Get off my porch!!!

[tgoodmanbilbe]

ACK! My free rangers are driving us crazy leaving a minefield of poop all over our porch…every day! At first they were going for the dog's water bowl, then we moved the bowl out into the yard and off the porch. But the benches and rocking chairs and swing are just too inviting for roosting, I guess? Does anyone have ideas as to how to train them from coming up on the porch. It's just not a convent place to hose off as frequently as needed. Chicken poop on the porch = flies in the house. As someone who has suffered a horrible case of giardia and hates flies, my husband is just about done with chickens after this. After 10 months, why are they moving up to our porch…they've got acres! Suggestions welcome!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i would think you would have to screen it off and make a gate so they cant get up there. are they fed close by the porch? maybe some new roosts just in the yard nearby? i am currently trying whirrlygigs in my yard to keep my guineas off the neighbors land and it seems to be working. if they are afraid of it they are not coming close to it.

 

[sbhkma]

I had the same problem, so here's what I did:
I kept a spray bottle of water on the back porch and every time I saw them on it, I'd rush out there, spray them with water and fuss "Get OFF the porch!". After about 2 weeks of doing this consistently, it worked. Now, they once in a while use the porch to get from point A to point B, but they rush across the porch so they don't get in trouble. Funny to watch.

 

[aart]

One of the main reasons I don't free range!!

Kudos to sbhkma for being able to train her chickens!

 

[azygous]

You asked "why do they do it when they have acres?" They are seeking cover, mostly. Chickens need to alleviate the anxiety caused by being out under the open sky by resting for a spell under a roof of some kind.

If you provide a covered run for them, they would return to it to rest their nerves, then wander out to free range again. Or you could rig up a simple lean-to somewhere away from the porch for this purpose.

This isn't to say they wouldn't still want to try to utilize the porch for their rest periods. You'll have to block access to it somehow. Maybe a baby/pet gate across the lower step?After they are blocked from going onto the porch for several weeks, they will get out of the habit of using it and maybe will ignore it even if the gate were to come down.

 

[tgoodmanbilbe]

Thank you! These are all great suggestions. Whirligigs...who would've thunk it?! And about looking for cover...that makes sense. They do always seem to be under a tree, under a bush, under the roof of my porch! Maybe they just need some decent planned cover? I'll get to work!...but I think my kids would have a field day with the whirligig idea, too. I wonder if the whirligigs would keep the coyotes away, too??!!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

depends on how hard the wind is blowing.lol they sell a light that looks like a predator eye, i dont have one but by chance i bought a solar light that was an orange color , it was a ball with a fairy on top and it broke so i left the light there and it seems like i have had less-no predators in the back. the little light is orange though.