Small birds eat my chicken feed

[coopmstr1985]

I have a 5gal feeder that I suspended in the outside covered portion of my coop. the problem is small finches or meadow larks come and eat my feed by the pounds. since then I have moved the feed into the coop, however the small birds now fly into coop, any suggestions? my coop is covered with chicken wire, but all it takes is time before they make their way through the small holes, even have found a couple dead tangled in the wire. what to do?

 

[Fierlin1182]

Oh, we get that all the time! We don't have that many chooks though, so we just feed them by hand and watch over them until they're done. That way little birdies are too scared to approach

Alternatively, you could cover the feeder with something until it's meal time.

 

[Beekissed]

Simple....feed once a day and only the amount your chickens can clean up at that time. Trust me, if you do it this way your chickens won't let any little birds in the feed...they will get pecked and trampled upon.

 

[happycountryhens]

We had the same problem until we switched to pelleted feed. Now we use 50 percent less feed.

 

[pgpoultry]

I guess I am stupid and opening myself up for wild bird borne disease. House sparrows are diminishing in number very rapidly in the UK (well most places....not locally). They descend on the chicken food like a grey cloud, along with chaffinches....and i don't do a lot to stop them.

Yesterday the sky was full of red kites and buzzards nearby where my smallest birds were (red kites were on the endangered list a while ago here, now they are protected and we have a lot nearby). I was relieved to notice a dead sheep in a neighbour's field which was the focus of their attention.

 

[galanie]

I don't really mind the wild birds, it's the squirrels that tick me off. They eat a whole lot more than the birds do.