Blue Jay Eating Eggs!

[Sylver Queen]

I would be worried that the jay would bring her/his fledglings to the coop and you'd have a gang to worry about.

How about a cover over the run?

How about hanging strips of cloth or plastic over the door? The chickens would learn to walk through it, but the flying jays are unlikely to figure that out.

How about getting an electric light that looks like an eye. It blinks on and off. Supposed to look like predator eye. Put it just above the door.

The only opening is an automatic door, chicken-sized where they walk up a ramp and enter. There's a red light flashing constantly throughout day and night on the door. I even put a fake owl up on the gate. I've even stood there watching it enter my chicken house, asking it what it's doing. It lands on the ground 10 ft from me and looks at me. The jays do what they want. I have now lost 14 eggs in 5 days. The ONLY answer in my instance seems to be to remove the offenders before they teach my hens to eat their own eggs! My nesting boxes are integrated into the building so I'm not sure I could add a rollaway feature easily, but it also sounds like hens don't like them!

Last year I tried closing their automatic door and opening the side gate so they all have to go around the back way, but all my babies are in there now so I can't do that for at least a few weeks. Pretty sure I lost eggs even then though. They're impressive.

 

[Mad at Jay]

X2 on that.

How can you trap the jay? He’s ruining my eggs too!

 

[Sylver Queen]

How can you trap the jay? He’s ruining my eggs too!

So I can chime in just to say that I happened to be out with my baby chicks when a jay went straight into the chicken house. I protected the babies and hurried over and closed the door. Jay was trapped in the house. Right place right time when I was keeping an eye on everything on a day off. I've only lost one egg since because that one was the main culprit.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Free range protection just isn't going to work with a protected species that you can't kill or trap. And losing eggs is a minor nuisance, consider the mites or the disease being brought in by these birds as they travel between other coops and your coop.

Bio security has to be a concern even for a backyard flock. Not doing so leads to authorities going around killing backyard flocks. Even with bio security the corporate farmers have lobbyists and you don't. Best not to give them an excuse to limit their competition.

First defense is to stop feeding the wild birds including them eating your chicken feed. Hanging strips or CDs or things of that sort aren't going to work, you gotta fence them out and your birds in or live with the costs of free ranging chickens.

Wish I had a solution for you.

 

[R-Man]

Free range protection just isn't going to work with a protected species that you can't kill or trap. And losing eggs is a minor nuisance, consider the mites or the disease being brought in by these birds as they travel between other coops and your coop.

Bio security has to be a concern even for a backyard flock. Not doing so leads to authorities going around killing backyard flocks. Even with bio security the corporate farmers have lobbyists and you don't. Best not to give them an excuse to limit their competition.

First defense is to stop feeding the wild birds including them eating your chicken feed. Hanging strips or CDs or things of that sort aren't going to work, you gotta fence them out and your birds in or live with the costs of free ranging chickens.

Wish I had a solution for you.

Kill the jay. BB gun or rat trap, both work. I have two chickens 8-10 eggs per week. Check coup 2 or 3 times a day. Lost 45 of last 50 eggs to a jay. They destroy eggs to reduce competition in there territory.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Kill the jay. BB gun or rat trap, both work. I have two chickens 8-10 eggs per week. Check coup 2 or 3 times a day. Lost 45 of last 50 eggs to a jay. They destroy eggs to reduce competition in there territory.

Dude, you are telling someone to commit a crime, a federal crime!

Please folks, before you post take one minute to Google things:

Yes, blue jays are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in the United States. This means it is illegal to harm, trap, or kill them without a permit. The MBTA also prohibits the possession of any part of a native bird, including feathers, without a permit.



In more detail:

• Migratory Bird Treaty Act:
  This federal law protects migratory birds, including blue jays, from being harmed or harassed.
  

• Federal Protection:
  The MBTA makes it illegal to transport, trap, or kill native non-game birds like blue jays without a permit.
  
  

• No Permits for Possession:
  Generally, permits are required to possess any part of a protected bird, including feathers.
  

• Enforcement:
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for enforcing the MBTA.
  

• Conservation Status:
  While blue jays are common and widespread, they are still vulnerable to threats like habitat loss and predation by cats.
  

