Cowcalf
Member
- Location
- North of Scotland
Friend having lot of bother with the above with ewes during lambing killing lambs and damaging ewes, anyone got any success at deterring them, lot of footpaths so rules out the terminal approach
Ravens and crows
- Thread starter Cowcalf
- Start date
- Location
- North West England
Trap / shoot some and tie them from trees / hedges / round the buildings works of a fashion. Shoot them regular and they wise up (crows) 
for a while.
for a while.
Banger is better than nothing. Mine will be in at night and out during the day under armed guard. Me banging away at them from a distance was enough last time i tried lambing out but i had to be there as it got light to scare them off or they would be there all day if they had time to settle. Havent braved lambing outside in a few years thanks to the crows and ravens but going to try again this year. Hopefully they stsy away
Vicki_Ann
Member
I often wonder how useful some of the European flock guardian dog breeds might be over here.
http://www.hcn.org/articles/searching-for-the-best-dog-to-save-livestock-and-wildlife
That's an interesting read, and one person says their dog will chase off ravens that try to go for lambs. I think as crows and ravens are so bold and persistent, it would need to be a driven and determined dog to keep them at bay.
I've often been tempted by a Pyrenean, but there are quite a few other breeds also bred for the purpose of living with and protecting flocks.
http://www.hcn.org/articles/searching-for-the-best-dog-to-save-livestock-and-wildlife
That's an interesting read, and one person says their dog will chase off ravens that try to go for lambs. I think as crows and ravens are so bold and persistent, it would need to be a driven and determined dog to keep them at bay.
I've often been tempted by a Pyrenean, but there are quite a few other breeds also bred for the purpose of living with and protecting flocks.
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
Ravens are clever ***&%s , last year had one that killed one and had another's eye when on their back , go in the field with a gun , couldnt get within 50 yards of it , walk alone and it would sit in the tree not 20 feet away and cus me , anything that gets on its back has about an hour around here .dreading april may , with lambs afoot
Ravens are f**king evil birds. I could see a ewe lambing the other side of the road on a hill from quite far away and could see 3 ravens walking around her. As i was on my way she dropped one went to lick iy the ravens had a go but she butted them away. I was going as fast as i could but there were 6 gates and quite a long way between me and this ewe. They kept circling she dropped the other one behind her turned to lick it and the other one was trying to get up to suckle. Then the ravens went full attack mode. One went for the lamb behind and the other went for the lamb in front while the third distracted her. She ran from one lamb to the other trying to butt them away but the ravens grabbed the lambs and dragged them a little bit further every time before the ewe would go to butt them away again. By the time i got there no more than 5 maybe 10 minutes had gone and the ravens flew off. I was too late.
They had both tounges out of the lambs one had an eye missing and the other had his arse out but both were alive. The ewes head was covered in scratches but no real damage to her. I couldnt believe how quick and efficient they were they onviously knew how to do it. That was one of the first ewes to lamb that year by the end of the week they were taking eyes and tongues out of lambs on their way out before they were born and would attack ewes as they were lambing taking eyes, pecking at their vaginas and arseholes. I bought them in full time after that they hung around the yard but didnt go in the shed thankfully. As the lambs went outside theywould sneak up on them while they were asleep and peck their arses out they even did it to a month old single lamb. Luckily they moved on to annoy someone else but those 2 weeks were bloody awful. I f**kING HATE RAVENS
They had both tounges out of the lambs one had an eye missing and the other had his arse out but both were alive. The ewes head was covered in scratches but no real damage to her. I couldnt believe how quick and efficient they were they onviously knew how to do it. That was one of the first ewes to lamb that year by the end of the week they were taking eyes and tongues out of lambs on their way out before they were born and would attack ewes as they were lambing taking eyes, pecking at their vaginas and arseholes. I bought them in full time after that they hung around the yard but didnt go in the shed thankfully. As the lambs went outside theywould sneak up on them while they were asleep and peck their arses out they even did it to a month old single lamb. Luckily they moved on to annoy someone else but those 2 weeks were bloody awful. I f**kING HATE RAVENS
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
I was told if you can shoot one of a pair (you need a licence) the other will go into mourning and leave .
Id rather shoot both. Or all of them
Cowcalf
Member
- Location
- North of Scotland
used to find a small treble hook pushed into the eye of a dead lamb had the desired effect
you cant say things like that might give someone ideas I know someone who poured a load of cheap vodka into a dead ewe. His plan waa to go round with a bit of wood playing golf with drunk crows. There were drunk crows everywere falling over and cawing but he said but he couldnt get near any of them to get one so gave it up as a bad job
Cowcalf
Member
- Location
- North of Scotland
been better to give them some antifreeze
I know someone who poured a load of cheap vodka into a dead ewe. His plan waa to go round with a bit of wood playing golf with drunk crows. There were drunk crows everywere falling over and cawing but he said but he couldnt get near any of them to get one so gave it up as a bad job
- Location
- Welshpool Powys
The most evil birds in the sky at lambing time bloody horrible to see lambs pecked to death,
Shoot the bloody lot
Shoot the bloody lot
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I was told OP dip had the same effect, not that I’ve ever done it.
Thankfully I don’t get much bother from crows. We have a hell of a lot of rooks (main rookery is actually in my singles’ lambing paddock) and a good number of buzzards & kites, none of which seem to like crows much. I was going to have a set to on the rooms with a ladder trap, but if they’re keeping crows away from the lambing paddocks then maybe I should just put up with them?
Apparently so does Trodax but I wouldn't know! Crows and particularly ravine are the most intelligent birds going I'm afraid deterring is virtually pointless! Can he not hide some Larson traps around discreetly for the crows and well the ravens can be shot under licence easier said that done tho.
If you dont have a problem i wouldnt do anything to upset things it might bring the evil ones in if you get rid of the rooks. Ive never seen a rook do any damage or buzzards or kites either but some people have terrible trouble with them.I was told OP dip had the same effect, not that I’ve ever done it.
Thankfully I don’t get much bother from crows. We have a hell of a lot of rooks (main rookery is actually in my singles’ lambing paddock) and a good number of buzzards & kites, none of which seem to like crows much. I was going to have a set to on the rooms with a ladder trap, but if they’re keeping crows away from the lambing paddocks then maybe I should just put up with them?
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Rooks are certainly no bother to the sheep, but they are to the arable crops just along the way.
At the moment, i’m Holding off thinking that any crop losses are likely to be worth less than more predators moving in to the ewes lambing outdoors.
My view tends to change at the end of lambing though, especially if they start on a patch of laid corn in August.
Jameshenry
Member
- Location
- Cornwall
I'm all for shooting them, but you can't be there 24/7, did borrow a laser from a mate a couple years ago and lambed my ewes in a field in front of my parents bungalow , mother had the job of scaring crows and ravens away with the laser , they def didn't like it ,
, they def didn't like it ,
Recent study found them to be more intelligent than monkeys & chimpanzees.
Thankfully just crows going for the odd ewes belly or eye while lambing we get and that seems bad enough.
- Location
- West Wales
I have seen the odd buzzard take a lamb but it could have been born dead? The great black backed gulls will hold a TexX ewe down and eat her there and then! And they’ll pick up any slow lambs. The beauty with the gulls is you can usually hear them calling from a mile away if they are onto something. The gulls and ravens will usually go for the same ewe so the ewe doesn’t stand a chance. Towards the end of lambing their all worse (April) as they are teaching their young to hunt aswell!