Help! Native Birds Killing My Chicks!

[CherryAdventure]

The magpies and kookaburras are killing my chicks. I lost a three day old chick, and a few week old turkey. What can I do to stop this, short of keeping my chicks in a cage till adult hood?

 

[cavemanrich]

CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY THAT ITS NOT HAWKS. They would already have cleaned your chick colony out. I suggest to have a covered run so the chicks can grow out. When they are larger, then they are safe from these lesser predators. Consider keeping them in a tractor, You can make one to be bird proof inexpensively.
WISHING YOU BEST

 

[CherryAdventure]

Kookaburras are relentless. My hen chased them half a dozen times before he got one of her chicks. I have one covered run already, made after the kookaburra incident. The problem is I have 3 hens with chicks and 3 more hens broody, and none of them get along. :-/

 

[cavemanrich]

I don't know how Your Government punishes its citizens for eliminating songbirds. Around here you are only allowed to kill pigeons and during hunting season, ducks and pheasant are also allowed. For an Eagle, Its capital punishment. Except if you are Native American and part of Religious ritual. For a Hawk, I think you get 25 years in a gulag. and for song birds, they probably confiscate anything you own. So my suggestion is a simple tractor for the least amount of effort and money.
Cavemanrich does not kill anything. (flies and mosquitoes excluded. )

 

[lazy gardener]

At the risk of starting an other world war, I believe CMR is spreading info that is not true. This information states that it is legal in the United States to kill predatory species (with the exemption of Bald and Golden Eagle) after non lethal methods of control have been tried, and after being issued a government permit. Further, I've been told by game wardens that it is legal to kill song birds that are causing property damage. Killing a hawk without permit is a misdemeanor, certainly not leading to 25 years imprisonment!

• Guitartists
• 
• Resistance is futile
• 

• Location: Michigan
• Joined: 3/2008
• Posts: 5,472
• 
• offline

​

http://www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/birdbasics.html

As authorized by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits to qualified applicants for the following types of activities: falconry, raptor propagation, scientific collecting, special purposes (rehabilitation, educational, migratory game bird propagation, and salvage), take of depredating birds, taxidermy, and waterfowl sale and disposal. Migratory bird permit policy is developed by the Division of Migratory Bird Management and the permits themselves are issued by the Regional Bird Permit Offices. The regulations governing migratory bird permits can be found in 50 CFR part 13 (General Permit Procedures) and 50 CFR part 21 (Migratory Bird Permits).

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/intrnltr/mbta/mbtandx.html

Hawk, Asiatic Sparrow, Accipiter gularis
Broad-winged, Buteo platypterus
Cooper's, Accipiter cooperii
Ferruginous, Buteo regalis
Gray, Buteo nitidus
Harris', Parabuteo unicinctus
Hawaiian, Buteo solitarius
Red-shouldered, Buteo lineatus
Red-tailed, Buteo jamaicensis
Rough-legged, Buteo lagopus
Sharp-shinned, Accipiter striatus
Short-tailed, Buteo brachyurus
Swainson's, Buteo swainsoni
White-tailed, Buteo albicaudatus
Zone-tailed, Buteo albonotatus


Owl, Barn (=Barn-Owl, Common), Tyto alba
Barred, Strix varia
Boreal, Aegolius funereus
Burrowing, Speotyto (=Athene) cunicularia
Elf, Micrathene whitneyi
Flammulated, Otus flammeolus
Great Gray, Strix nebulosa
Great Horned, Bubo virginianus
Hawk (=Hawk-Owl, Northern), Surnia ulula
Long-eared, Asio otus
Northern Saw-whet, Aegolius acadicus
Short-eared, Asio flammeus
Snowy, Nyctea scandiaca
Spotted, Strix occidentalis

http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-13.pdf

No permit is required merely to scare or herd
depredating migratory birds other than endangered or threatened species and bald or golden eagles. You should apply for a
depredation permit only after non-lethal management proves unsuccessful. If a permit is issued, you will be expected to continue
to integrate non-lethal techniques when implementing any lethal measures.

Please provide the following information:
1. List the species of migratory birds causing the depredation problem and estimate the number of each involved.
2. Provide the exact location of the property or properties where the control activity would be conducted (State, county, and physical
address of the specific site).
3. Description of damage.
(a) Describe the specific migratory bird damage or injury you are experiencing.
(b) How long has it been occurring (e.g., the number of years)?
(c) What times or seasons of the year does it occur?
(d) Describe any human health and safety hazards involved.
(e) Provide details such as types of crops destroyed, human injuries sustained, property damage incurred, and health and safety
hazards created.
4. Describe the extent of the damage and estimate the economic loss suffered as a result, such as percentage of acres of crop and
dollar loss, cost to replace damaged property, or cost of injuries.
5. Describe the nonlethal measures you have taken to control or eliminate the problem, including how long (e.g., a week, month,
year(s)) and how often they have been conducted. List the techniques you have tried, such as harassment (e.g., horns,
pyrotechnics, propane cannons), habitat management (e.g., vegetative barriers, longer grass management, fencing), cultural
practices (e.g., crop selection and placement, management of pets and feeding schedules), or no feeding policies.
6. Proposed actions.
(a) What actions are you proposing to take to alleviate the problem (e.g., kill, eliminate nesting, trap and relocate)?
(b) Describe the method you propose (e.g., shoot; addle, oil, destroy eggs; trap and relocate; trap and donate birds to a food
processing center).
(c) If you propose to trap birds, describe the method that will be used and your (or your agents) experience with the method.
7. What long-term measures do you plan to take to eliminate the problem?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Back to the poster from Australia loosing chicks to a native bird: Your best bet is to protect the chicks until they are too big to be taken by the birds. I hang CD's around my coop, and the moving reflections of light seem to help a bit in terms of giving raptors something to think about before swooping in to tear an other one of my birds to shreds.
​

 

[shortgrass]

It might just be me, but that last quote went haywire! Lol...

Anyway, there are obtainable permits(mostly relocation) for livestock defense, but I do see where cavemanrich states that you could get 25 years for killing a hawk, so I must have missed something...

Either way, I agree that a covered tractor is about the ONLY option, other than calling in more furbearing predators to eat the kookaburras.. I'm totally kidding, don't do THAT

 

[Sonya9]

Setting up an uncovered pen of chicks would the equivalent of baiting the birds!

I would suggest avian netting over the pen, if that doesn't work than contact your local game warden and or wildlife department and ask them for advice. Personally if I knew a neighbor was putting chicks in an open area and then shooting any birds of prey that came by I would call the authorities ASAP and report them!

I live in an area with hawks, owls, coyotes, raccoons, possum, and a ton of different snakes. When I chose to get chickens I took responsibility for their safety and that meant a safe hen house and a large fenced run covered with $50 of avian netting.