Need better way of stopping raven predation

We’ve started losing broilers to ravens again.  Previously the turkeys had been a good deterrent but the ravens seem to have figured out how to distract them or something.  Started out losing 1 here, 2 there.  Annoying, upsetting, but not really worth massive efforts to stop.  

This morning I went out to find 11 dead birds.  To be fair it looked like some may have died more from the panic/trampling to get away.  But still.

So I need a good way to stop this.  Covering the pasture is totally impractical.  Not legal to shoot the ravens.  I’d much prefer not tractoring the birds.  

Guard goose?  Not sure I want to deal with waterfowl, but maybe?  How many would I need, and how noisy are they (I’m rural but zoned residential, can’t be toooo noisy).

Other options?

What about hanging old CD discs around, or build sliding low roof hides from trampoline frames that can be slid around, and your birds can 'duck' under if under attack.
Mine are about 18 inches high, have 2 or 3 sheets of corrugated iron running across the frame, part of which curls down and forms a sled.
Many trampolines can be reconfigured to create them.
I just leave them in the paddock, and move around as needed, the birds can rush under them if they feel hey are being attacked.

I have an 8x8' metal roofed shelter for them already.

One more killed chicken this morning.  Found the head about 30ft from the body.  Nothing else done to the carcass.  That is what offends me the most about the damn ravens.  They kill, and then don't even eat the meat.  A complete and utter waste of life and food.

It seems you can buy fake dead crows, that might work.

Skandi Rogers wrote:It seems you can buy fake dead crows, that might work.

Ohhh, didn’t even think of that.  Looks like ~$20 with Amazon Prime.  Worth a try at that price.

This may not work for you, Andrew but it could be worth a try. Though I don't have chickens, I've trained ravens to keep out of my garden by feeding them a small quantity per day of bulk feed corn. About 50 feet from my cultivated area on a straw bale wall with a flat top, I feed about 30+ birds a long intermittent line of maybe 3 cups of feed corn at sunrise (which was the time they used to enter my garden). They approached the novelty cautiously at first with one big guy leading the reconnaissance mission. Soon others join then fight each other for the prize. They come every day then promptly fly away when their corn is gone. If I am late, they stand on the wall and scream. They stopped entering the garden immediately upon discovering the treat on the wall. The total cost is about $11 for 50 lbs that lasts the season.
The raven's territory is much larger than my acre and the flock seems to have a schedule when they land in a certain dead tree, then land to start feeding in one area. As if on a clock, they land here, then abruptly move on to the bosque and other farms within the village.  Maybe the ravens kill your chickens because they don't want the domestic birds eating "their" food in "their" pasture at "their" time of day. Observing their schedule may sound ridiculous and maybe your situation is impossibly different, but it can be so much fun to negotiate with these smart creatures.

I'm finding this odd. Are you certain it's ravens, going after your chickens? Our experience has been that the raptors are more likely to take them, while the ravens and crows both tend to ignore our chickens, and repel the raptors. We've considered crows and ravens a type of "LGB" (livestock guardian bird) for chickens and ducks.

My LGD will abide no raven over his property.

Carla Burke wrote:I'm finding this odd. Are you certain it's ravens, going after your chickens? Our experience has been that the raptors are more likely to take them, while the ravens and crows both tend to ignore our chickens, and repel the raptors. We've considered crows and ravens a type of "LGB" (livestock guardian bird) for chickens and ducks.

We’ve witnessed raven attacks before.  The couple of chickens where the vast majority was eaten (or carried away) I’m pretty sure were hawks.  But the ones with the heads ripped off, or just pecked hard on the head are almost certainly raven kills.  It’s their MO.  Plus, every time they fly over the turkeys alert and everyone scurries for cover.  

None of the kills are along the fence line, all in the middle of the paddocks.  It’s muddy in places and there’s little in the way of tracks.  So ground predators like raccoons, weasels, skunks, coyotes, etc is highly unlikely.

There’s a farm in the UK I saw a documentary or news report on that was having terrible times with ravens killing lambs.  Often as they’re being born.  They’d rip out the eyes and tongue while that was all that was outside the mother ewe’s body.  It’s awesome if they are more protective of your farm.  But they’re a deadly nuisance here.

Ben Zumeta wrote:My LGD will abide no raven over his property.

Wish I could have an LGD.  Neighbors won’t abide the barking unfortunately.  And I’m zoned residential, not agricultural so I can’t tell them to pound sand over noise complaints.

Andrew, that's terrifying! I'm sorry you're struggling with them. We do have more crows than ravens, here, so maybe that's why? I sincerely hope you can figure something out - very soon! Is there any way you can create an enclosed aviary for them, with netting? I'm thinking maybe tied in trees or on posts, to cover at least part of the area, to allow the chickens to roam free, underneath, but be protected from above, like so: http://www.3tproducts.com/shop/pc/catalog/pengrnvegbirds_2337.jpg

Hi Andrew,
That is rough to deal with. There is a method that is used in some science experiments, and I have heard of it helping with raptor attacks on farms / homesteads. I have never used it myself, but I assume if it would work for a hawk or eagle, it would probably work for a raven.

The method is to use posts/stakes either from the fencing or put in yourself. And you tie fishing line or string to the various posts and criss cross it over the area to be protected. The idea is to have enough strands that the bird thinks there is something there or at least that they may not fit through the holes. I know you said covering the entire space was not an option, but perhaps stringing things across even part of the area would be worth it to see if it helped?

Would moving objects scare the broilers? If not, I would put lots of items in my yard like CD that blow in the wind and cause light flashes, Pinwheels that the wind cause to turn, Flags that make lots of movement when the wind blows, etc.

Have you tried loud noises?  Would this also scare the broilers?

I have heard these will work:

Playing the sounds of their predators, such as a cat or dog.
Recordings of raven distress signals.
Ravens will stay away from any form of scary/loud noise, but only for a short period of time.

It sounds like Andrew knows the difference between a Raven and a Crow:

Corvus corax is a Common Raven which are often confused with the smaller Corvus brachyrlynchos, American Crow.  The difference is that the larger Raven has a wedge-shaped tail.