Crows what to do? Roll away nest boxes??

[STEPHANIELAUREN]

I have a crow dilema =/ So ever since ive gotten my chickens a year ago ive had problems with hawks, ive lost about 60 chickens and chicks to them, and i cant keep them in a run its not an option well lately a small flock of crows and ravens have moved in and chased away all the hawks i havent lost a single chicken in 2 months to hawks but now the crows and ravens are stealing the eggs (weve seen them) so what do i do? id rather lose eggs than chickens but the problem is that we sell the eggs to cover feed costs =/ so would a scarecrow work? or is there some sort of special nesting box i could build? suggestions?

 

[Kittymomma]

Try doing a search (blue bar, not google) for roll away nest boxes. I don't use them myself, but they work well to keep the eggs away from egg eating hens so I'm sure they'd work for the crows. I love my crows because of the hawks, but I'd worry about disease if they were spending a lot of time in the coop/run area.

Found one--the pictures are reposted in post 9.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=67904

 

[STEPHANIELAUREN]

thanks kittymomma, i had thought about those but also thought since i have about 35 hens total and when i am home all day and the crows dont get a chance to get my eggs ive been getting 19-20 a day wouldnt the eggs all roll back there and roll into each other and crack?

 

[Dogfish]

I just completed my roll-out nest boxes. Instead of astro-turf I used some 1/4" rubber mat flooring I bought at the feed store. An egg dropped from 8" doesn't break, and the same material is also the bumper in the back where the eggs end up. Using a solid mat instead of astro-turf means I don't have to have as much slope, but I tested it with 6 eggs dropped from 6" midway in the box and had no breakage, even in the collecting area.