Not in the mood to feed European Starlings…

[alwaystj9]

 

[Jenbirdee]

yes yes yes. my brother invented the "Halo"

 

[Love Donkeys]

I hope our friends realize the possible problems wild birds could cause. Many migratory birds can carry "Bird Flu" and not appear sick. Cardinals, Robins, Blue Jays, Sparrows, Hummingbirds and Pigeons DO NOT carry "Bird Flu".

 

[SourRoses]

In the evening put the chickens in their shelter and give them enough food and water to last until you would normally feed them in the morning. This way, when you let the out they don't need food.

Wait, what? Whose chickens eat during the dark hours? Mine certainly never have. I do remember one poster showing a video of their hen eating in the dark. But most can't see well enough to even move around or get off the roost.
When chickens wake up in the morning, they are ravenous and need to be fed.

The only time and place my chickens can get their grain is 8:30am in their coop. Never any grain left outside. At 4pm they get Scratch-feed on the ground, they never leave a speck of behind....

2 meals a day is not enough. If you have to feed in meals, a bare minimum of 4 is suggested. Chickens eat a little, go lay down somewhere to digest, go back to eat a little, rinse lather repeat. That is natural behavior and digestion for them.

A lot of folks try to feed various livestock on a human style meal schedule.
As an example, one of the most harmful is when they do it to horses who are meant to graze, no less than every 4 hours. Barns that use pasture and slow feed hay nets have practically eliminated colic events and reduced existing gastric ulcer symptoms / prevented it from starting.
However a keeper chooses to manage their livestock, it still has to be tailored for the species.

 

[Penpal]

Sour Roses, they don't eat during the night. But, they will eat when they get up in the morning. If they can fill up before they are let out, the homeowner won't have to put food out for them where the starlings can get to it.

 

[K0k0shka]

Don't leave food outside. Keep their feeder inside the coop. Chickens are grazers that eat small amounts frequently throughout the day, they don't do well on limited scheduled feedings (and twice a day is certainly not good). If the feed is inside the coop, it will be more protected from other animals, and you won't have to worry about moving it inside in the evening and taking it back out in the morning every single day (because you shouldn't leave food outside during the night, as that will attract rodents and nighttime critters and cause even more problems). Technically, birds and other animals can still get at the food inside the coop through the pop door, but going into a closed up space like that is risky for them - it's a trap, which they can't get out of easily if cornered in there, so they likely won't dare. Small birds can get into my run through the fencing holes, and they do in the spring to collect fallen down feathers from the chickens, to use in making their nests (very cute). But I have never seen them inside the coop. The only animal I have ever seen inside the coop looking for food, was two squirrels, which paid the ultimate price for their reckless bravery.

 

[alwaystj9]

OP didn't mention if their birds were cooped all the time or limited foraging. My birds are turned out all of each day because their job is to clean the pasture. Feeding in the morning is counter-productive to my setup. If their birds are in the coop all day the best defense is probably a netted enclosure.

 

[Love Donkeys]

Wait, what? Whose chickens eat during the dark hours? Mine certainly never have. I do remember one poster showing a video of their hen eating in the dark. But most can't see well enough to even move around or get off the roost.
When chickens wake up in the morning, they are ravenous and need to be fed.



2 meals a day is not enough. If you have to feed in meals, a bare minimum of 4 is suggested. Chickens eat a little, go lay down somewhere to digest, go back to eat a little, rinse lather repeat. That is natural behavior and digestion for them.

A lot of folks try to feed various livestock on a human style meal schedule.
As an example, one of the most harmful is when they do it to horses who are meant to graze, no less than every 4 hours. Barns that use pasture and slow feed hay nets have practically eliminated colic events and reduced existing gastric ulcer symptoms / prevented it from starting.
However a keeper chooses to manage their livestock, it still has to be tailored for the species.

I should have been clearer when I stated that my chickens eat at 8:30am and their scratch feed at 4pm. My chickens are all free-range. The chickens get their grain at 8:30am in their coop and that's when their coop is opened up. They can come and go as they please, I call for them at 4pm so they can get Scratch-feed. At dusk I collect eggs, do a head count and close the coop for the night. So you see they get more than two meals a day.

 

[BDutch]

Not in the mood to feed European Starlings…​

… But it looks like I am.

I live in Europe and the starlings here don’t eat from the chickens feed. Only sparrows and other small songbirds. ​

I do have strong netting on top of my run and sometimes a cat comes in through the door to chase the birds. Occasionally I have seen bigger birds inside when the door was open too. But never a starling or birds of prey.

Starlings are not much bigger than the sparrows. Not sure but maybe they can go through the netting if they want to.

Maybe its because they have a different diet. ? The starlings that come in our garden mainly eat fruits like cherries, pears and grapes. Is your chicken feed perhaps a bit fruity?

 

[Shahnaz13]

If you have only adults in your flock, a "Grandpa's" treadle feeder could be the solution.