bird pests

[connieco]

We have dozens of birds flying into the chicken coop. I think it's no big deal they eat the chicken's food, but the problem is that they are leaving their waste in the chicken's water dish. Any ideas on how we could stop these pesky birds???

 

[Kelsie2290]

Do you know what kind of birds they are? ... this time of year English House Sparrows and European Starlings are the usual culprits, a lot of people wind up trapping and culling them, they are invasive species in the US. There are some threads on dealing with them https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/179570/how-do-i-get-rid-of-house-sparrows This type of sparrow/starling trap works quite well, or you can make funnel traps out of hardware cloth http://www.sparrowtraps.net/ Trying to block them out is generally your best option otherwise... you can put up things to scare them but it usually that only works for a short period of time. Is your coop/run covered? Deer netting like this will keep most birds out if you put it over the wire. http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener...8&qid=1413036618&sr=8-1&keywords=deer+netting