Keeping scrub jays out of coop.

[sunshynertc]

My hens are free range and my coop is from a converted pickup shell.

A scrub jay mating pair that has a nest in the yard. I hear the chicks in the nest in the tree.
The nesting pair of Scrub Jays get into the coop, and destroy most of the eggs most days.
I have tried curtains in the door of the coop. This worked for a few days.
Then I hung fine birds netting over 14 feet around the coop.
That worked for a few days.
The scrub jays seems to figure out how to get into the coop.

I want to keep the hens free range and the scrub jays out.

I think that once the chicks leave they Jays will leave the area.

How do you keep Scrub Jays out of a free range coop.

I know putting mustard in eggs will prevent hens from
breaking the eggs, does this work with scrub jays as well?

 

[PD-Riverman]

My hens are free range and my coop is from a converted pickup shell.

A scrub jay mating pair that has a nest in the yard. I hear the chicks in the nest in the tree.
The nesting pair of Scrub Jays get into the coop, and destroy most of the eggs most days.
I have tried curtains in the door of the coop. This worked for a few days.
Then I hung fine birds netting over 14 feet around the coop.
That worked for a few days.
The scrub jays seems to figure out how to get into the coop.

I want to keep the hens free range and the scrub jays out.

I think that once the chicks leave they Jays will leave the area.

How do you keep Scrub Jays out of a free range coop.

I know putting mustard in eggs will prevent hens from
breaking the eggs, does this work with scrub jays as well?

Might be excessive but my Grandmother use to keep buying me a box of bullets to keep the birds(we called them blue jays) out her pecan tree's!! It worked!

 

[HeavensHens88]

Some age-old tactics for dismissing birds in general. Not sure if they're all effective for scrub jays per say, but here they are:
1. Hang some sort of colorful streamer in front of the coop door. Starlings and crows hate it, I'd assume it'd word for scrub jays as well.
A streamer of tinfoil works even better.
2. Buy yourself an airhorn. Blast those birds' ears out every time you see they're in the coop and after a few times, they should be hesitant to return.
3. The obvious, but I still like stating it: Remove the eggs as soon as possible after they are laid. Remove the object of the problem, and the problem goes away.
Hope these help and tell us how it worked out for you!
~Sarah