How do you keep the birds away from the duck food? I have these adorable little sparrows that have always come around and now there are more because of the ducks! When I feed the ducks, they are everywhere and the ducks don't eat all the food at once so it gets eaten by the birds! I've even tried taking bread and throwing it on the other side of the fence to entice the birds to go there. Any ideas?
birds and duck food
- Thread starter new2ducks
- Start date
Hmmmm,
Generally my ducks are within 20 feet of the feed pan, and the wild birds wait until they leave and then go after what was spilled (I remove the feed pan when I move the ducks).
But if you have more space than I do, that just would not work, would it? Oh, well.
Generally my ducks are within 20 feet of the feed pan, and the wild birds wait until they leave and then go after what was spilled (I remove the feed pan when I move the ducks).
But if you have more space than I do, that just would not work, would it? Oh, well.
completely enclosed run is the only 100% way to keep them out. I know this from experience. I too was feeding my chickens & ducks and watched with aw as 20+ sparrows would swarm the dishes even while the flocks ate. At first I thought it was just annoying but later I wish I had taken the extra precautions to kept them out. Sparrows are one of the top carriers of mites, lice and diseases that will infect your flock. To me sparrows need to be put on the predator list not pest list.
I don't like using those fake owls and hawks because I didn't want my flocks to get used to a predator sitting on a fence and feel safe. People have suggested using things that will move like old CD's hanging over the feeding area, but this doesn't work to well if the wind isn't blowing.
I'm in the process of building a completely enclosed run for my new chickens coming (had to get rid of the last flock due to a disease brought in by the sparrows). I'm going to let them free range too but the food will be in the run only. I'm even taking steps to make sure the pop door to the free ranging yard is sparrow non-friendly.
Yes I know that free ranging them will allow them to come into contact with the sparrows but not so much as the huge amount of poop and direct contact that the sparrows were doing at the food dishes.
I don't like using those fake owls and hawks because I didn't want my flocks to get used to a predator sitting on a fence and feel safe. People have suggested using things that will move like old CD's hanging over the feeding area, but this doesn't work to well if the wind isn't blowing.
I'm in the process of building a completely enclosed run for my new chickens coming (had to get rid of the last flock due to a disease brought in by the sparrows). I'm going to let them free range too but the food will be in the run only. I'm even taking steps to make sure the pop door to the free ranging yard is sparrow non-friendly.
Yes I know that free ranging them will allow them to come into contact with the sparrows but not so much as the huge amount of poop and direct contact that the sparrows were doing at the food dishes.
- Thread starter
- #4
- Thread starter
- #5
I had to put back my wild bird feeders to keep them from eating the duck/geese and chickens feed, now I only have chipmunks and squirrels coming.
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
-
-
-
pollipazzi's 365 project- Started by pollipazzi
- Replies: 73
-
