Pigeons

[urbanfarmer1990]

Hello Everyone,

I raise 4 backyard hens in the city with a fully fenced yard. My hens are able to free range and are then locked up at night. As of the beginning of spring, pigeons and other birds would enjoy the scratch that I would throw for the hens, and I was fine with this (its a part of the yard a distance away from the coop.) The 20+ pigeons are getting very brave and invading their coop during the day to raid their feeder, this is also disrupting laying. I've tried scarecrows, non-lethal pellet guns, hanging reflective party garland over the coop entrance all to no avail. I now place the scratch in a separate feeder in the coop to not attract more attention.

I had initially posted on a pigeon forum to gain insight on humane methods of dealing with this, but the only advice I was given was to keep my girls locked up, which is not an option.

Has anyone else had a similar issue and found a way to manage it? I greatly appreciate any ideas.

 

[Biddybot]

They're actually going inside the coop? As in, going through a small pophole or whatever it is the chickens use to go outside, and then remaining inside to eat? Easy fix then. Rig up a sturdy string or thin rope a la Wile E. Coyote so you can close the entrance from a distance and trap the pigeons that go inside. Remove them and, since you want to do something humane, collect them in a big wire dog crate or something similar until you've got at least 6 or so (the more the better), then drive them far, far away, to a different town or city or such that already has a big pigeon population and let them go. The already resident pigeons will encourage the newcomers to stay and no, it's not real nice to burden other people with more pigeons, but I doubt anybody'll notice there are a few more amongst hundreds or thousands.

Once you remove the bulk of your current flock, you may find that the remaining birds will stop going in the coop and become a good deal more wary...once-more manageable visitors, in other words, rather than pesky, unwanted, mooching house guests. There are usually only a few bold individuals that get these sorts of scenarios started. Many of the pigeons may be too timid to enter the coop on their own once their numbers are down, and they may even relocate on their own if they get really spooked.

I get this problem with starlings sometimes in the wintertime when we've usually got a good-sized flock hanging around. It gets real cold and the odd bird discovers that it's nice and warm inside the chicken house. The next thing you know, the whole flock starts roosting inside at night, essentially trapping themselves. I drove the first crateful of starlings into the nearby city and released them...now I'm fed up enough with them that I just dispose of them. I doubt the authorities care that I had a change of heart. Starlings are considered an invasive and unwanted species hereabouts and I think English sparrows and rock doves (your basic city pigeon) fall into the same category.

 

[aart]

but the only advice I was given was to keep my girls locked up, which is not an option.

May be your only option to rid yourself of the problem you allowed to grow
(sorry pet peeve against feeding wild birds),
you'll likely have to be very assertive to nip it in the bud.
A tightly meshed run can keep wild birds out and/or a strip door on the coop.

Check your birds over carefully for lice and mites, wild birds are common carriers.
-Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.
-Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

 

[RWise]

At one time I kept food (grain) out for my girls, then came the thieves, I mean cardinals! At first not so bad, just a single pair, 2 days later about 20 birds, and a week there were at least 50. The pans of feed got picked up, 2 years later the cardinals have finally stopped checking to see if the grain is back!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Good luck. If you cage the pigeons you trap and hold them then they will soon think of your chicken coop as THEIR loft and promptly return when released. On the other hand if you quickly release the pigeons then they will just as quickly boogie back to their home loft and be waiting on you to feed them again when you get home from wherever it was that you released them.