i somehow acquired 2 runaways and i have questions. please help

[pollipazzi]

thelma has been making some crazy noises. it's like she's pretending to be a starling or a goose sometimes. she just frightened the life out of louise with a weird little outburst

i am convinced that the reason she takes so long to lay an egg is that she's in there like a toddler being put to bed. singing songs and talking to herself. lalala!
meanwhile we're sitting here waiting for her like a couple of dopes.

 

[pollipazzi]

how do you guys keep the wild birds from eating the chicken feed?
i thought it would be the crows i would have to look out for, but it's the sparrows! they are going in there every second. little thieves

 

[Mother of Chaos]

how do you guys keep the wild birds from eating the chicken feed?
i thought it would be the crows i would have to look out for, but it's the sparrows! they are going in there every second. little thieves

My run is covered with hardware cloth. The only way wild birds would get in is if the door to the run were left open.

 

[alinas2010]

how do you guys keep the wild birds from eating the chicken feed?
i thought it would be the crows i would have to look out for, but it's the sparrows! they are going in there every second. little thieves

I have the same problem it helped when I put a bird feeder out front. The sparrows flock to the bird feeder now, but I’ll still get stragglers once in a while to the chicken feeder. We will always have this issue because we have a run made of chainlink. So unless we cover the chainlink with something smaller, that’s the way it goes. Sparrows are less likely to carry AI, but it isn’t impossible. They still carry other viruses, though, so I try to be diligent about cleaning out waterers and feeders.

 

[pollipazzi]

My run is covered with hardware cloth. The only way wild birds would get in is if the door to the run were left open.

they are out all day so it’s kept open. the sparrows will just go around the chickens to get the food

 

[pollipazzi]

I have the same problem it helped when I put a bird feeder out front. The sparrows flock to the bird feeder now, but I’ll still get stragglers once in a while to the chicken feeder. We will always have this issue because we have a run made of chainlink. So unless we cover the chainlink with something smaller, that’s the way it goes. Sparrows are less likely to carry AI, but it isn’t impossible. They still carry other viruses, though, so I try to be diligent about cleaning out waterers and feeders.

they just started doing it recently. a couple found it and told their friends. dirty scoundrels. i have been trying to close the small run door while the girls are in the big pot or not anywhere near the run but i can't be doing that all the time and i will eventually forget to open it

 

[Mother of Chaos]

This whole chickening thing seemed so simple at first!

 

[pollipazzi]

This whole chickening thing seemed so simple at first!

it's the hardest thing i've ever done!

 

[pollipazzi]

This whole chickening thing seemed so simple at first!

i just said to my husband...if i had 10 chickens like thelma it would be easier than one louise.
she'll be the death of me

 

[pollipazzi]

@BDutch