Using crows to protect flock from hawks?

[BlueJayFarm]

Below is what happen on our farm back in December and I posted it here; ..We have lots of crows on our place and this has not happend again...


>>> I have read on this forum where crows would attack chickens but I just couldn't believe it...in my 60 years being on a farm I have never seen it... Yesterday afternoon I heard our dogs barking and the chickens, ducks and guineas were making a lot of noise. I jumped on the 4-wheeler and rode down to chicken run and saw about 30 to 50 crows swooping down on the chickens...they had already killed 2 in less than 30 seconds and were attacking one more.. It looked like something out Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" movie. The crows were up in nearby trees and about 3 to 6 of them would take turns dive bombing the chickens... I shot several times with the shot-gun to scare them off.... Also I had to scare off another flock this morning... We have a lot of crows around here all the time but they have never attacked before.... it may be the unusual cold weather we are having that has them so crazy......

Now I am also a believer that crows will attack and kill chickens.

12/11/13 at 12:22pm<<<

Great information, thank you, and sorry you had to go through that, wow! I have never heard of this. They are exceptionally smart though. That is a LOT of crows.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... Using crow calls is also a good way to get them [crows] to come to your property if you haven't seen them before....

This would be a good time to drag out that great horned owl decoy that someone told you would protect your flock from hawks and birds. Crows absolutely hate owls and if they come to the crow fight calls and find a owl on the ground with 4 or 5 faux crows surrounding the owl decoy the crows will land.

 

[Trooper Man]

I too have a bunch of crows that hang around and keep the hawks at bay.

 

[Haloclimb]

There are a lot of crows that roost around here and they've done nothing but help us! You see a big mob of them chasing of wedge tailed eagles about once or twice a month- we've only ever had one hawk attack, and when the hawk came back for more it quickly had three crows on its tail!
We have a lot of australian magpies as well and they happily join in on the mobbing, as will the odd magpie lark. We've free ranged week old chicks and younger with no problems from crows, though that may just be a stroke of good luck. (And our birds having lots of trees to hide under!)

 

[Darin The Singing Realtor]

I have a gang of crows that hang out in the woods/marsh behind the coop. They are, to me, some of the best friends my birds have. I too, have seen the crows relentlessly drive hawks away from the area. My birds seem to have identified the crow's hawk warning call. The crows, when around call to each other through the day. But there is a certain call, the hawk call, that when the chickens hear it, their heads pop up, and they haul it to cover. No hesitation, they GO. They learned it.
I have done nothing to draw the crows here. They were here before me. They have never bothered the chickens. Although, they can be a nuisance, when I plant the garden,, they really like fresh planted corn.

Maybe they are earning the fresh planted corn...

 

[Amandagfi01]

After a little googling I found that it has actually been discussed here on backyard chickens before. I might at least try putting out some crow decoys (I think I've seen them in the hunting section at Walmart). Sadly, I did read on here that crows usually won't go after cooper's hawks...the species I've had the most trouble with. All said it looks like a few decoys, some scattered corn and peanuts along with a crow-call might be worth trying.

Crows absolutely do go after cooper's hawks.. have a family nearby as well as feed lots of songbirds and every time the hawks have came around the Crows have chased them off! Neighbor down the street has chickens and has said the same thing!

 

[Amandagfi01]

I have a gang of crows that hang out in the woods/marsh behind the coop. They are, to me, some of the best friends my birds have. I too, have seen the crows relentlessly drive hawks away from the area. My birds seem to have identified the crow's hawk warning call. The crows, when around call to each other through the day. But there is a certain call, the hawk call, that when the chickens hear it, their heads pop up, and they haul it to cover. No hesitation, they GO. They learned it.
I have done nothing to draw the crows here. They were here before me. They have never bothered the chickens. Although, they can be a nuisance, when I plant the garden,, they really like fresh planted corn.

Same here! I don't have chickens YET but feed lots of songbirds and squirrels, and we have tons of red tails and cooper's around that the crow family chases off everytime! I guess they view my property as part of their territory and I feed them as well!

 

[Amandagfi01]

Crows absolutely do go after cooper's hawks.. have a family nearby as well as feed lots of songbirds and every time the hawks have came around the Crows have chased them off! Neighbor down the street has chickens and has said the same thing!

Wish I could a pic of the cooper that was just perched stalking my feeder prior to the crows running him off and are now perched in the same exact spot as the coopers hawk was i guess waiting and watching for him to return!