ksia
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Magpies and chicken eggsWe seem to have a magpie that's nicking our chickens eggs before we get to them....obviously very annoying for us!
Any ideas how we can prevent the magpie getting in but still allow the chickens access?
Thanks
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RichardW
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We have the same problem but with crows too. I sit & wait for them then shoot them with the air rifle.
Even the ones you dont shoot soon get the message that if you land near here you might die. This last about 2 weeks then they get brave again.
Justme
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Bodger
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A small piece of lead strategically placed in the left ear of the miscreant normally does the trick.
Once the magpies have got the idea of a free meal they wont stop unless you stop them.
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chez
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Larsen trap?
I've lost chicks to them this year, too - my own fault for being naive about penning them up, but frustrating. There's a family of them in the field opposite  .
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Marionb
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My Dad had hundreds of crows landing in his field.... he shot one and hung it on a stake in the middle of the field.... no crows around for a few days after, and even after that they were much less than they were before.
Perhaps hanging a dead crow/magpie near the henhouse would act as a deterrent in the short term?
Wouldnt like to comment on the smell though 
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ksia
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Oh s***!
I didn't expect it to be this hard.
I'm a veggie I can't kill things! Well slugs on my melon seedlings don't count.
What's a Larsen trap?
Wouldn't a scarecrow work?
It's a brave thing as we've 6 active cats - I really need to have a word with them but the poor things are under attack from a little owl which has it's nest in our house wall, just up from the cat flap..!
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chez
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A larsen trap is a two-part cage - you put a magpie in one side and the magpie you are trying to catch comes in to the other side to investigate the newcomer and the trap closes.
I suppose you could take them and release them elsewhere - but they are a pain in neck and most people I know wring their necks as what amounts to dumping them on someone else is a bit anti-social. It IS hard, as they are such beautiful, intelligent birds - but they are predators .
Is it the principle of killing or the actual doing it? If the latter, do you know anyone who'd do the deed? If the former, it all becomes a bit more complicated ... could you construct something around the chicken house door that looks like a trap and they'd avoid? I don't know if that would work, but it's supposed to with foxes and I guess it's worth a try.
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Blue Sky
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Magpies in and around our henhouse too. I didn't realise they stole the eggs, I thought they were just visiting for the spilled grain.  That does explain some things.
Crikey, this forum is so useful.
Does having a cockerill with the hens help any?
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judith
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| Simon wrote: | | Does having a cockerill with the hens help any? |
Sadly not.
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Bodger
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It reminds me of the sex mad cock. Who having exhausted all his wives decided to lie in the farmyard pretending to be dead with one eye slightly open as he waited for the first vulture to come into his range. 
Incidentaly, my broody hens have consistantly killed crows and various other birds if they've flown into pens where they've had chicks.
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ksia
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I couldn't kill them myself and if we got someone else to do it I'd have to 'not-know-about it' somehow...
Like you Simon at first I thought they were after the food..ah well.
As we're home today we've kept the chickens in the house/ run caged in (bird proof cause we had to do it last year with the bird flu restrictions) and hopefully they'll do their laying and we can let them run out later. It's not a solution for every day or fair to them but we'll see what happens today...
I wasn't prepared for the fact it'd have to be war between us...I need time to adjust...
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Bodger
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Are the chickens coming out of their shed through a human sized door or a pop hole ?
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ksia
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They have an exit about the size of an average computer screen...
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chez
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| ksia wrote: | | I wasn't prepared for the fact it'd have to be war between us...I need time to adjust... |
Well, I suppose it depends how many they're taking - if it's just occasionally and it's not really impacting on you then it's not too much of a prob I 'spose. But if they're taking them all ... . It's the same with slugs - I had a mutual tolerance pact, but they wouldn't sign and I had to go to beer traps .
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RichardW
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| Chez wrote: | | ksia wrote: | | I wasn't prepared for the fact it'd have to be war between us...I need time to adjust... |
Well, I suppose it depends how many they're taking - if it's just occasionally and it's not really impacting on you then it's not too much of a prob I 'spose. But if they're taking them all ... . It's the same with slugs - I had a mutual tolerance pact, but they wouldn't sign and I had to go to beer traps . |
Ours are taking a real hit. If we dont collect very often we get NO eggs & thats from about 80 hens. Even collecting often we are only getting about 3-4 dozen (36-4 per day. Before you ask yes they are laying as you can tell by looking at them (colour of comb, condition, leg colour etc etc).
Justme
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chez
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I think it's also made worse because they are clever birds - the word spreads that there's an egg supper up the road and before you know it, you're feeding the entire local population .
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Tay
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I hadn't appreciated that they stole eggs and chicks - like Simon, it explains a few things.
Magpies here take little notice of cats, surprisingly enough. However, as soon as the barn swallows espy a magpie, they begin to mob it! Quite amusing to watch these bold little birds intimidating them!
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Blue Sky
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Have you seen the crows bombarding the buzzards? That is an amazing site and it happens quite a bit over us.
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dpack
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i have seen pies attack and rout a youngish fox
if pies can get in so can foxey perhaps
sort security 
wildlife is not vermin if it cant get in
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Blue Sky
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Foxes rarely visit during the day, unlike the magpies. Our nest boxes are in a separate house to the roosting hut so no chance of foxes getting in there but the nest boxes have to be accesible to the hens during the day hence Mr Magpie can get in also. 
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Bodger
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Don't bank on that Simon. From my experience , from this time of the year onwards its quite common for daytime fox visits.
This is with rural foxes and its even more prevalent with town and city foxes that have been re released into the countryside.
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Vanessa
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In rural France, foxes do not tend to be out and about during the daytime. I have never seen one, and the locals only refer to foxes getting hens at night time.
On another forum, it was being discussed about magpies and chicks, and the concensus there was the Larson trap was the best bet, but to certainly "control" the number of magpies.
The other problem in rural France is that the various predatory birds are much bolder than they tend to be in the UK, and in much larger numbers. One day, I counted 16 jays flying out of a single bush! No, they weren't going round and coming back out again, they all flew off across open countryside!! 
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Blue Sky
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Thanks Vanessa. That has been our experience too here in Haute-Vienne (not far from you). Not seen a fox here in the daytime ever. I've seen wild boar, dear, various other wild animals but not foxes and we have only ever had attacks on the poultry during the night. We think Pine Martin rather than fox as it got in through a very small hole in the housing when it be-headed our Turken earlier this year.
Where are you in Correze? I will be in Ussel at the beginning of next month.
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