eggs in the duck house, the crows must navigate through the duck door, just 1½ feet tall, make a left turn into the bedrooms and locate the nest boxes. There's no way I can make that more complicated - or I have to carry thr ducks into their house, one by one.

 

[Danny188]

I would shoot them whenever you get the chance to, hang one up upside down in the open like you said, they will all get really pissed, then leave..... hopefully, we have corn we hunt pigs on in Oklahoma, that worked for us. If any land where you can shoot them while they are ranting then do so, they will leave after they see one of their buddies hanging upside down and one falling out a tree or the sky if you are using a shotgun.

 

[RainbowHen]

I agree. Shoot them.

 

[cmom]

How are they getting into the nest boxes? We have a lot of crows here but they can't get into the coops.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I would shoot them whenever you get the chance to, hang one up upside down in the open like you said, they will all get really pissed, then leave..... hopefully, we have corn we hunt pigs on in Oklahoma, that worked for us. If any land where you can shoot them while they are ranting then do so, they will leave after they see one of their buddies hanging upside down and one falling out a tree or the sky if you are using a shotgun.

Easier said then done: The moment they spot movement in the house, they're all fleeing the scene…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

How are they getting into the nest boxes? We have a lot of crows here but they can't get into the coops.

They just walk through the duck-door, grab some pellets from the feeder at the right hand, walk further inside, take a left turn into the bedroom area and walk just into a nest box to eat the eggs. - Remember: Ducks nest on the ground, unlike chickens…