Geese to deter ravens?

[Mtn Homestead]

Hello, we have birds in Salatin-style tractors. We've been losing birds left & right (80 so far ). We thought it had to be a 4-legged predator and were setting traps accordingly, but finally figured out it was the ravens by witnessing their methods with our own eyes.

They go out in the morning while the birds are still sleeping, pull out the wood chunks we use to block the low spots in our uneven pasture, reach under the metal sides, and drag out whatever they can get to eat for breakfast.

I would have thought the chicken tractors would be safe from aerial predators, as we've never had issues in the past, but apparently ravens are too smart for that.

A livestock guardian dog is a little out of my price range in the short-term, but geese could be a possibility. Does anyone have experience with guard geese for ravens?


My question is: Would geese be sufficient to take care of my raven problem?

 

[sourland]

They might or might not help. Have you considered installing hardware cloth flanges along the tractors?

 

[Mtn Homestead]

They might or might not help. Have you considered installing hardware cloth flanges along the tractors?

That's a good possibility. Worth a try!

 

[addctd2plnts]

You could use 1/2 hardware cloth and zip tie it to the chicken tractors, or put it inside a wooden flange that could be propped up when moving. I know growing LGD eats a fair amount, and they still have to be trained by a person for 6 months with poultry, but if you wanted one people sell a load of them on Craigslist. They are so over bred that they reduce them down to $75 at 12 weeks old to try to dump them. It's actually sad. Only thing with giant dogs is you really can't fix them till 2 years old, or they die young from cancers, and they really need a high quality food. My last giant dog was 165 lbs but made it to 13.5 years old. He was a Pyrenean Mastiff, but they are really hard to get in this country. He was an amazing guard dog for our family. That dog would have died protecting us and even my dog savvy friends were terrified of him. He was an utter baby to the family though LMBO