Little birds eating our feed

[CluckyJay]

I'm the same way. I can make some stuff but nothing like that. I am asking my husband to make me one or two later this year. Stuff like that is just so neat, lol.

Opossums--ugh! We have a large white one that comes in the yard in the morning and gets into our trash. That and a groundhog that lives in our front yard. Ya'll know if a groundhog will mess with my chicken feed?

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
Groundhogs in my experience are grazers. They will target same component of pasture forage chickens use. My dog keeps groundhog out.

 

[CluckyJay]

Yea, he likes to graze. He grazes my bulbs and other perennials every year, LOL. The place he lives is beneath a concrete slab that used to be a porch. He comes out and eats shoots and glares at us if we should dare be in our own yard. LOL

Other than being a flower bandit, he's a really neat fellow. I named him Mr. Buttons. LOL

 

[centrarchid]

Mr. Buttons can cause damage to foundation of buildings but in general you have maxed out his trouble making skill sunless you plant a soybean feild nearby. Are you certain buttons is a dude. Usually, groundhogs live in small loose social groups so likely more are around within a couple hundred feet or so.

 

[CluckyJay]

I think you're thinking about prairie dogs being social. Groundhogs are usually solitary.
I haven't turned Mr. Buttons over for an examination but I am pretty sure he is a he because there are never any babies with him.

The little guy lived here before us under the porch so we couldn't evict him. The house that was there burned down but left the concrete slab intact--he probably won't go after our foundation. (We don't live on the old house site.)


Its neat to watch wildlife in your yard.

I wanted to plant a nice garden for him in the old house area but hubby said he is clearing the area out.

Maybe I can sweet talk him otherwise, LOL.

 

[centrarchid]

Their ranges almost always bump up next to each other and they squable more than praire dogs. Groundhog density in Jefferson City, MO very high so seeing interactions easy.

They like what they consume to short and tender. They maybe like prairie dogs in keeping little gardens of their own by selectively weeding.

 

[mcfarmall]

Keep in mind that I hail from a farming background. Woodchucks a.k.a. groundhogs a.k.a. "Mr. Buttons" are one of the most destructive rodents anywhere. They are responsible for property damage, crop decimation, and hazards to livestock and equipment. They rank right up there with House Sparrows, Lamprey Eels and Asian Carp. If you don't mind them destroying your property then to each his own. In Michigan, they can be taken year 'round, unlimited for the cost of a small game license. Same holds true for House Sparrows but no license necessary.

OK, back to the OP's topic. Are the native birds smaller than a House Sparrow? I made a sweet repeating trap for sparrows that works on a counterbalance principle. Smaller, lighter birds are unaffected but a HoSp will trip it and he has but one way to go...into the holding area. My trap can hold dozens of sparrows and I even provide them with food and water while they await their fate. Kind of like the band playing while the Titanic sank. I built mine from a picture I saw on the net and it uses a Backyard Chicken growers staple....1/2" hardware cloth and scrap lumber.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but when I grew up, there were clear boundaries and definitions of profitable and unprofitable, destructive and harmless, and they were dealt with accordingly.

 

[liz_s]

It's kind of embarrassing, but I am so loathe to deprive the sparrows and finches that I actually feed both types of birds. I have a bird feeder that I fill up two or three times a day, and they mainly leave my chickens' food alone. I found a place where the wild bird feed is pretty cheap, and the chickens eat whatever the wild birds don't! It's a win-win!

 

[CluckyJay]

What bout making a "doggy door" for the chickens? Make it heavy enough for them to push through but not the little birds?


He does like new shoots Centrar. I have a picture on the computer of him eating. I'll try and find it.

I'm afraid I disagree. They are native to the USA so shouldn't be clumped with invasive species such as house sparrows and the like.

If it IS destroying property then it should be dealt with, of course. I'm more than willing to lose a few perennials to the native wildlife. BUT -- my flowers are more hobby than income. Mr. Buttons is a sight less destructive than the moles burrowing in the yard!

Feeding birds is a great hobby Liz. I try and plant a lot of stuff so they have seeds to eat. I'm pretty cheap so I don't buy much birdseed, LOL.

 

[tom e]

The native birds that are eating our chicken feed, look very like European sparrows but they have a black band at the eye or over it. I dint remember the name ATM, but I've seen them in our local guide- a pretty exact match. The trap may work except for we have no European sparrows here at all, so either I'd be setting free every bird that I trap, or I'd be trapping no birds (if they are lighter than sparrows). I really dig living out here in the country though. Where I used to live we had three birds- euro sparrows, euro starlings, and a bunch of noisy screaming crows. Out here it's quite a few birds, but the ones eating our feed all look like sparrows with a black ribbon tied over their eyes. Little bandits, but native.