How to keep wild birds from eating all my chickens' food?

[JeanM]

this winter has been so horrible (I'm in southern New England) that the wild birds have been taking birdbaths in my chooks' heated water bowl inside the shed that is their coop! That just adds to the daily chores, having to dump the water bowl and trek back & forth from the horses' heated tub with a pitcher to refill. And the MESS of droppings in my gals' living quarters!! I will definitely have to look into the deer netting to cover the wire fence material that surrounds the run. I also need to figure out how to close in the holes that the *&^% squirrels have been using (my gripe with them is they lurk in there then raid the bird feeder for the wild birds. Heck you danged squirrels, I even hang corn cobs out for you by the woods; can't you just stick with that?!)

 

[JJSS89]

Keep those flying rats away by whatever means possible. They are flying diseases too and will happily share whatever funk they have with your birds.

Mouse traps with scratch on the pan will work

off the ground where chickens can't get it of course.

 

[tcstoehr]

I have one of those chicken feeders made with a 5-gallon bucket and some PVC fittings.

Like This One.

I have not had any birds eating from it except one very tiny little bird that I can't identify.

 

[woody1]

I'm not going to read all the posts on this thread and there are lots of similar topics if you do a search. That said, treadle feeders work and they keep out mice and rats also. I don't sell 'em but have made several. My banties even have one. They just plain work. Regards, Woody

Yeah, I know, the ones I see advertised aren't cheap....

 

[Al Gerhart]

You know our feeders stop wild birds too, start at $60.00 plus shipping. Just Google ratproof chicken feeder

I've been watching this bird flu outbreak and it looks really scary for backyard chicken owners. Some of the agriculture associations and government officials are blaming backyard birds because they are more likely to have contact with wild birds and they are probably right. Some flock owners keep ducks with their chickens too and as a lot of wild ducks carry the less lethal version of the virus that is bad news because it is less lethal only to the wild ducks. Chickens have zero immunity to it and the virus appears to mutate rapidly.

I do a lot of work with my state legislature, mostly politically beating up the bad ones, and I know how this is going to end. You are going to see lobbyists from Tyson Foods and the other poultry giants starting legislation to crack down on backyard birds due to the health threat. These lobbyists already own most of the legislature anyway.

I am going to be putting together a state by state rundown on what states have experienced outbreaks in the past, what states are having current problems, and how they have dealt with backyard flocks when trying to eradicate the virus.

One thing for sure is that the days of allowing birds access to your chicken coop are gone. Reports are coming out of China that their bird flu has mutated and is crossing over to humans. Right now it is sick chicken to human contact that is spreading it or human contact with the droppings but once it mutates into a human to human form this will be a deadly pandemic. Few people realize that the famous Spanish Flu back around the turn of the century was a form of Avian Flu.

 

[flare]

i swear - if i fill my feeder twice a day, the sparrows will empty it twice a day. My girls have taken matters into their own hands at least twice so far this year and have ripped up a small bird, and my old tom cat also helps when he can but when i walk out to their coop and it's a scene from a Hitchcock movie then i know we have to do more. We're going to try getting a faux owl. if that doesn't help then we'll try maybe netting in their door - since their feed is in their run - little buggers are bold enough to go in their run.

 

[Barredrock360]

Put the chicken's food inside the coop were the hawks can't get to it. Or wait to feed them until you can watch them eat
their food. Another suggestion is put a roof over the chickens pen so it can't fly in. Chase the hawk away by training your dog. Shoot the hawk when it fly's off. Put the hen/roosters inside and put the chickens food in a raccoon cage to trap it.

I hope this helps

 

[Barredrock360]

sorry I don't know why I keep saying hawks I meant wild birds

 

[Barredrock360]

I clicked on the wrong thread. Darn it

 

[feathersaloft]

Be careful of wild birds. They are the carriers of the current Avian Influenza outbreak.
State vet for Georgia strongly recommends feeding chickens inside, where wild birds can't contaminate their food.