How to protect feed from birds?

[Soliouss]

I've always had a serious issue of regular tree/song birds flying into my yard and eating all of the food that's meant for my ducks and chickens. Regardless of what I feed them, I need to know if there's some sort of way to make it so these birds stop coming into my yard. I've heard that maybe those plastic owls help?

Does anyone have any good suggestions? Personal stories of success? Thanks.

 

[Molpet]

I feed 2x a day what they will eat in 20 min
I put up a plastic owl and the reflective ribbons to spook the hawks.. the sparrows sat next to it in 2 days... Hawks laughed

 

[Soliouss]

Anything?

 

[anatess]

I have my dogs with the chickens when they're ranging in my backyard. Then I have bird feeders hanging from the tree. They'd rather go to the bird feeder than risk going low to the ground with the dogs. The squirrels come to eat the seed from the bird feeders, so I put pvc pipe around a pole and hung the bird feeders from there close to the tree but not too close for the squirrels to jump to it. Then I put up squirrel corn cob feeders on the tree. It's a jungle out there.