will crows keep the coopers away

[abluechipstock]

my chickens and pigeons are being harassed by a cooper's hawk, i keep everybody penned up but i eventually want to fly my pigeons, i thought about feeding the crows to keep them around, i know they will take baby pigeons, but i need to do something, shooting the hawk is not an option even if it was legal, i think they are beautiful but at the same time i don't want them eating my birds, any suggestions

 

[abluechipstock]

well i read a few posts and found my answer, now food for the crows!

 

[gsim]

Quote:
Crows will keep both hawks and owls away. However, it is not foolproof. I have seen one hawk sitting on the corner post of my run eyeing my flock. Don't know where the crows were that day. Only incident I am aware of in my 18 months of having chickens.

Beware of attracting pests, such as starlings. You could be worse off it that happens. You could end up with a severely diseased flock. Better to string lines across the run and hand cd's from them. It discourages the hawks and owls from trying a snatch and fly tactic. They are far less likely to land and eat in a run than to snatch a chook and fly away.

Gerry

 

[mdbokc]

Only downside of CDs is that on cloudy days, there is no light show. With CDs, I have lost 2 birds when the sun was not shining. The hawks came back, even buzzing my run for a couple of days early in the AM before the sun reaches over the trees and onto the CDs. They did not return after about a week of no free meals. So my rule of thumb is, "No sun, No light show." Time for extra caution then.

 

[Kanthaka]

I feed the crows peanuts right off my porch roof. The last few times I've seen "Mr. Cooper" he has been being chased by crows. That being said he and Mrs. Cooper often seem to be able to fly under the crows' radar and I have had some close calls with my hens. My hens recognize the cooper's hawk right away. They stop everything and watch him fly. If he is just doing a flyover then they resume their activities. If he circles lower and closer they take cover. Still, the hawks are sneaky and have caught my hens by surprise. I do the best I can but it's a tough battle. I'm urban so I can't have a rooster or cover my backyard. I often think about going to the outdoor/sports store and buying some of those fake crows. Wonder if that would help. Crows are too smart to be fooled by them but maybe the Coopers wouldn't be able to tell.