I have about 100 non-chickens in my coop...PICS!

[wildorchid053]

those are definately starlings..they are beautiful when they fly in a huge flock they twist and turn.. but they are extremely noisy . they migrate from up north and are passing through to your area...good luck getting rid of them.. they are safe and warm and very hungry.. hopefully they will continue on their way soon. they seem to come here with the redwing black birds in the spring and there are TONS of them

 

[LynneP]

I agree- opportunistic starlings, a huge concern. Take them to a place where there are deserted out buildings if possible. Otherwise you are going to have both feed and disease problems...

I assume you'll be proofing your facility from wild birds? Tough time of year, very sorry you have to cope with this...

 

[spectrumranch]

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After we limited the feed they could get in the pheasant pens; they started going into our 50 x 100 loffing barn that housed peacocks and other birds thru a 4 inch by 3 foot gap above one door. Once there was a lot of starlings inside- I would hang my quail recovery cage over the gap- go inside the building and they would go to fly out of the building and into the cage. I would get anywhere from 20 to 60 birds in one catch. Then threw the cage into the water tank for a few minutes. QUICK and easy!

We used 1 inch plastic coated chicken wire to help keep predators & birds out of our pens, but the starlings would go thru the netting on top. It made for ALOT more work with the starlings- cause I normally fill the feed dishes once a week, as the pheasants would not go thru it that fast, but after the starlings started eating it all, feeding 100 plus pens everyday from the normal once a week uses up alot of time.

 

[Camelot Farms]

We dispatch all Starlings that come into our yard. They destroy our eaves, tear out the dryer vent and nest in anything that they can fit into....nasty!!

 

[ChickenCat]

I'd clean out the area the starlings were roosting in, maybe vacuum the poop out. then spray the area with a strong bleach mix. Then staple cardboard up over the spaces so they wouldn't have a place to roost. quick fix for the time being. If they don't have such a hospitable space to get into maybe they won't hang around.

 

[Barred Rocker]

I agree they look like Starlings to me. I can't stand those birds they swarm like locusts and not very pretty either.

 

[spectrumranch]

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[Chickenfortress]

First, my chickens would have eaten them already.

Next, little animals like this are what mincemeat pie is all about. four and twenty blackbirds!

 

[spectrumranch]

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those are mighty small chicken wings ma!...lol

yeah sort of like the mourning dove right? You only eat the breast meat on those guys

Wrap a piece of bacon around it

The bcon would fit around the whole bird twice.

 

[Ibicella]

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I don't know, but I have an old cookbook that has a recipe for starling. I have no idea where it is at the moment because I just moved, but you skin them and take the breast meat only, put it in flour, wrap them in bacon, and fry them.

Personally, I'd be very wary of eating starlings. They happily exploit garbage dumps and sewage treatment plants for food. They are often diseased and full of worms.

But, if you really wanna try....