 

[R-Man]

Dude, you are telling someone to commit a crime, a federal crime!

Please folks, before you post take one minute to Google things:

Yes, blue jays are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in the United States. This means it is illegal to harm, trap, or kill them without a permit. The MBTA also prohibits the possession of any part of a native bird, including feathers, without a permit.



In more detail:

• Migratory Bird Treaty Act:
  This federal law protects migratory birds, including blue jays, from being harmed or harassed.

• 
  
• Federal Protection:
  The MBTA makes it illegal to transport, trap, or kill native non-game birds like blue jays without a permit.
  
  

• No Permits for Possession:
  Generally, permits are required to possess any part of a protected bird, including feathers.

• Enforcement:
  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for enforcing the MBTA.

• Conservation Status:
  While blue jays are common and widespread, they are still vulnerable to threats like habitat loss and predation by cats.

Get a permit. Not hard.

 

[Al Gerhart]

AI Overview



You're likely referring to a
Migratory Bird Depredation Permit when asking about getting a permit to "kill" migratory birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). This permit allows for the capture or killing of migratory birds that are causing significant damage to property, agriculture, or posing a risk to human health and safety.

Here's how to apply for this permit:

1. Contact USDA Wildlife Services: Begin by reaching out to USDA Wildlife Services for technical assistance in addressing your situation.
2. Wildlife Services Permit Review Form (Form 37): If Wildlife Services determines a permit is warranted, a USDA biologist will provide you with a completed WS Form 37.
3. Submit application to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS): Complete and submit the depredation permit application to the appropriate USFWS Regional Migratory Bird Permit Office, including the Form 37 and a permit application fee.
4. Demonstrate unsuccessful non-lethal methods: You must show that you have already tried non-lethal measures, such as harassment or habitat modification, and that these have been unsuccessful.
5. Permit specifies details: If approved, the permit will outline the specific species, methods, and number of birds you are allowed to take.
6. Submit annual reports: You will need to submit annual reports detailing the number of birds taken and the effectiveness of your control measures.

Important Notes:

• Depredation permits are intended for short-term relief. You'll be expected to implement long-term non-lethal solutions alongside any authorized take.
• Non-lethal methods are encouraged: Consider non-lethal alternatives like excluding birds from problem areas or using deterrents.
• Active nests with eggs or chicks require a permit for removal. You don't need a permit to destroy an inactive nest.
• Bald or Golden Eagles and federally threatened or endangered species require a different permit for disturbance or destruction of nests.

In summary, getting a kill permit for migratory birds involves working with USDA Wildlife Services and submitting an application to the USFWS, demonstrating that non-lethal methods have been attempted and proven ineffective.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Easy, huh? Annual reports, non lethal methods required, killing is only allowed on a temporary basis. And I guarantee there are some eye watering penalties if you fill out a form wrong, miss a filing, or they think you aren't following the permit rules.

Every five years a nice man from Oklahoma DEQ shows up at my cabinet shop with another form to fill out for water quality. You see, if you have a sawdust collector outside of your shop where rain water can wash sawdust into run off water you have to get a permit and actually take water samples from nearby drainage ditches or creeks to "prove" your sawdust isn't getting into the run off water.

BUT there is an exemption if your dust collector is inside your building. So you tell the nice man to get the F out of my shop, right? You are exempt, right?

Nope, you have to apply for a permit to be exempt, a five page document if I remember right, with $10,000 a day penalties should they find you misrepresented something on the form or refuse to file the form, or maybe make funny faces when the nice man shows up. Who knows? You want that exemption because your dust collector is inside the shop? You apply for that permit every five years and agree to pay the penalties if you do something wrong knowingly or unknowingly.

I have the nice man trained though. Every five years he shows up with the filled out permit for exemption and I sign it. He knows if he doesn't fill out the form for me, I'll smile, take the form, agree to fill it out by next Tuesday, and he also knows I'll never fill out the form. See, he got tired of driving out to my shop four or five times and agreed it would cost him less time if he just filled out the form.

Gets his boss off his butt, gives him something to keep busy during slow days, and he simply doesn't want to explain to some judge some day why someone would be exempt from a law would need to apply for that exemption. Risky on my part? No, I didn't fill out the paperwork, he did. I just signed it.