Dear crows, this means war‼

[WannaBeHillBilly]

So today i changed the routine:

• Let the ducks out
• Fed the ducks some cat food
• Grabbed the egg-basket and collected the eggs before my breakfast

A lot of angry "crow,crow, crooow!!" after i went back into the house!
Got all 14 eggs today!

 

[casportpony]

Is it legal to shoot them in WV? Her in CA it's illegal to shoot them unless you have a permit.

 

[cmom]

Can you put something up with a motion detector that will make a sound or movement?
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=motion+s...efix=motion+siren,aps,206&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_12

 

[Henry&Friends]

Is it legal to shoot them in WV? Her in CA it's illegal to shoot them unless you have a permit.

There's always SSS...

 

[Danny188]

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

Hmm, do you know a spot were they all like to land at or land frequently, someone my dad knows told me when he had game cocks for fighting before it was outlawed he used jaw traps on a post for owls and hawks. Dont know if it would work for crows though.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Is it legal to shoot them in WV? Her in CA it's illegal to shoot them unless you have a permit.

Thank you very much for this advice!
However, citing from www.800critter.com, legal status:
»Crows are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a federal act resulting from a formal treaty signed by the United States, Canada and Mexico. However, under this act, crows may be controlled without a federal permit when found “committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance.”«
I assume stealing the majority of an egg-harvest counts as "committing a depredation". Called the DNR today and they asked me to find another solution, but technically i am allowed to perform whatever is necessary to protect my livestock, including killing a limited number of crows and use them as scare-crows. Baiting them and killing large number (for example by discharging a shotgun) would be illegal.
So for now i will just collect the eggs before my daily dose of caffeine, one eye open, crawling through the duck-house on all four… (kidding!) and see how that works out. The crows have done a great job chasing away those red-tail hawks, so i don't mind if they eat some duck-food. But the eggs are a no-no, the ducks pay their food-bill with them!

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

There's always SSS...

What's that? I only know triple A …
Just kidding! - The racoons here know that too, from their own experience. yet 'coon season here is 24x7x365, but SSS works pretty well with the wife. - Look at that cute mask over the eyes! - Yes honey, look at those cute fangs in the jaw… Damn trash-pandas!

 

[Lilalienangel]

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.

A taxidermy bird and owl noises? Some old taxidermist has an old one kicking around.

 

[Lilalienangel]

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?

Heads up they are incredibly intelligent and if you attack them and any live they will hate you for many years to come. They literally teach their children to hate you. We had so many crows the police started shooting them around a year ago. You still don't see cop cars without bird poop on them.

 

[aart]

They just walk through the duck-door,

Have read that these work with chicken coops to keep wild birds out of coop,
not sure it would work for duck and crows:
https://www.chewy.com/precision-pet...MI7J6gloOK6wIVEvDACh3qIw8HEAQYASABEgKHl_D_BwE