Hawks :(

[jdywntr]

You are more than welcome to all the crows in west Alabama, so far as I'm concerned. I have no use for them. Nothing but noise and crop destruction. They do chase hawks on occasion, but I'd as soon deal with an occasional hawk as I had constant marauding by crows. Until recently, I had no idea there were folks who liked crows.....

Since all raptors are protected by federal law, I like having the crows around as it is another means to get the hawks to leave. We don't have huge amounts of crows, the most I've seen are maybe 10 together. But, I'll keep them.

 

[KnobbyOaks]

haha! I'm with you on those noisy crows - but now that I know they chase away hawks I may let them hang around a little longer - at least in my neighbor's backyard.

Me too. I kept reading things periodically about the crows and hawks. Every morning the crows are in the trees overhead and they're loud. They don't bother me and I don't know what they're after. There's no crops around, we're all forest. I've seen the hawks but I much prefer them to be sitting on a power pole or fence post looking for mice than to be sitting in the trees over my chicken coop.

 

[MLWoods]

People have suggested to attract crows, how does one do that? We will have occasional flocks, but I live in the city, there are no crops near to grab their attention.

 

[jdywntr]

People have suggested to attract crows, how does one do that? We will have occasional flocks, but I live in the city, there are no crops near to grab their attention.

I have read that you can leave seed or BOSS out for them. That way they will hang out in the area since there is a food source.

 

[Mattemma]

Got a ton of crows with dried corn on cobs.Cheap bird seed for house sparrows.

 

[Mattemma]

Dp

 

[Joe Jordan]

Dp

They like Dr.Pepper?

 

[mstricer]

Quote: All Migratory birds are protected and that includes the raptors. Just a word of caution to those that are grabbing their guns, they are now micro-chipping the raptors and can find them on your property if you bury them. Don't want anyone to get in trouble, I'm not a fan of hawks either, they tend to take the ones you really like.

 

[chickortreat]

It's highly unlikely that a random hawk that you see in the wild has been micro-chipped. Not saying I don't believe they do it, seeing as how wasting money is their greatest talent, but I doubt that a large percentage of them are chipped.

 

[haemony]

I depend on netting and crows for my hawk protection. I put out BOSS, corn, and bird seed for them. I think the main thing that attract crows though is very tall trees. There are a few acres of tall pines abutting our property and luckily that is a major attraction for crows. They like to roost and nest high. If you have any tall trees nearby, keep scattering corn and other crow favorites. Crows are not a danger to grown chickens and do not tolerate hawks. Be careful about chicks and eggs though. I have always heard that crows will sometimes go after them. I've never had that problem. I keep my chicks covered until they are large enough not to be easy prey and all eggs are laid inside of a hen house that is not easy to get into at all.

I use hardware cloth to cover the top and sides of my run and bird netting over all the paddocks. We also make little hen hideouts all over the property in between paddocked areas. Hideouts are either evergreen shrubs or hoops with landscape fabric and branches or vines over them. I make sure they do not have to run more than 5 feet in any direction to get under cover.