Crows will definitely run hawks off. I have witnessed this many times and welcome crows to my yard. I would much rather have my seeds and fruit eaten than my chicks. The problem is the crows are not always around when the hawks fly over. We are up to six hawks, which surprises me because I thought they would be more territorial. The hawks aren't going anywhere because the lady next door shoots squirrels and leaves them for the hawks.
I absolutely LOVE dogs! I've always had dogs, and I still have a dog. BUT I don't appreciate people letting their dogs just run loose & go terrorize the neighborhood! Of course, it's not the dog's fault in that situation, it's the owner's. Thankfully, that hasn't happened here which I'm pretty surprised about. We are working on a new coop with a huge fenced in area, so I won't have to worry about all the predators. It will still be like free ranging, but it will keep predators out. I will still let them free range too. I just want to make sure that when I'm not around, they stay safe. I'm glad your neighbor moved!
What a "wonderful" neighbor to have when you have chickens! Hopefully they will stick to squirrel and not want to try chicken. I hate that. It seems like that would just attract even more hawks. I think I would ask her if she could please stop "feeding" the hawks. Maybe you could throw out some fruit and seeds for the crows and attract more of them.?.
She is set in her ways and I doubt she would stop, but that is an excellent idea to try to attract more crows. I will try it and see how it goes. Thanks.
